worried about school fees....

[wintertimeisfun]

just got a letter from the school that dd will be starting in september telling us the monthly fee instalments start beginning of june (as opposed to september). dh isn't worrying about the payments, at least he isn't admitting to it although i am. we don't live above our means so this is a big commitment for us for the next 7 years. we can only afford it because she got a scholarship (music) however the monthly instalments are still alot, the school appears to have just put its fees us a fair bit too. just scared of the commitment as both of us are self employed. anyone else in the same/similar situation?

Ah, yes. Ds is dyspraxic so doesn't do a great deal of sport (he's a liability). I still had to buy the pissing sports kit though, 2 rugby shirts (that he's never worn), a cricket kit, hockey kit, athletics kit (rarely worn) Pah!

Fee increases are sadly a fact of life. I was told that in the current climate, working on 5% per year was sensible, but a few years ago, increases of 8 to 10% were not uncommon. Over a period of 7 years, it is not unusual for fees to have risen by over 50% compared to the starting point.

When DD's school switched to pay monthly I worked out how many times I won and how many the school did.
We start paying for the school year in August on this basis paying over 10 months I won 5 times the school won 4 times and we broke even once comparing this to paying termly on the first day of term by cheque.
If you start paying in June the school will win all the time. I would start putting the money in my savings account in June to pay in September and then start saving monthly.

my head is spinning with all this advice although it is appreciated....as far as i can tell from the letter i got there is no additional cost by paying per month. there is the overall amount split into 12 months (if paying monthly). we could pay this per term or all in one go, i cannot see how paying per month makes any difference really, we will still be getting interest with it still in our accounts. ladysybil i have a market stall in london (etc) that sells 'vintage wares' (china, retro fabric, enamelware etc). lone perhaps i am an idiot but i am not sure what you mean....how do you or the school win? the schools yearly fee divided by 12 is the amount per month, i can't see how the school is making more than that or am i missing something?

Oh, do you have a web site? I'm kind of into my vintage at the moment

are you in london? dh bought me a domain name but hasn't created my website although i don't need one really as i sell all my stuff on my market stall (or at an antique centre where i also sell). business has been tough, don't earn as much as i used to as too many would be dealers out there all desperately looking for the same vintage wares to sell. recession hasn't helped. i have to go all around the uk looking for stuff to buy. tax man would take one look at my petrol receipts and think i was a mad women.....

Nope, East Midlands. The office is but I don't come down too often. It's charity shop central here and there's a lovely little brick a brack shop in Nottingham

i regularly go up north to a few places to buy, some good fairs there too infact, there is a good fair in a few weeks at swinderby..

I'm not sure about there. Bargain Hunt seem to love the fairs at the local university though.

When I say I am winning I mean I am paying money later than I would have done if I paid termly so for example the Autumn term fees I only finish paying in November, but I also start paying the spring term fees in November.
So it looks like this:
August - I pay early
September -I pay late
October - I pay late
November - some early, some late
December - I pay early
January - late
February - late
March - early
April - early
May - late

So on five occasions I hold on I my money longer than I would if I paid termly, four I pay earlier, one occasion we are evens. I am self employed so the fact that on balance I pay more late improves the cash flow in my business as I take my drawings later than if I was paying termly.

As you are both self employed in small businesses you need to take a long cold hard look at the timing of paying fees and it's effect on cash flow.

bargain hunt are usually filming at the venues i go to. i try and avoid the cameras as i wouldn't want anyone who recognises me to know the places i source from, they always ask but i am very vague there's a really large antique centre nr lincoln/scampton, if you are lucky the red arrows may fly over and give you a free show (one of my favourite reasons for going in that direction, love and air show)

Installments in advance normal for us. If the sh*t does hit the fan for some reason don't be afraid to go in and talk to the bursar. With your DD having a scholarship they won't want to loose her and you will find the school will probably be very accommodating with you as long as they know of any cash flow issues in advance. We became financially over-committed for business reasons when our kids started at private school but we kept in touch with the school constantly and they gave us time to get things back on track. DD then got a scholarship to senior school so felt justified!

oh i see, thanks lonecat

thanks freck. it's not so much worry about paying for the fees, we should hopefully always be able to do that one way or another, it is more of a selfish small part of me that isn't looking forward to having to be so constantly careful with money and cutting back all the time. i am not someone who has a habit of spending alot of money BUT i do have moments, i don't like restrictions. having said that, i don't mind going without and am happy to do so, just needs getting used to.

