paying for extracuricular activities

[starbound25]

ok on a budget how do you do this?? we have 3 kiddos and are ttc #4 right now and the thought of paying for soccer just for 2 of them makes me almost not want to ttc because how will we do it??

seriously how do you budget that, everything is SO expensive, dance/gymnastics/soccer they are all crazy $$
I dont want my kids not to be able to experience this stuff but even 1 dance class for the oldest would be over $100 a month for 1hr a week!

how do you do it??

[A&A]

That's one of the reasons we only have 2 children.

[Eman'smom]

We have 3 but for us too, having the third we took into account the fact that would mean 3 sets of activites.

How do you mean how do we budget, like save so much a month? Only allow so many activities?

[Einen]

$100 for 4 hours of dance! That's outrageous. I pay around $30/month for ballet and tap.

I don't have any brilliant ideas as far as budgeting for extra activities. Don't feel bad if you just can't squeeze them in. Of course they are nice, but they're certainly not mandatory for a pleasant childhood.

[starbound25]

I'm not sure what I mean
we are very budgeted and I can forecast a budget of life with another one and do a "mock" budget of like 5yrs from now and while we wont be paycheck to paycheck we certainly wont have $500 extra a month to cover activities costs

so I guess I'm wondering either what people sacrifice or other creative ways they have found to absorb the costs or do you go without?

[Ruthiegirl]

We scout out low cost stuff. The YMCA offers terrific dance lessons/soccer camps/swim lessons/lacrosse for decent prices. Our Y does a great job at keeping costs down so all members of our community can afford to join in the fun (scholarships exist for those who don't have the cash).

Dance lessons -- $25 a month
Soccer -- $30 for the season
Swim Team (through our Parks and Rec) -- $80 for the whole summer
Lacrosse was $15 for 8 weeks

This works for us. My kids are really physical, so all the exercise is great for them and since we homeschool, I document all of this as part of our education. And we don't do ity all at once; we pick and choose our favs.

[karne]

I have two, and I know what you mean--extra's can get really pricey. I think the worst is when you have to pay full-fee up front, without knowing if your kid will lose interest in a month or two. Just my pet peeve:.

We allow one extra per kid, at a time. wWe have had some luck with my parents and DH's parents contrbuting toward extras for either b-day or xmas. I love that because then their gift is really making a difference. Some x-tras are low cost, ie scouting, 4-H, library programs, so that's a great way to go. Outdoor programs offered by audabon, or other such nature groups are another alternative. IME it's easy to get caught up in the idea that everyone does dance,gymnastics, etc., when actually there are a lot of other experinces for kids that are just as valuable.

[starbound25]

I guess its hard where we live too, in the middle of no where so the closest YMCA is 50 min. away
their gymnastics class would cost $50 a month if we were members, hard to buy a membership when we live so far away, the cost doubles if you are a non member
even a dance class at a small school is minimum of 30 minutes away and about $90 a month
thats all for one kid, not including gear and gas, I guess I just dont even know how we'll do it now with 3 and if we had 4 there is no way and it makes me sad for the kids I have and the one I dont too
I dont want them to not be well rounded and fulfilled, but living in the middle of nowhere poses things to do issues

[schrocat]

We budget for it. I try to keep DS's extracurricular stuff to less than $900 a month. This includes his montessori which was $715. Now that we've taken him out of montessori, our budget for his preschool plus extracurricular stuff can be reduced to maybe less than $500 a month.

Could you possibly find cheaper dance classes?

[karne]

Don't worry-your kids will be well rounded and fulfilled without pricey extras! Another quick thought...a mom I know signs up for a weekly class, and has two sibs. close in age. each sib alternates a week going to class, so essentially they "split" the class time, and only pay once. Maybe not ideal, but I know it helps them feel a part of extra when it's too expensive for two kids.

[kanga1622]

Honestly, I grew up in a VERY tiny town and the only extra curricular activities available were 4-H or sports through school. I think I'm a pretty good, well-rounded person without having done soccer, ballet, baton, gymnastics, etc. I spent a ton of time in the summer out having adventures in the backyard. My best friend and I had these very involved plans/activities/backgrounds for every game we made up and I never once missed having scheduled group activities.

When/if we have kids, I'm not counting on spending $$$ on activities. Most families I know that pay for activities limit it to 1 or 2 per child per season. Their kids certainly enjoy what they do get to take and aren't upset by what they are missing because they choose which activities to participate in and the parents are very up front with giving the kids the limits. Maybe you can give your kids a money limit when they are old enough to understand and let them choose whether to spend $100 on dance or $25 on 4 other activities.

[westernskies]

I think it must depend on the activities offered where you live. For us there are great inexpensive programs through the community recreation center and the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club- along with several of the local museums etc... We have 5 kiddos and 1 on the way and our limitation is making sure that I am not going crazy taking them here and there and everywhere. If there aren't these kinds of options in your area- what about asking a high school/college age kid to put on a class for little ones? Get a bunch of moms and kids together and see what talents/interests the moms have and do some sort of learning co-op. We do this for homeschooling and I have seen dance offered- and I imagine a regular moms/play group could put one together too for the kids.

