It's August and very soon the primary and secondary schools will be vacating. Many parents while enjoying their wards' companies during the holiday periods also have to pass through the stress of having to sort out their fees.
Let's take this instance, Mr. Johnson's three kids in different academic levels would be requiring school fees totalling up to ₦500,000. He has only ₦150,000 left in his savings account after paying up the dept from the previous term's fees and running other expenses.
He can't withdraw the kids as the school offers the kind of education every parent wants. He only has one option of borrowing from his friend or collecting a loan from the bank. He chooses to borrow from his friend as he believes the bank rates are exploitative. Now he has to pay back the money and the circle continues in the holidays to come.
How To Avoid Borrowing To Pay School Fees
What if I tell Mr. Johnson that he can pay his wards' fees without borrowing from his friends or collecting loans? Before your kids next holiday, you can apply these tips to help you pay their fees without borrowing:• Budget
Every single Naira you spend comes from your pocket and without a budget, you won't have anything determining your spending limits. Budgeting will give you insights on your household income and possible expenses.• Cut your coat according to your cloth
If the school takes more than 50% of your monthly salary, you might be setting the stage for hardship and borrowing. For instance a family that earns ₦600,000 (combined) a month will have to save ₦80,000 monthly to pay a school fees of ₦240,000 per term. The remaining ₦360,000 will be used for other expenses.
• Work harder
If you really want your kids to go to that big school, you have to really work hard for it. Try putting in more efforts while drawing your employee's attention. With time he's promote you and your pay will be increased. If this doesn't happen, you can consider seeking for employment in a similar organisation that will pay better.• Seek an alternative source of income
You can instead of seeking for promotion or switching to another company, seek for an alternative source of income. You can consider running businesses that won't be requiring your physical presence all the time.I once spoke with a banker that quitted her banking job for poultry farming business. According to her, she saved up some money from her salary which she used in setting up the poultry and hiring an employee. In a few years, the poultry started paying her more than the banking job and she quitted the job to expand her business. She also started egg distribution and selling of poultry feeds and they're all doing very fine today.
• Home school
This is not yet popular in Nigeria but some enlightened parents are also trying it out as. Many parents are spending extra time at home teaching their kids with the regular school curricula. Some also go as far as hiring home teachers who hey pay salaries. One advantage of home teaching is that it helps you understand your kids very well.• Invest towards the future
You can start preparing towards your ward's university education by investing in high yielding mutual funds, bonds or many of the quality products in the money and capital markets.For instance, you can consider buying an FGN Bond that pays 15% per annum in yield and reinvesting the interest for about 10 years. You can grow your money exponentially by taking leveraging on the power of compounding interest.
• Scholarship
Another way of getting your child into that choice institution is by taking advantage of available scholarship opportunities. If you have a brainy child, it'll be best for him/her to go for a scholarship opportunity.In applying for scholarships, also note that there are scholarship scams which you should be mindful of. You can check out these 8 signs of that a scholarship opportunity is a scam.
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