Before I get reported to the European Court of Human rights for child depravation I should add that our three boys are treated equally. They had equal shares from their late grandfather, number one added it to his wages from part time work and went to South Africa for hour building, number two is using it to have fun, part fund his degree and has bought a small car. Number three has it saved and will decide when he leaves High School.
Our major holidays for five years were only within car driving range and ultra cheap B&B/camping, as opposed to before when we took flights abroad, hired a car and stayed in hotels. Luckily living in Italy we have plenty of choices of nearby destinations.
My wife probably suffered the most giving up her starts first time, almost new car for a multi coloured, not so reliable aged piece of junk. I never managed to get round to re-spraying the bonnet so it remained a different colour, though was easy to spot in the car park!
It was a bit of a wrench to part with my live steam models which I had built since a teenager but as I built them before I can do so again, something for my retirement years.
I do agree that outsourcing training costs on to the student is morally questionable but as we all clamour for cheaper flights a way has to be found to pay for that. So it is passed on to the one that can protest all they like but has no real impact on the airlines, no licence, no job. Supply and demand in a booming (training) market leads to that. The blunt fact is that until now people have been prepared to pay these high sums.
I merely presented this an alternative to those who maybe have the chance to do what we did. I accept that not everyone has that possibility and aviation is incredibly cruel, basically if you have no money or resources your chances in civil aviation are very slim.
In summary it was our determination to do as much as we could and not to fund bank's profit margins by using loans. Mission accomplished. Since April last year we have a qualified, debt-free son, earning his own way, saving monthly, flying for fun and building for his future with FI rating. The next steps are up to him.
PS Last summer holiday we lived it up, flew to Sweden, toured all round and stayed in decent hotels.
Last edited by ilvaporista; 15th Feb 2018 at 07:08.