I'm curious about what others do. If you don't mind sharing, I'd like to know what you spend each year, either per kid or as a family, especially if you have older kids.
Most classes around here are $15/class, which adds up really fast. Except for things like music lessons and horseback riding, which work out to around $50/hour. We do take advantage of financial aid and barter when we can...but I can't count on always being able to get aid, YK? In the case of music lessons, we stretch them out and go 2-4 weeks or more between lessons, as needed, with me filling in the gaps at home.
There are some great and relatively inexpensive summer opportunities that support our family's interests, things I can do along with the kids so I'm not sending them off on their own, that we are going to try out just for this summer. But cheap does not equal free. We'll take it one summer at a time.
We do lots of fun free and cheap stuff during the year. We do free soccer and free homeschooling classes (there are some paid classes in our group that we generally opt out of). We were in a free and absolutely wonderful community theater production last winter and will continue doing that yearly. I sing in a free choir, we organize a free monthly sing with friends, and we do a lot of other fun stuff that costs nothing. We don't have school fees; we pay only $5/week during the school year for our homeschool group's dues. We are working on beginning a monthly game night at our house. We also contradance a few times a month, where we get a family rate that works out to about $4/person (regular admission is $10/person).
I feel incredibly lucky that we are able to afford the opportunities that we do. We didn't even feel the need to do any paid activities until about a year ago, and we managed to add activities despite some big financial challenges. Things are easing up for us financially right now and that is why we can consider the summer activities. I know that at any time we can just opt out and things would be fine, but I'm also concerned about making the most of a window of opportunity that I see for some of my kids in some areas. My oldest is surrounded by some amazing mentors who are strongly supporting him in what amounts to a professional learning track (that will quite likely get him paid work as a teen).
My second and third are in the right place at the right time with rare opportunities for things they are developmentally prime for. One takes lessons from a world-class fiddle teacher, and the other, the one who could do perfect headstands at age three, is taking a class at a pro circus school that happens to be in our town. My youngest is dying for horse riding lessons, but I'm having her wait (she is only 5). Still, I'm considering that cost in the future mix.
I guess this is one area where we are comfortable spending more. We scrimp (within our comfort zone) on food and household and housing and heat and clothing and recreation and gas and other things, but spending on kids activities (about one class or instrument per kid) seems really important right now, especially since we homeschool.
It seems like so many people have their kids in so many expensive activities. I don't know how they do it. Maybe they have more money, or less kids, or both - or different priorities, somehow. We have nixed a number of really interesting opportunities that our friends do because they just felt so unaffordable to us. (Wilderness school one day/week at $1700/kid/year, music daycamp at $250/kid/week, all-ages-inclusive Music Together at $15/kid/week would be $60/week for our family, etc., dance lessons, pottery classes, art classes, youth theater at $450/kid/show regardless of role, theatre classes, etc.) And my kids aren't even interested in competitive sports - now that sounds really expensive (hockey, gymnastic, competitive dance, etc).
Can you help put this in perspective for me? What does your family average per kid on activities through the course of a year (including summer)? Does it vary widely by kid or by year? Do you think you are frugal in your choices or is this an area where you knowingly splurge?
Most classes around here are $15/class, which adds up really fast. Except for things like music lessons and horseback riding, which work out to around $50/hour. We do take advantage of financial aid and barter when we can...but I can't count on always being able to get aid, YK? In the case of music lessons, we stretch them out and go 2-4 weeks or more between lessons, as needed, with me filling in the gaps at home.
There are some great and relatively inexpensive summer opportunities that support our family's interests, things I can do along with the kids so I'm not sending them off on their own, that we are going to try out just for this summer. But cheap does not equal free. We'll take it one summer at a time.
We do lots of fun free and cheap stuff during the year. We do free soccer and free homeschooling classes (there are some paid classes in our group that we generally opt out of). We were in a free and absolutely wonderful community theater production last winter and will continue doing that yearly. I sing in a free choir, we organize a free monthly sing with friends, and we do a lot of other fun stuff that costs nothing. We don't have school fees; we pay only $5/week during the school year for our homeschool group's dues. We are working on beginning a monthly game night at our house. We also contradance a few times a month, where we get a family rate that works out to about $4/person (regular admission is $10/person).
I feel incredibly lucky that we are able to afford the opportunities that we do. We didn't even feel the need to do any paid activities until about a year ago, and we managed to add activities despite some big financial challenges. Things are easing up for us financially right now and that is why we can consider the summer activities. I know that at any time we can just opt out and things would be fine, but I'm also concerned about making the most of a window of opportunity that I see for some of my kids in some areas. My oldest is surrounded by some amazing mentors who are strongly supporting him in what amounts to a professional learning track (that will quite likely get him paid work as a teen).
My second and third are in the right place at the right time with rare opportunities for things they are developmentally prime for. One takes lessons from a world-class fiddle teacher, and the other, the one who could do perfect headstands at age three, is taking a class at a pro circus school that happens to be in our town. My youngest is dying for horse riding lessons, but I'm having her wait (she is only 5). Still, I'm considering that cost in the future mix.
I guess this is one area where we are comfortable spending more. We scrimp (within our comfort zone) on food and household and housing and heat and clothing and recreation and gas and other things, but spending on kids activities (about one class or instrument per kid) seems really important right now, especially since we homeschool.
It seems like so many people have their kids in so many expensive activities. I don't know how they do it. Maybe they have more money, or less kids, or both - or different priorities, somehow. We have nixed a number of really interesting opportunities that our friends do because they just felt so unaffordable to us. (Wilderness school one day/week at $1700/kid/year, music daycamp at $250/kid/week, all-ages-inclusive Music Together at $15/kid/week would be $60/week for our family, etc., dance lessons, pottery classes, art classes, youth theater at $450/kid/show regardless of role, theatre classes, etc.) And my kids aren't even interested in competitive sports - now that sounds really expensive (hockey, gymnastic, competitive dance, etc).
Can you help put this in perspective for me? What does your family average per kid on activities through the course of a year (including summer)? Does it vary widely by kid or by year? Do you think you are frugal in your choices or is this an area where you knowingly splurge?
