How do you pay for School Trips

16011996

maybe ask them to contribute a small amount of there earnigs towards the cost, so much per week or whatever, so they ahve to learn to save up towards it. not sure what the amount is, but work out how long before it needs buying, and say you must contribute so much out of your own towards it.

hth

160.

Spendless

Have you already bought their christmas presents Caterina?

What about suggesting you can either receive a piece of specialist clothing as an xmas pressie or you can contribute so much out of earnings for it :-/

16011996

like that idea spendless.

mine are going on camp in feb, and need bits and bobs, some of which they have got as xmas pressies.

jellyhead

I have a couple of burning questions about this topic.

Premise:

My children are 15 year old twins, very good kids (so far, touch wood!), they only get a little money from me, £10 each in a saving account per month and when I get paid in my work I give them the odd fiver or tenner if I can afford it and no other expenses are pressing.

Otherwise, they work for their money - my son has been delivering newspapers at 6:30 in the morning for the last 3 years, come rain or shine. My daughter babysits the neighbour's child 3-4 afternoons a week for 1 hour after school.

The trip:

Their school has organised a ski trip costing nearly £500 each, it includes everything, equipment, insurance, ski pass, journey, food and lodging, but not the specialist ski clothes such as gloves, trousers etc.

Because they let us know well in advance, with a payment plan, we are just about managing to meet the cost, bit at the time and with a bit of struggle (not too much, thanks God I have had a fair amount of work recently).

Dilemma:

Should I ask my kids to:

a) contribute some of their money to the trip

and/or

b) pay for their own specialist clothing?

I am in a real doubt here, because although we are not struggling in general, thankfully, (husband in employment, me self employed with a fair amount of work coming in) we still find it quite difficult to meet this additional cost, on top of mortgage, expenses, house repairs (BIG expense, lately!) etc...

But I feel that I am giving them so little already! They buy their own games and music, pay for their outings with friends, never expect to be clothed with brand name stuff, and above all they are really nice, kind kids - I feel it would be bad to ask to give from their little earnings.

On the other hand, how can I make them feel responsible around money? When they get paid by their jobs they fritter it like there's no tomorrow (for example, my son NEVER waits for a ps2 game to get cheaper, he buys them straight away, at £40+ when they come out, and my daughter never ever waits for a film to go on video, she goes and sees them as soon as they come out), but because they earn it themselves I do not interfere.

Help please! Thank you.

Caterina

although your kids fritter away their money without waiting for things to become cheaper it sounds as if they already are pretty responsible, i can't imagine many kids paying for their own cinema trips etc. without asking for handouts from the bank of mum and dad.

can grandparents etc. buy gloves or suchlike for their xmas present? what about your kids providing spending money? i assume they'll be wanting sweets, postcards, phone calls home etc?

janeymates

Hi Caterina,
I don't have any children myself but my husband has 2 who live with their Mum so i know how school trips can be expensive, however, have you spoken to the school about the equipment/clothing they will need? Usually on ski-ing trips it is possible to rent most things at the ski resort, that way if they never go again you haven't wasted all that money kitting them out.

Just a suggestion worth asking, hope it helps!

Caterina

Thank you all for your replies and helpful suggestions!

I already bought them Xmas presents (just a few small things to pack and then open on Xmas day) and the main present is £50 each to spend in the sales, maybe I can suggest that they get some ski equipment that way!

I am also going to ring the school and find out if there is anything that can be given on loan to save us money. Luckily boots and skis are included in the price!

Ciao all!

Caterina

Fran

Hi Caterina,

They sound quite responsible to me so why not treat them if you can afford to? I think they will be well aware about being frugal with you as their mum! :-*

Caterina

Fran,

I think you are right re. treating them, that's what I am trying to do even with a bit of a struggle.

But I am not sure that having a frugal mum will necessarily make them frugal - well, not in the short term at least, maybe they will catch up with frugality when they are older!

If anything, I am worried that they will go the other way, my son is already saying he can't wait to have a car (we gave up ours 3+ years ago) etc... you know, as a rebellion.

Ah well, just gotta wait and see.

Love to all

Caterina

christmas_donkey

The primary schools arent as bad. I get letters every so often, well within what we can afford - however taken into consideration with the cost of school swimming lessons and when they reach year 6 the 4 day ritualistic trip to an activity centre which costs nearly £400 I still think they are asking a lot. I cope with it though.

The high schools are a different kettle of fish. They dont do smaller trips, the only trips they seem to have cost us dearly. Every year they do 'activities week' where as the sky is the limit, I would be ashamed to send a child home with a letter suggesting they ask for their parents for in excess of £800. Then theres the French trips they do for the children doing French. (I did pay for one french trip because i thought my daughter had a natural aptitude for it but unfortunately she gained little from it).

My argument with the children is, 'why would I pay such a rediculous amount of money when we can all benefit from a holiday in the Uk for that same amount of money'. I am afraid if they want to go abroad, they can pay for it themselves when they are older. Selfish maybe - but when you have a large family, its sensible!!!

Caterina

Hi all,

Today I told a client of mine about my kids' skiing trip and how it is a struggle to pay for it, and she commented that it is very unfair of the school to do this sort of thing as it will make people who cannot afford it feel very inadequate.

I had not thought it this way! The comment comes from a woman who is really very well off in her adult life but comes from a working class background and did not have a lot of money in her family when she was younger!

It made me think, especially when she asked how many children are going and I think it is around 30(!!!) in a school that teaches nearly 2000 (YES two thousand, that's London for you, sadly) children!

Am I a mug or wot..... ::)

Caterina