I completely understand where you're coming from OP. We've paid since nursery for one or both of my DS's including boarding fees for the nine + years. Its a constant drain on our resources, I've never sat down and worked out how much we've spent. We coming to the end, two years to go, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
IMO it's all about value for money. We happily (well perhaps not happily) but perhaps get on with paying without moaning when we are convinced that for our DS's it's the best option, and they are really getting something out of it and thriving. When they clearly aren't then obviously I resent it.
OP from my now extensive experience just because you're paying doesn't mean it's better, many schools are very clever marketing machines, also a school maybe excellent, stuffed with happy parents and thriving children but it doesn't mean it will work for your DC. My advise is to intermittently take the rose tinted spectacles off and critically evaluate the situation. All kids have off days but take the long view, is your DD actually thriving, getting the opportunities you were told she would get and you and her wants, is she really happy or is there a nagging doubt, is she being pushed enough or maybe too hard, is there enough prep or too much, etc. Then consider your free alternatives, it doesn't matter how good they are considered by others to be, do you think that your daughter would get the same or better? Whilst the independent school come out better and assuming you have the money you will keep paying however much of a struggle it is, but if the scales tip and there's little to choose between them or you start to wonder if the state option might be better then you will probably start to resent the cost.

I'm guessing it is so they have a full term's fees in advance of Autumn term starting. Have you paid a deposit already ? Typically sports kit costs as much as the rest of the uniform

I could get ds's uniform from anywhere. His blazer was £25, so it came up to about £100. PE kit was another matter, it was £35 for one rugby shirt and he needed 2 plus athletics, hockey, cricket... It must have been about £400.

OMG re sports kit. the blazer alone at her school is about £60/£70. we have money aside for school uniform although never gave thought to pe, such a waste of money for dd as she is not sportswoman...we will get the cheapest shite there is...... dh came to the conclusion that it makes sense to start paying in june as when she comes to leave in a million years time we would have completed all payments as opposed to her leaving in june/july and continuing to pay until september. re the school, dh went there, his ma taught (music) there, he has family members there, close friends dd is there. i know alot about it, really lovely school that i can imagine dd fitting into superbly. it isn't one of these overly pushy academic obsessed schools, more of an all rounder. really good music dept with a lovely music director. lovely for dh too as he has such great memories of going there as opposed to me who HATED secondary school. i like a challenge, being good with money will be a new one!! if money got really tight i could always go on the game (only joking) although a friend of mine was until recently who earned an absolute FORTUNE. you'd be surprised just how many suburban houswifes do this.....

If it is anything like dc school all the pe kit is logoed (including the rugby socks!), school colour specific and changes every few years. So it often sticks out more if you buy 2nd hand although good for basics and spares like a poloshirt. ds who joined in 3rd year was much happier to have 2nd hand (as new would stand out more) than dd who joined in 1st but we still had to spend £35 on the newly introduced rugby top, which has been worn a handful of times in 3 years. dd's lacrosse gloves were over £30, stick over £50 and as for "goggles"...Neither are the least bit sporty !

i just looked in the latest a4 envelope that has a price list in it for the uniform shop, goes on forever. alot of the stuff is cheaper than i had thought but there is so much of it. probably come to about £500 ish. dd wants a phone but i told her she can have one when she starts secondary as the school isn't near to where we live (within walking distance) so for contact purposes. i told her however that she will have an old style one, much to her horror. i told her i don't want her to join the ranks of teenagers who stand around staring zombie like into their bloody phones. i think it is cooler to have a dated old style one. she knows i won't subscribe to the 'but blah blah has one' brigade. very 'new money' where we live, alot of the showy brigade go to this school however alot don't. i noticed as a music doo recently that none of the flashy types appeared to be involved in the music side. i just hope dd has nice friends and ones that aren't obsessed with money. friend of mine whose dc goes to a difference local independent school told me that none of the kids (i can't imagine all of them..) like going to her house as (quote) it is really small...... (we live in footballers wives territory)