06.21.08
Graduation and it’s High Cost
My 14 year old’s middle school graduation is this week. I don’t know about you but I don’t even remember my middle school graduation and my guess is that’s because there really wasn’t much pomp and circumstance. Well, fast forward a few materialistic decades later and much has changed.
So what does graduation cost in 2008?
- Year Book - $30 (that’s the base price. If you personalize it add $10 - $20 more)
- Cap and Gown - $40
- DVD of the exciting graduation event - $15
- Graduation dinner for family of 5 - $200 (add more if you’re inviting Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Mary and Uncle Lou etc.)
- Graduation Gift for your child – that’s pretty discretionary starting from a $25 American Express gift card a $1400 Mac Notebook (guess the sky is the limit on that one).
- Graduation party 50 – 75 kids (if you’re the sucker that ends up making one) - $1000+.
- Gifts for graduation parties your child attends – here is the real subjective one. After much research I found that 50% of bloggers out there feel your child does NOT need to bring a gift to a graduation party if he or she is graduating as well. However the other 50% feel the opposite and they suggest gifts of either $25 gift cards or a snack for the party. So on this one, let’s say average $25 per party. My son has 4 parties so that’s $100.
- Grand total – about $1400+++
Yes, roughly $1400 to celebrate that your child passed all his classes for 3 years (was there any other option???) and didn’t send you to an early grave as he gracefully glided through puberty. I’m feeling thankful already J
Stumble it!
» The High Cost of Graduation said,
June 21, 2008 at 10:24 pm
[...] Personal Finance Advice wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt My 14 year old is graduating from middle school this week. I don’t know about you but I don’t even remember my middle school graduation and my guess is that’s because there really wasn’t much pomp and circumstance. Well, fast forward a few materialistic decades later and much has changed. So what does graduation cost in 2008? Year Book - $30 (that’s the base price. If you personalize it add $10 - $20 more) Cap and Gown - $40 DVD of the exciting graduation event - $15 Graduation dinner [...]
Rosie : ) said,
June 26, 2008 at 12:35 am
Thank you for talking about finances and family life! This subject is important and necessary.
As parents of seven children, my husband and I try to teach proper monetary habits to the kids.
It is a continual progression.! {lol}
Have a fantabulous day,
Rosie : )
beth said,
June 26, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Wow! Expensive! Thank goodness I have quite a few years before I have to worry about this. I am assuming that pre-school graudation doesn’t quite warrant the same financials! What ever happened to the years where everyone just gave out nice pens for graduation? Sigh….
CreditMom said,
June 29, 2008 at 12:06 am
Thanks for your responses. I agree, it’s a never ending struggle to teach monetary habits. I just have to hope there are rewards at the end!
High School Credit Cards said,
July 12, 2008 at 3:18 am
I find it always informative to read great blogs with good content about High School Credit Cards because we can learn so much about the subject. Your blog regarding h Cost of Graduation | Credit Mom seems a good start for my search. I still have few blogs to visit on the same theme.
Movie Ticket Prices - The Cost of Taking a Family of Five to See Batman | Credit Mom said,
July 21, 2008 at 11:22 pm
[...] morning I purchased 5 tickets from moviefone.com for the evening show of the Dark Knight. It cost us $100.50 for a 2 1/2 hour movie. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was awesome. We all [...]
Charlei Miller said,
August 2, 2008 at 10:56 am
Could not agee with you more..
CreditMom said,
August 2, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Thanks for reading!