"I'm moonlighting to pay the school fees"

Despite our current financial difficulties, I have no regrets about choosing an independent school

Gillian* (38) is a public relations and marketing officer who lives in Middlesex with her husband Ben (40) and daughters Sarah (10) and Victoria (14). Ben earns £56,000 and Gillian earns between £35,000 and £40,000, but changes in the buy-to-let market have forced them to make big lifestyle changes

* Names have been changed in this article“

At the age of 38, I never expected to be working part-time in a restaurant, but that’s what I’ve had to do to make ends meet and pay the girls’ fees. In some ways, it’s great fun, but obviously I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life and it’s hard labour for not much money.

“My main job is as a part-time press and communications person for a school and I also have various freelance jobs. One of these was for another independent school and that contract came to an end. Everyone is cutting down and marketing and PR is one of the first things to go, so I found myself less quite a few hundred pounds a month.

“My husband works at the school that Sarah and Victoria attend, which means that we get a fairly hefty discount on fees, although we still pay around £800 a month for both children. While these fees may seem comparatively low in relation to our income, things have been compounded by turmoil in the housing market.

“We rent a home and own two buy-to-let properties. Last year fixed-rate deals on the properties came to an end and the mortgages on the houses cost more than £1000 extra a month. We couldn't put rents up to cover the increased costs, so investments that once contributed towards our household income became a drain.

“We also have to budget for the additional costs associated with private education. Victoria will visit Russia next year because she’s studying the language. Plus you spend a fortune on school uniform. They need sports shirts, for instance, and you can get three polo shirts for £4 at Asda, but you can’t do that with a private school because they’ve got to have a special badge on them, so they cost £15 each.

“Despite our current financial difficulties, I have no regrets about choosing an independent school because we feel it’s worth making the extra effort. Both the girls are doing well in their lessons and, most importantly, are happy. If I had to change schools with Victoria, she’d really suffer. With GCSEs coming, it’s not a great age to change schools and have to find again the confidence she’s managed to gain within her circle of friends at her current school.”

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