11 Plus Exams Forum

Is my DC's education worth more to me than clean windows?

I have just worked out that my window cleaner is probably earning between £50 and £60 per hour. I do not begrudge him his hard earned income and even briefly toyed with the idea of jacking in the job as it appears I can earn more cleaning windows.

If tutors are paid £20 - £30 and hour, which do I value more, education or clean windows?

By the way, this question makes sense from the tutor/window cleaners perspective - as I know I pay the window cleaner £10 a month and the tutor £30 a week. (I pay the window cleaner £10 for approx 10 minutes work = £60/hour, and the tutor £30/hour for one hour). I am sure that there are other examples out there.

So which do I value more? A tutor who has a degree and PGCE with years of experience invested in education, or a man with a bucket?

Well it won't work out as £60 when you factor in his costs and the time it takes to get to other properties and there is only so much physical labour a person can do in the day, plus he has to take into account the weather and customers not paying or "letting him go". I have a friend in the window cleaning business and they initially thought they only had to work two days a week but that is not the reality.

Education is more important than clean windows but hey you could clean them yourself! Now if my boys end up being happy and well-payed in a job such is window cleaning then that's fine with me however I want them to have a degree behind them so that if they ever feel that they can no longer work in a manual job they have good options. Equiping our children with a number of skills is the most important thing.

If my boys want to be the best educated window cleaners, dustmen, gardeners etc..... in the area then fine but in educating them I have given them the choice of what they want to do and that is what education is all about - giving them choice.

Well it won't work out as £60 when you factor in his costs and the time it takes to get to other properties

you would have to do the same for tutors..preparation can take much longer than the lesson, especially for new pupil

edited to add:

I try not to think about my printer ink, paper and laminating bill and then there are stickers, small treats for pupils, books....

I keep telling myself I will break even one day. I made a profit of £550 last tax year!

I made a profit of £550 last tax year!

Cleaning windows, tutoring or ill-gotten gains?

Well, our neighbour currently doing bird in relation to unlicensed pharmaceutical products had a v. nice car...

A member of my family has been made redundant from so many fraud prevention/investigation jobs as banks and police forces have shut down their units that I'm strongly tempted to try fraud as my next career move.

Mike

mystery wrote:Cleaning windows, tutoring or ill-gotten gains?

tutoring, ill gotten gains even less profitable in my case

Well you could have a portfolio career and do the fraud as well as serving your neighbour's clients while they are left in the lurch.

I suppose the portfolio option is the best.

Tending to ones hydroponics in the morning, a bit of window cleaning in the afternnon, followed by tutoring 4pm - 6pm, which leaves you time for tea before going off onto the street corner for a late night shift.

Could earn some serious dosh this way. However, just a feeling that wifey will complain that I am always out. Perhaps if I introduced her to the hydroponics...