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Tuition - how much of take home pay?
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justforfun87




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 6:22 pm
I just got our full tuition bill and quite honestly I realize with our income we actually can't afford it. I mean technically if we eat beans we can. It is more than a 1/3-1/2 of our take home pay. Is this a normal amount of take home salary that should be dedicated to tuition? Yes we have around 100,000 grand tied up in stocks but that is from when I was a child and it's never ever touched. We don't save ever aside from the match from our jobs which is like 3-6% depending on the job. Am I supposed to just suck it up and tighten up our spending or is it reasonable to ask for a tuition break? Total tuition will be around 33,000 cash for the year. I don't want to be one of those people that everyone hates who does have a cleaning lady (1xweek) but expects a break.
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amother
NeonYellow


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 6:35 pm
Last year our tuition bill was about 95% of our take-home pay. (No, we didn't manage to pay it all.) B"H our income went up a lot. This year it was over 50% including books, transportation, uniforms, etc. We paid most of it, still have another few thousand left.
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justforfun87




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 6:50 pm
amother [ NeonYellow ] wrote:
Last year our tuition bill was about 95% of our take-home pay. (No, we didn't manage to pay it all.) B"H our income went up a lot. This year it was over 50% including books, transportation, uniforms, etc. We paid most of it, still have another few thousand left.

95%?!? So you didnt pay your mortgage or buy food?
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amother
Vermilion


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 6:53 pm
yes our tuition is more than half our take home pay...its almost more than twice our monthly rent... .we afford this bec we live in a small apt and we do spend very little money on food and do eat simply and get from pantries.....we also dont have cleaning help or...

its very hard....

im not telling you what to do but just giving you perspective and im paying almost full tuition for each of my children....me n dh work full time...I would love to stay home like others I know but salaries on gov programs dont pay tuition so I really dont understand how others who earn so little to qualify for programs,(I dont qualify) pay tuition for all their children...they dont get gov money for tuition where I live ....
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nicole81




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 6:59 pm
Full tuition is 129% of our take home pay 🤷🏼‍♀️

I think one third of net pay is a very reasonable expectation. There are some schools that use one-third of *gross* pay as their tuition cap..
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amother
Marigold


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 7:10 pm
Tuition is about 20 percent of our take home pay. I work 30 hours a week and dh 40. I am a firm believer that cleaning help is a necessity for a working nom with little kids. I have 6 hours a week. I will happily give masser money to a family with two full time or almost full time parents who can’t afford cleaning help.
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amother
Petunia


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 7:29 pm
Just worked it out, it's about 30% our take home pay.

But our salaries are not going up as quickly as our tuition bills do.

And we don't have $100k in savings plus steady 401k deposits.
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amother
RosePink


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 8:04 pm
38%. We pay it.

It is our biggest expense. Mortgage is second, at 27%, then maaser.
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amother
NeonYellow


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 8:05 pm
justforfun87 wrote:
95%?!? So you didnt pay your mortgage or buy food?

We had food stamps then, so that was our food. (I cannot begin to tell you how great a blessing food stamps are, not constantly feeling guilty every time I eat something.) We somehow managed to pay rent (plus late fees most months), struggled for everything else, and like I said we did not manage to pay most of the tuition bill. Still an improvement over previous years where our electricity and heat were constantly on the verge of being shut off.

This year we had more breathing room, but tuition is still A LOT.
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amother
Trillium


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 8:27 pm
2 kids. 50 % of take home. This is the norm
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amother
Blushpink


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 8:39 pm
Mine is 20% of take home pay about.3 kids on school. Pay ALOT for one of them.
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mha3484




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 8:51 pm
Tuition is 25% of my net income. My child tax credit on my tax return help a lot. I apply for financial aid like 80% of the school and live very very simply. This year I have three in school. One in nursery which is $$ and there is no financial aid.
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amother
Daphne


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 8:57 pm
We live on DH paycheck mine goes to tuition plus all the shonnerring I do from different relative that help us pay. I work only 20 hours a week and can't work more I tried but my kids need me to take them to and from school and all the appointments that they have to go to it is not workable for me to work more.
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justforfun87




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 10:29 pm
To clarify we both work full time and while there is potential for growth it is very slow.. wow, tuition is not sustainable! How do people even think of saving money when such a HUGE amount of income goes to tuition? It is more than double our housing costs . I guess I should feel guilty asking for a break... I was just so sticker shocked I got nauseated. It financially is so irresponsible to me who is very thrifty by nature.
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Ellie7




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 10:35 pm
Get ready to throw the tomatoes, but how is this not something you see coming? You know or can easily find out how much tuition is. You know how many children you have and thus what your total tuition will be. You know what your income is. So, doesn’t it make sense to have some sort of plan?
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 10:37 pm
We earn 100k and pay 30k in tuition for 2 kids.
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nicole81




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Aug 04 2021, 11:05 pm
justforfun87 wrote:
To clarify we both work full time and while there is potential for growth it is very slow.. wow, tuition is not sustainable! How do people even think of saving money when such a HUGE amount of income goes to tuition? It is more than double our housing costs . I guess I should feel guilty asking for a break... I was just so sticker shocked I got nauseated. It financially is so irresponsible to me who is very thrifty by nature.


You mentioned upthread that you guys get a 3-6% employee match. That's huge. I know it's not the ideal amount to save, but do you have any idea how few frum families have employer savings/retirement plans and still save little to nothing? Bh it sounds like you're doing relatively well considering the costs of frum life.
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amother
Phlox


 

Post Thu, Aug 05 2021, 12:21 am
Were in a very similar position. Full tuition for 4 kids is about 31k and our take home pay is about 130k I think. We have roughly 50k in retirement funds and equity in our home otherwise that's it. We also have a LOT of student loans. I'm asking for a break. Iyh our incomes will improve and we should be able to pay full and not be in debt. I'm hoping for about 4k break. I know that's not huge but at least it's something.
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amother
Zinnia


 

Post Thu, Aug 05 2021, 12:31 am
Ellie7 wrote:
Get ready to throw the tomatoes, but how is this not something you see coming? You know or can easily find out how much tuition is. You know how many children you have and thus what your total tuition will be. You know what your income is. So, doesn’t it make sense to have some sort of plan?

I'm curious what you think someone who's already working full time should be planning?
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amother
Phlox


 

Post Thu, Aug 05 2021, 2:29 am
To get a better job or space out children if you can't pay for them. Yes that is what many of us do.
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