[katheek77]

I was going to second the Y. The kids I nannied for did *all* sorts of things through the Y, and it really wasn't very expensive compared to a lot of the other stuff.

My friend's family used to tell them once they hit school (they had three kids): "We have X amount of dollars to spend on extra-curriculars for you this year (and it was a decent amount). You can spread it out over the year in a couple of e-c's, choose to do a special camp in the summer (mom was a teacher, so, not a great concern about childcare), or use it all up on Z. It's your choice."

And, of course, mom and dad helped them do the math and figure out if they did A could they still do B and so on, but, it really helped the kids understand where they were coming from. I think her older (but still younger) brother saved up that and his allowance for something like 2 years and went to Space Camp or one of those really cool (but expensive) camps one year.

[KariM]

We decided that each child will be able to choose one extracurricular that requires a cash outlay.

DD1 chose gymnastics.

DS chose gaming (Magic, D&D, etc.)

We use cash gifts from aunts & uncles, grandparents, etc. to finance them. At each holiday the checks go into each child's savings account and that is the amount to be spent on their hobbies/extracurriculars.

We started saving when the kids were infants so there were a few years the accounts were able to build up in anticipation.


ETA: DD's gymnastics classes are at the YMCA. She pays $31.00 for a seven week session. That is one class a week for seven weeks.

[Amys1st]

NEver mind the cost but the time and driving to and from in the car!

Dance classes at the park district for 12 weeks, one hour weekly= $60
At a dance center a block away= $30 per 30 minutes.

Cheerleading from July 30-Oct 31st or so. $185 and that includes the shoes, uniform etc. We have to buy warm ups, socks, and get her there plus the games and away games. She has practice everyday at the local park (bike there) until school starts and then twice a week. Plus the weekend game.

Brownies is weekly. Thats about $75 a year I pay out with dues, fees etc.

Religious Ed. Once a week. $250 but Free because I am a teacher volunteer at the church.

Summer camp two mornings and lunch a week. $75 for 4 weeks.

Brownies and RE is all year during school. I said only one other activity. ITs already busy with just two kids and one is a tot. Plus I factor in time for volunteering for the preschool, PTA, cheerleading etc which I do because I want to have these things for the kids to do. But during cheering, she will take a back seat for brownies, esp since they dont do as much until November etc. Dance she can do after cheering is done if she wants.

We factor it into our budget. I have asked for gifts to pay for this and most agree, good idea.

[1growingsprout]

We look for low cost or free activites most of the time. We are members to the zoo, science center and botanical gardens. Many times when we visit these places they have free activites set up (craft tables, lectures, talks,) etc that my kids love.

We are not a family that is into 'sports' per se. My kids dont like team activites so for now we are safe there.

I guess its just not something that our kids expect. Classes are viewed as a 'treat' or special activity. (unless of course its a homeschool program ;0) )

[my2girlz]

I always wished that my parents would have given me the opportunity to be in an activity so I make it a priority in my budget. We talk about if there is anything they would like to try. My girls did gymnastics. My oldest has now decided she would like to try dance instead. My middle child is still in gymnastics and is working towards being on the team. My youngest is only 3 so next year we'll give him some more options. We always check the community ed. site first, but they aren't always cheap. My oldest just finished up a "draw with me" class that she really liked. It was $65 for about 6 weeks. Swimming lessons were the same and my middle child took that.

[txdancer]

I am different from a lot of moms on this site in that I think activities are REALLY important for kids, especially once they are 7 or eight. I am just a step-mom right now, but the kids live at my house full time so I take care of most of their scheduling. They do a lot, and we make those costs one of our priorities. Growing up, my brother and I always did lots of activities. I danced a lot, at the end up to 30ish hours of just classes a week. It was a lot of money, especially considering shoes, costumes etc... but it really helped make me who I am. My brother played football from pee-wee up, and is now a pro football player which is pretty cool. That was expensive too, especially with all the camps, extra training, special gear, and special medical care.

Because I know that he probably wouldn't be able to be living his dream right now without all those extras they are really important to me.

For young kids though, you don't need the most expensive classes or anything. All you need is a basic one to let your kids see if they will even enjoy the class.

[Sharlla]

Well we only have one in activities right now. We pay $80 a month for karate. My MIL had pledged to pay $40 of it but she only paid for like 2 months. I probably won't put DS2 in activities for another 4 years or so.

[MommytoTwo]

I dont know. We pay $40/mo for ballet for DD which isnt too bad. We are also going to be paying $80 for soccer for DS in August. Not to mention the $275 a month we pay for preschool.
Like a pp said, its the reason we dont have more kids. Well plus braces and college. LOL