S/O of S/O: How much on extracurriculars? - Page 2

[Hey Mama!]

Originally Posted by jentilla

We have a "rule" of nothing until you are 4,

We do the same thing. My older girls will do 4-H, which has a $15 registration fee plus whatever fees are associated with what sections they take. Middle and youngest will do dance class (1 hour 1 time per week) at $37 each per month, but we will get a small discount for having two enrolled. Oldest wants to do soccer which is a $60 fee but I don't know about that one yet. I'm going back to college full time and don't want to overschedule the family.

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Our boys are allowed to choose one sport/activity per season, then they also do piano lessons (non-negotiable until they are in junior high, but so far they all love it!) and then they do choir at church on sunday mornings.

The sports are usually $50-70 per kid per season (we don't do any in summer, so just fall, winter and spring) This year it'll be baseball in fall and spring, and basketball in winter. Three of the four will be doing them (the youngest is too young, like a PP, we don't start activities until late 4-early 5 yo) So that will be about $450-500 for the year.

Piano is $70/wk for three kids (recently gone up, because oldest moved from 45 min to 1 hour lessons) and we wind up doing it about 48 wks of the year, so that's $3360/yr.

School trips wind up being about $50 per kid per year, so that's another $150.

Having kids is expensive, even when you try to limit their activites, LOL!

[A&A]

$62 a month for piano

$50 for soccer (once a year fee)

[mightymoo]

I used to be a big believer in that whole 'don't overschedule them' stuff, but my DD genuinely seems to want to do more. Last year we did just Karate 2x a week (or more, DD begged me constantly to take her) and soccer (which is only 8 weeks long) and I felt like I was constantly disappointing her that it wasn't a karate or soccer day.

However, this year is going to be tricky with me in grad school, because 2 nights a week I'm in class, and DH doesn't really get out of work early enough to watch the kids, so we'll need some kind of caregivers and asking them to take the kids to activities seems like a bit much.

DD (who is 6) is doing Karate 1x a week, which is $90/mo and both (my so nis 4) are doing soccer for 8 weeks (I believe that cost $110 total, but I had to register a million years ago so I've forgotten now).

I would love to slip in some music lessons for DD. She's very musically inclined and says she really wants to learn how to play the guitar (though I realize she should start with piano, etc) so I'm going to see if its possible to fit in music lessons - the local music school has a program where they get to try different instruments, etc for something like $50/mo.

Right now that isn't too bad, but when you start adding a second child into the mix it gets really expensive. However, at the moment I don't think DS is really ready for more activities yet.

[34me]

DD is cheap. She really doesn't have any ec interests. She went to a writing camp at the university this summer but that was only $75.

DS#1 plays travel ice hockey.Tuition in roughly $2000 a season which is from Tomorrow until March. There are some other fees associated with it but luckily we only do one out of state tournament a year. He has been growing quite a bit so he has gotten almost all new gear this year too.

DS#2 loves Lego Robotics. It's at his school so they ask for a $20 per semester donation but that's it.

The middle child is the most expensive

[WC_hapamama]

DD wants to do girl scouts again this year ($60 for the year), DS #2 wants cub scouts ($50 registration) or karate ($15 registration, $5 per week). DS #1 doesn't get to do anything until he can prove he can keep his grades up this year. DS #3 is barely turning 4 this year.

[kay4]

SO far I spend $95 a month on my 8 yo ds karate class and $60 for his whole season of tackle football
My 11 yo has expressed interest in gymnastics recently and i am going to look into that for her

[mightymoo]

From a frugal perspective I will say that I don't encourage expensive activities. That isn't to say I won't let my kids DO expensive activities, just that I don't suggest them, enroll them in them and if they mention them in passing I mostly ignore it. If they continued to express an interest in doing something I deem expensive I would look into it, but I've have to see some long term sustained interest before considering it. Things I consider too expensive: ski lessons / skiing, hockey, dance (although some dance programs maybe aren't too bad, I've seen how the ones in our area rake you over the coals with costume buying and recital tickets, etc), horseback riding lessons, etc. I'm sure my kids would love most of those, but I'm not sure they would really enjoy them that much more than less expensive activities, you know?

[velochic]

We have an only, but for us it's more about having family at home together than it is about money. We let dd have one activity that is school-related and one that is not as we are committed to eating together at least 5 nights a week. At school, she is in the science club, which meets once a week during the school year. Outside of school she participates in horseback riding. Registration for horse shows vary, but for everything, we pay about $200/month for her activities. She's also in Brownies, but that is usually just a one-time fee.

[ChetMC]

Cheap Stuff

So far we've only signed up for a few inexpensive things close to home. Dance classes at the community centre down the street are $23 for 8 classes (both of our girls are signed up), and our four year old will do a preschool type thing there that's $65 for 10 two hour sessions.

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

Right now that isn't too bad, but when you start adding a second child into the mix it gets really expensive. However, at the moment I don't think DS is really ready for more activities yet.

And that's exactly it. I point this out when the 'how expensive would it be to have another baby?' thread shows up on this forum every couple of months. Babies are cheap, they get more expensive as they grow up. And every child is an additional expense.

$40 for swimming lessons doesn't seem unreasonable, but I have 4 kids. So that means $160 each session for swimming lessons. $10-15/hour for an activity seems reasonable, but I do question the vaule of the activity when $10-15/hour translates into $40-60/hour when all of my kids participate. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes not.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by ChetMC

So far we've only signed up for a few inexpensive things close to home. Dance classes at the community centre down the street are $23 for 8 classes (both of our girls are signed up), and our four year old will do a preschool type thing there that's $65 for 10 two hour sessions.

Which community center offers $23 dance classes??? (I live in San Diego, too. )

[Peony]

We do a lot, but I use several activities like OT for DD1's SPD. Swimming and gymnastics is excellent for that. She does gymnastics twice a week, that will cost us $188.00 for Sep-Dec. Summer was much more then that, maybe $350.00 because of a gymnastics camp she did for 2 weeks. Swimming has been $36.00 a week for 2 sessions but her swimming coach is moving next week and I will cut back to probably just $18.00 a week which is one lesson when I find a new coach.


Last year we did piano for her fine motor skills in her hands, I think I paid $50.00 a month for that, I can't remember and I'm unsure if we will continue. I certainly will not if DD1 decides she wants to take ballet again, which will cost $165.00 for Sept-Dec.


DD2 does gymnastics once a week, which is $30.00 a month and a dance class which is $45.00 a month. Yeah, kids are expensive. Here soon I can see the family cap at the dance studio and gymanstics center coming in handy.

[sanguine_speed]

DS is doing a local municipal gymnastics program (entirely fun-based) for about $120 for 3 months, dd1 and dd2 do horseback riding at $300 per month combined, dd2 wants to try out violin, so we'll go for one month to try ($100), and dd1 is interested in participating in a local musical theatre program ($100/month).

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by Peony

We do a lot, but I use several activities like OT for DD1's SPD.

This is why we do horseback riding, even though it's very expensive. Horses are amazing for SPD.