This study seeks to understand the social meanings of expenses beyond tuition in the scholastic community, investigating the existence of strategies to address potentially exclusionary situations. Its main theoretical framework is Zelizer s concept of special monies; the analysis also draws inspiration from the ideas of Bourdieu, Lahire, and Laureau. The chosen methodology entailed a qualitative study anchored by two tools – observation and interviews – employed at a school in Rio de Janeiro s West Zone over the course of 18 visits as a participating observer, focused on elementary school. This stage was followed by semi-open interviews with school employees and the families of elementary schoolers from multiple schools. On-site observations revealed the construction of social hierarchies based on a personal perception of others engagement. For parents as well as teachers, willingness to make financial investments was read as an expression of emotional investment. Results indicate the existence of a broad discourse promoting the invisibility of potentially financially-motivated student absences and the establishment of an implicit contract on the part of the school, wherein opting to attend a private school ultimately means opting for a private education. Here, tuition is merely the minimum investment; additional expenses are in fact anticipated. For parents, funds spent on education emerge as a sort of special money that justifies extra sacrifices, and findings indicate that the most burdensome expenses are those without pedagogical justifications.