Kids sports and extra curriculars, how much is too much? How much do you spend annually on your child's sports or other extra curricular activities.
I have two kids - my oldest is involved in a very affordable team sport, season runs from Early Fall - late Spring, the cost for the team is under $200, everyone uses the same standard equipment that is affordable and the cost for each competition is $50 or less and in general there are only 4-5 competitions a year. She also sings in a children's choir which is more expensive, but still reasonable and again runs from September - April. And finally both kids are involved in scouts which is very inexpensive. The total for all her activities is well under $2000 a year.
My youngest is getting older, has been doing gymnastics for a couple of years now, just a recreational class once a week. Recently she was asked to try out for the competitive team. I called to ask for more information, including information on pricing and it's high IMO. The first year is pre-team - 4 hours a week, year round, $170 a month. Expensive, but do-able, we could swing this.
However, after that first year on pre-team, they are expected to continue onto the competitive team where the price goes up to $255 a month, the commitment goes up to 9 hours a week and then there are meet fees on top of the $255 a month to the tune of $1300 a year. Plus I assume fees for leotards and uniforms and travel to competitions. Over 4K a year.
I hesitate to say we could not afford it, but I will say it is way more than I am willing to spend on a 10 year old. She enjoys gymnastics, but she is not a future olympian.
And that got me to thinking - what do people spend on their kids sports? What is "reasonable" for your family? My kids have never played "typical" kid sports such as rec soccer or t-ball, let alone competitive travel teams. What do these things cost? Is 4K a year for competitive gymnastics in line or out of line for other competitive/travel level sports?
I have two kids - my oldest is involved in a very affordable team sport, season runs from Early Fall - late Spring, the cost for the team is under $200, everyone uses the same standard equipment that is affordable and the cost for each competition is $50 or less and in general there are only 4-5 competitions a year. She also sings in a children's choir which is more expensive, but still reasonable and again runs from September - April. And finally both kids are involved in scouts which is very inexpensive. The total for all her activities is well under $2000 a year.
My youngest is getting older, has been doing gymnastics for a couple of years now, just a recreational class once a week. Recently she was asked to try out for the competitive team. I called to ask for more information, including information on pricing and it's high IMO. The first year is pre-team - 4 hours a week, year round, $170 a month. Expensive, but do-able, we could swing this.
However, after that first year on pre-team, they are expected to continue onto the competitive team where the price goes up to $255 a month, the commitment goes up to 9 hours a week and then there are meet fees on top of the $255 a month to the tune of $1300 a year. Plus I assume fees for leotards and uniforms and travel to competitions. Over 4K a year.
I hesitate to say we could not afford it, but I will say it is way more than I am willing to spend on a 10 year old. She enjoys gymnastics, but she is not a future olympian.
And that got me to thinking - what do people spend on their kids sports? What is "reasonable" for your family? My kids have never played "typical" kid sports such as rec soccer or t-ball, let alone competitive travel teams. What do these things cost? Is 4K a year for competitive gymnastics in line or out of line for other competitive/travel level sports?