Okay, I admit it somewhat sheepishly, I send my kids to private school. It's easy to justify since I live in an urban neighborhood where the district public schools just aren't all that well-regarded. And man, my kids' elementary school is nice. Large, sunny classrooms, awesome teachers, great facilities and "specials" galore like gym, art, music, foreign languages. The kids love it.

There's only one problem. The place is expensive. And my husband and I struggle to scrape together the cash each year. It is a large percentage of our income, making those little extra charges incurred at public schools (See "Top Five Most Annoying School Costs") like fundraisers and pricey class photos, seem like chump change.

I can forgo the larger apartment, flat-screen TV and the new car. But what really worries me can be summed up in one word: College. We have lots of friends who do send their kids to public school. Their kids are doing just fine -- and better yet -- the parents are actually setting money aside for their college tuitions!

Sure, we set up a 529b plan for my oldest daughter, and it is quietly and slowly growing these days -- even without funds being added each year as we intended. And I keep meaning to set one up for my second child. I will someday, too.

I hope it will turn out, as the principal of their school asserts, that the kids are getting such a great educational foundation that spending so much money on elementary school will make sense in the long run. Ripping them out of a school they love certainly doesn't seem like a good choice right now.

And I wonder, if we hadn't chosen that expensive school, would I really have saved a bunch more for their college? Maybe a little more. Or maybe I'd just have a nicer apartment, car and flat-screen TV.