How.do you afford private school? Any suggestions?
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Anonymous
| If private schools are something you desire, you need to get a job and your DH needs to get a higher paying job. It is very unlikely that you'll get enough financial aid to put two kids through private. We did private school for many years on an income of $350K (and were definitely the "poor" people at our school). It was tight financially and we finally decided it's an expense we just can't justify on our incomes. Yes, it's MUCH better than public, but it's also better for our family if we're able to fully fund college, take an occasional vacation together and not always feel so stressed about money. |
Anonymous
| Wow! Over 300k is poor? Really? |
Anonymous
| Live in a shoe box |
Anonymous
| We send our one kid to private on a HHI of $160. We do it by living in a really awful school district, which depresses the housing prices so much that the housing costs a third of what it does in good school districts. And then we bought a small, older cape cod that hadn't ever been rehabbed. One can still buy one of these houses for $250,000 in my neighborhood, so they are still an option. It is quite and safe and close to the MARC. Just not fancy. Is my kid the poor one at school? No idea. Its been a non-issue. We are not poor by any stretch of anyone's imagination, and so we don't feel poor or deprived in the slightest. |
Anonymous
| You have one kid too many OP. You could have possibly been able to afford one for private. But to come up with enough cash flow for two, you really need to make a lot more money than you apparently do. We don't live in a socialist society. Not everyone gets what everyone else gets. |
Anonymous
Lol, so true |
Anonymous
+1. You can't afford it and that's okay. I'm sure your children will get a wonderful education at their public school. |
Anonymous
|
OP, private schools are a LUXURY. Frankly, so is staying home, and so is working for non-profits and the government if you have significant earning potential.
So you need to choose which luxury you'd like to have. Private school, being at home or the meaningfulness and/or security and life style of your professions. |
Anonymous
It is for putting 2 kids through private school at $40,000 per kid and growing, saving for college and for retirement as well as paying a mortgage, etc. You can do it but it starts getting tough and expenses only grow as kids get older. We decided after getting one through, that it just wasn't worth it for the second especially that we live in a good school district. It was always stressful worrying about tuition and even driving older cars and taking no vacations, it became too much. My kid is getting a good education. We miss the smaller classes and more hands on encouragement but other areas particularly science are much better. We also want our kids to have no debt coming out of college. I see too many kids who get out of school and because they have so much debt, can't move forward and are stuck trying to pay down college debt. |
Anonymous
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So tired of these threads. Lots of us in your income bracket send our children to private school because it is a priority for us and we do not mind the financial trade offs. We are incredibly lucky to make well over $250k and have the kind of financial security that most Americans can only dream about. We do not set our lifestyle expectations to reality TV. I count my lucky stars when I see my (smarter, better educated) friends in academia.
If you would feel financially stressed about paying for tuition, then just don't. You don't need to agonize over it. Besides, if you have your heart set on one of the more selective schools in DC, the chances are that your child won't get in anyways. |
Anonymous
I agree, even at 300k, it's difficult to make it work. Grandparents have already flooded the 529 for both of our kids otherwise if we had to save for retirement, college, and pay private tuition we wouldn't be able to do it. |
Anonymous
| Or you can try a parochial school that doesn't cost 40K per year. Some are very nice and warm and provide good educations. |
Anonymous
Yes. This. Outside of parochial there are other choices that do not cost 40k and may provide assistance. Still not easy on one income but it may be worth exploring these options. |
Anonymous
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This is the same OP who got blasted on her thread where she is moving here from Chicago and her DH makes $110k, she stays home, and is planning on buying a $800k home. Insisted on living in the city, wanted financial aid at the same time saying she could go up to $1 million home, and was saying she was just going to flip a gut job house in a few years herself.
Took zero advice and was insisting since she always got everything and made it work in the Midwest she could do it here. OP, just stop. You can't afford it! You were oh so cool and "bad a Bing bass boom" on the last thread where you were told over and over you had to give up something. |
Anonymous
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Op no matter how many threads you start you still can't do this.
I'm glad the other thread made you at least stop and think enough to try to start another thread with more humility. |