% of your salary on school fees

[Alwaystierd]

Struggling to pick schools post offer… the ones my daughter loves is the most expensive.

Am I crazy for using 7 months of my salary on private education. What do others do? Do most people find it easily affordable?

It will be more than 5%. It will be more like 7-9% each year. We’ve been paying fees since 2006 so trust me on this.

Also, have you factored in uniform (£65 for a rugby top I shit you not), music lessons, school trips (the compulsory ones run by the departments?) plus every time a child breathes it goes on the bill?

You have to make hard sacrifices you know if you don't want your kid mixing with the riff raff.

If your husband is a new consultant he earns about £105k. If you earn £30k less that’s 75k

on a joint income of £180k with that split it’s doable but not “easy”

Does your dh do any private work op? I wouldn't do it if household income was £180K

You can afford private schooling but as with most people you will have to make decisions on priorities - very few people can afford £££ houses, luxurious lifestyle whilst saving AND paying for school fees. Those are very much in the minority.

You are in a decent position with cash behind you, big equity most can only dream of, realistic prospect of higher future income, only one child to consider here. So you can still pay for a boiler if your breaks or pay school fees if you were out of work for a year.

It is a separate question though as to whether the most expensive school is worth the extra costs over cheaper. In my view parents make the ultimate decision as it is too big a call for quite young children and that is what we did with my kids. Sounds like you’re talking an extra £500 a month which is expensive sure but not going to be a major swing factor in buying a big new house or not.

Most can get an education for free…..but it’s the environment of state schools, especially in central London….thats why most pay for private schools.

Just to say I have found this post very interesting, the first response was spot on. Everyone’s opinions are so different.

So household income is £100k me, £130k hubby (no private, just extra weekend lists for now but he will start in the next year or two ). We can definitely afford to pay the fee’s, do a 7 day Europe holiday and probably still have money left over.

I think we are just prudent people and we think about being sensible for retirement and giving my daughter an inheritance. My mum passed away recently at 62, all she did was be careful with her money and didn’t get to enjoy any fruits of her labour, so we have decided to go for it. Yes some sacrifices will have to be made which we are fully prepared for.