Even though I’ve been budgeting for over 10 years now, things have felt more and more tight with every passing year.
J just graduated from high school, and I decided to sit down and calculate just how much his senior year cost us!
(Just a note that AI was NOT involved in the writing of this post.)
Senior Costs
Below is a list of expenses for his senior year.
- Senior Photos – $608.53
- Photo shoot and digital downloads – $325
- Clothes (3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes – all of which were very casual and he could wear again) – $176.66
- Prints (5x7s, wallets and shipping) – $71.87
- Cap and gown session – $35
- Dances – $499.22
- Homecoming – $234.24
- Tickets (2) – $40
- Suit jacket – $134.99
- Tie and suspenders – $12.99
- Flowers and supplies – $46.26
- Prom – $264.98
- Tickets (2) – $170
- Vest and tie – $34.98
- Flowers and supplies – $60
- He went to homecoming and the prom his junior year as well, so I’m not sure if this a true senior-only expense. We also tried to be frugal by buying a suit jacket that he could wear again, not renting a tux and buying flowers and making the bouquets and pocket boutonnieres.
- Homecoming – $234.24
- Senior Ads – $347.10
- Full page ad + senior spotlight for football program – $85
- Full page ad for band festival program – $100
- Full page ad for musical program – $100
- Quarter page ad for yearbook – $62.10 (and another $73.13 for the yearbook itself, not included in the total)
- We put smaller ads in previous band and musical programs.
- College Prep – $1,351.90
- Four College in High School (CHS) courses – $940
- Two SAT tests ($68 each) and two score sends ($15 each) – $166
- One AP test and one (free) score send – $91
- College application fees (most were free but two had fees) – $110
- Music audition fee (most were free but one had fees) – $35
- CHS transcript send – $9.90 + another to come
- J took one CHS course his sophomore year and one his junior year. He also took two AP courses his junior year. So this is also not a true senior expense, but it was more than previous years!
- College Acceptance – $654.68
- Deposit – $90
- Housing deposit – $175
- Orientation – $60
- T-shirts and gear for the family! $329.68
- Obviously this is only the tip of the iceberg, but these were costs incurred during his senior year. He’s also gotten good use out of the college t-shirts, wearing them for senior acceptance day, etc.
- Graduation – $148.84
- Formal invitations, envelopes and name cards – $93.65
- Cap and gown – $32.65
- ITS cords – $10
- Tie – $12.54
I won’t include the graduation party in the calculation as it’s ongoing. But here’s a list of what we’ve purchased and what’s still to come.
- Pavilion rental – $335.05
- Party invites (250) – $74.10
- Envelopes (100) – $13.63
- We didn’t need as many envelopes because J passed a bunch of invites out at school. Plus, we designed the invites to fit in with the formal invitations, which saved us money.
- Stamps (80 so far at 78 cents each) – $62.40
- Thank you cards
- Decorations
- Food
- Supplies
Total (not including the party): $3,610.27
No wonder things feel tight. Looking at the specifics though, I don’t know how we could have done much better unless we opted out of things altogether.
Other High School Expenses
J has been involved in several activities throughout his high school years, so I didn’t include the specifics in the senior calculation, but do want to mention them here as expenses.
- Band. Photos, show shirts, uniform cleanings, bingo basket donations, concession donations, football season tickets and other event entry fees. This year’s trip ($4,000) was paid for by lots and lots (and lots) of fundraising. We also made and purchased thank you cards for our sub customers for the last sale.
- Musical. Show shirts, sandals, basket donation and food/concession donations.
- Choir. Trip! J joined choir his junior year, and we crowdsourced the $1,000 for his trip both years. Since we ask local people to buy whatever we’re selling for band, we asked family and friends who live far away if they’d like to donate directly. We put up a webpage with photos, info and a counter, and sent two emails.
- Music. We bought J a new, professional trombone and mouthpiece for college. Plus, he’s had private lessons for two years and this year, private voice lessons.
- Clay Target team. Registration, physical, shells, photos and the state tournament.
Another new and significant expense was the car. I bought a new-to-me car before J got his license, with plans to give him my old car. However, it died, and my sister sold us her old car for $1,000 which went towards some initial repairs. Car expenses now include:
- My primary car payment
- Gas, maintenance and registration for my car
- Gas, maintenance and registration for J’s car
- Car insurance
And of course, all of the regular things kids always need — food, clothes, health insurance, exams, contacts/glasses, school supplies and on and on and on.
Moral of the story — kids are expensive. 馃槅
If I were to post this on social media, I’m wondering if I would get blasted for the number of activities that he’s in, or how much all of the activities cost. I don’t have any points of comparison for how much it costs to be involved in sports instead — maybe it’s on par or a ton more.
Personally, I wanted to give him the opportunity to be a kid, try things out and see what he likes. Turns out, it’s music! He has made us very proud in the many leadership roles he’s had during high school. J plans to go to college in the fall to be a music teacher. (Post on college comparison costs to come.)
He’s also now gainfully employed! We’ll work on his budget for college this summer (and start that Roth IRA!).
What about you? Have you found that their senior year in high school is particularly expensive? How have you prepared or gotten through it? Comment below!