Solitary chicken - need advice

[Cinnamon]

I need to either earn or save some money.

 

My Daughter Devon has been called for an entrance exam to Christs Hospital School (the one on Rock School), where the fees are means tested.

So, about 1 third of the pupils parents pay under £250 a year to get the top notch education!

 

Now, we have our own company & desptie being horribly overdrawn & having no spare money in our personal account, a mammoth tax bill to pay, and no savings, our means tested fees have come out at £5000 a year

 

We would be hard pushed to find £1000, but £5000 seems an absolute impossibility. and over 3 years, it is just way out of our reach.

 

Bearing in mind that I cannot get a job as then our income would increase & the fees rise even more, has anyone got any bright ideas how to generate this sort of amount .

 

I know,I Know....if you did you would be doing it already!

[Guest]

Sell a car or downgrade to a cheaper one?

[Cinnamon]

Cars only worth about £1500 as it is.

Could downgrade, but I have been there with £400 cars, & I am not keen to go through that again.

Also, I need a reliable one as I will need to collect Devon from the School every 3 weeks, & it is about 1 hours drive away

[Popcorn]

Down grade your car, or just sell one if you have 2, not have a holdiay for the next few years, sell your body....I'm running out of ideas now...can you tell!

[Cinnamon]

If we give up all booze, I reckon we can save £1000 a year.....

 

Also, I think that not having Devon at home will save us on electricity, gas, food, my make-up,& the computer will be free sometimes too

 

Maybe we can let out her room for the times she is boarding

 

I have a financial advisor coming over on Monday. We haven't had our mortgage looked at for about 6 years, so we may be able to make some changes there .

 

Selling my body....only to medical science, Gina

[Nicola H]

We had the same dilemma when Tom was eight he was being bullied so badly we took him out of school and no other state school would take him because they were over subscribed so he had to go to private school for 3 years............

The fees were £5000 a year so we had to find £15000 plus the uniform cost over £200, we just cut our cloth accordingly no holidays smaller birthday and christmas presents Jeff sold his much loved classic car....We struggled for 3 years we also had to pay for home tuition because Tom was a year behind all the other kids in private education

...........It was hard but I can honestly say it was money well spent Tom had a great time and loved school again and he got a fantastic education passed his 11 plus and gained scholarships to 4 private schools, he chose to go to the only non-fee paying Grammar school in Trafford which is selective and is doing really well.................Go for it Sarah fingers crossed that Devon gets a place you won't regret it and it is worth the struggle..............

[Popcorn]

Do you do the lottery Sarah

 

If I win, I'll donate some to your cause.

[Cate in NZ]

Do you have a spare room? Or even a room, playroom/ office that you could convert for a while. A couple of years ago we had 2 Hong Kong students stay with us for 3 weeks- they were only 14 on a school trip, but they were working with their fellow students at a local college during the day, & stayed with us overnight and on a sunday. We had to provide meals & either live on an easy bus route to the college or undertake to get them there safely each day. We met 2 lovely youngsters, suffered only minimal disruption & got paid over £500 for it. My brother in law does a similar thing very regularly, it seems to be his main source of income these days, but for slightly older 17-20 year olds here on short courses (never more than 8 weeks, usually around the 4-6 week time span) to improve their English.

[Louise]

I have almost come to the end of my first lodger experience and it wasn't as bad as I expected I had a Spanish girl for 12 weeks and I have been charging her only a nominal rent of £60 a week as she doesn't get much of a grant and it was a favour to her supervisor here who is a friend but even so I have cleared about £500 profit from it so if you were to charge a sensible rent and get someone who is quiet and fairly tidy

 

You could contact a local college or if you have a university where you know someone you could let it be known you do short term rent as these places will have people most of the year. With short termers if you get one who is not working they are at least only there for a little while.

 

The girl I had is doing a European degree course and has to do a stint in a similar environment somewhere in Europe so they must be all over the place for this. We have a policy of finding places for visiting workers so we know they are safe so if you get your name down at an HR department they will call you

[myles]

try looking at household expenditure eg, gas and electric suppliers, sky tv, car insurance,household insurance,subscriptions,phone provider,internet propivder, remortgage.

 

also look locally for educational grants or trust funds to help with costs,books etc

 

sorry probably not helpful, will keep thinking cap on

[Cinnamon]

Thanks all!

 

Some good ideas there.

The renting out a room thing won't work as it would increase our overall income (paid by cheque I assume!)

 

I am looking into general cost cutting measures...the uniform & all the books are free of charge at this School

 

What I really need is 5000 people to give me £1 a year for the next 3 years...................

[Guest]

Go back to Christ's Hospital and ask them to review your situation?

 

Sell up and move nearer Horsham. House prices are lower there.

[Cinnamon]

Hi Ginette,

 

I have been to the School, & they have just said that those are what the fees will be.

It is dependant on income & as we have a company ,our gross income is quite high,although neither of us has any idea why that is.

We certainly don't see the money,& have been really struggling for the last few years.

 

Moving - well theres a thought!

But, as we are in the building trade we would be moving away from our main source of income.We work on a word of mouth basis & have LOADS of work booked up, so moving may be shooting ourselves in the foot

 

Also,we have just finished the house (it took 14 years) & honestly don't have the heart to leave it now!

And then there the other daughters school,which is wonderful for her.....

 

I am determined that there must be some way of doing this.Devon came home yesterday saying yet again that a bunch of girls had cornered her in the changing rooms for no other reason than she is clever & wants to work hard at school. If she were at a school with other clever children,she would fit in so much better.

 

I phoned for Richard & Judys "we say you pay" yesterday, but didn't get on.....but watch this space

[freerange]

Thanks all!

 

Some good ideas there.

The renting out a room thing won't work as it would increase our overall income (paid by cheque I assume!).

 

Look into the rent a room scheme - http://www.direct.gov.uk/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/TaxOnRentalIncomeArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4017804&chk=mGasop

 

Re the means testing bit - can you find out when they 'test your means' & then do things to increase your income afterwards?

 

Do you have an accountant for your business? A good one should be able to save you far more than they cost.

 

Look at ways you can juggle your finances to save pennies here & there, they all add up - moneysavingexpert.com is good fo rthat.

 

Finally, and not in any way dismissing your choice, but have you considered home education?

 

Sorry for typos - rushing out for farmers market

[Guest]

Hi Sarah,

 

You'll have to dedicate some time considering your options. I find it very helpful to write them all down with the pros+cons for each. That should help you see what the real possibilities are.

 

Horsham to Henley isn't that far to commute while you start to build up some business in the Horsham area. There are probably some very good schools around Horsham too for your other daughter. You can't take the house with you, so that would be one of the major factors you would have to consider - which is more important to you and what is better for you ALL in the long run?

 

Are there any other school options nearer home? Could you speak to your local authority about the bullying and see if they suggest a more suitable school for your daughter?

 

Good luck with the thinking!

[Cinnamon]

I think it will be the finance juggling that is going to work for us.

 

We have someone coming over in Monday to chat to us about the mortgage (& its shortfall!) & I will ask him about this too.

 

Re letting a room - no spare roms I am afraid!

 

Re home Schooling - no, not for us.I don't have the time or patience to do a good enough job.I also think that school life is as important as the education.

 

Re means testing - Increasing the income afterwards will show up on the next years test. the do it every year, so we will need to be really careful not to earn more than we are now, or the fees will increase even more. I can't think of a worse senarion than her going to the school for a year then us having to take her out because we can't afford the fees

 

Ginette - thanks for your help again

The School is aware of the bullying & they have been very good at helping us out.Devons school has now streamed the pupils, so she is being taught with others of her own ability which has helped a lot.

However, in Games they are taught in a large group, which is when incidents like this tend to happen. Devon is tough, & WILL NOT back down to a bully, which is great in some ways,but they KNOW they will always get a reaction from her. She has to learn to live with the people she doesn't like as well as the ones she does....part of life I'm afraid

 

Moving is very much a last resort option. I am not sure that e could sacrifice the house & business for this. Hubby already works from 6am most mornings, so a commute would be a terrible strain on him.

Not sure if I could do it to my other girl either. She is so happy at School & doing so very well.

 

Mind you, if we moved we might be able to get Broadband

[Guest]

You can't get Broadband in Henley-on-Thames

[Cinnamon]

Well we are in a little village about 2 miles out of Henley.

 

Some of us can get it, but we are about 4 metres too far from the exchange to get it..................& all the other residents on our road are older & not interested in Broadband.

 

So, I find myself campaigning on my own, which is little better than useless,really

 

One day, one day

[Fleata]

you could sell some stuff you dont use or want on ebay. we have a clear our every spring and post them all on ebay, anything tht doesnt go , then goes to oxfam

[Cinnamon]

Been there & done that,Fleata!

 

I am an eBayer with over 1000 feedback, & I sell ANYTHING that hasn't been used for a while.

 

We recently finished our extension,so redecorated a few rooms & got rid of just heaps of stuff.

Its amazing what people will buy,really

 

I have just sold all my old vinyl records too, my collection of thimbles,all the clothes the girls have outgrown & their old push bikes are being listed today.

 

I love eBay

[Fleata]