MOOK - Kid activity costs

[namasteak]

I noticed in the daycare cost thread that several people said that after their kids were out of daycare a lot of that money went to kid activities so they didn't save as much as they thought they would. If you have an older kid how much do you spend on their activities?

Right now I spend $50/kid for swim lessons. I almost signed Ds1 up for soccer but was hesitant to spend $100/month + gear for a 3 year old to run around once a week.

[PatBenatar]

Right now she's in swimming and gymnastics - $76 for both for 8 weeks. Still cheaper than daycare!

[abs]

Not much.

DD does swim and soccer right now. We spend about $700/year on soccer ($200 each on the Fall and Spring sessions, $150 on the Summer and Winter sessions) plus cleats when needed. Swim is around $100 per session. We do 2-4 of those a year.

It's the cost of summer camps that get us. Those add up quickly but are necessary for my sanity.

We do have many friends that are into club sports already. THAT gets very expensive. My niece was on a local dance company and that cost around $6,000 per year.

[pagas]

$325 a semester for art class with the Museum of Fine Arts
$550 a semester for ballet/tap/jazz class

[wakka]

Camp is the biggest offender -- we spend about the same as daycare.

[cajunmom]

DD2 was in competitive acrobatic gymnastics for 4 years. That started at $280/month plus about $500 for leos, warmups, etc. and ended up at $450/month plus about $700 for leos, etc., when she left the team in November. Now she's just in tumbling that's $100/month. I'm kind of sad she doesn't do acro any more but I'm not sad about the savings!

DD1 played basketball for 7 years but that was pretty cheap, I think we spent less than $500 total for all of those years. Now she's just in band and we only have to pay for replacement reeds and the odd fee here and there. Maybe $200/year.

[usuallylurking]

$85/yr for DS1 (1st grade) to do soccer in the fall and spring. That includes his uniform. We also bought cleats, shin guards, a ball, and a few pairs of extra socks for practice.

$75 for DS1 for coach pitch. Runs end of April-ish to mid June. Obviously more expensive than soccer. Includes his jersey and hat, we bought cleats, pants, belt, socks, glove. This year we'll buy him a bat, mostly so that we can practice at home.

Nobody else does anything, mostly because they aren't old enough. No swim lessons- we have a pool. Before we bought this place my aunt and uncle also have a pool that we would use. I might revisit this, as DS2 (5 in Aug) looooves the pool.

We are looking at karate for DS2 (5 in Aug) and DS1 (7 next month). That'll be a monthly cost of $100-ish for both of them, I believe. We are thinking of this primarily for the character traits it teaches the kid. DS2 is small, sweet and soft spoken. He'll be a very young 5 in kindergarten. We're hoping karate could give him some self confidence. For DS1 we're hoping it teaches respect, choosing right from wrong, and control over his body/emotions.

[candreco]

Not much... DD is in Girl Scouts, which is cheap ($40 for the year), and does a free after school club. Even when she was in two dance classes, that was only $100/month. I think we pay around $50 for DS to play t-ball for the season? Swim classes are about $80 for an 8-week session through the county rec center, DD wants to try tennis in the spring which will be about the same.

Ditto pp that it's the summer stuff- camps/school-aged childcare- that's the killer. Unlike daycare, you can say yes or no to activities if they're more than you want to spend.

[chachacha]

Summer camp is definitely where a big chunk goes for us.
Other activity costs for DS includes piano lessons ($120-150/mo) and Cub Scouts (~$300+/year for misc costs of events, supplies, etc)

[lilafowler]

We recently signed Ellie up to take an intro to dance at the Y. We're members so it was $140 for 7 or 8 weeks. We figure if she really likes it we can get her to a more traditional dance school. There is one in our city that lets you pay monthly-way better than forking out a ton of money at once and then realizing your kid hates it. She's also taking youth yoga but that's free with our membership.
Girl Scouts is basically free except for dues ($2 per meeting). She went to two Girl Scout week long day camps last summer-we paid for a 3 day one that was $200 something? MIL and FIL paid for the other camp as a birthday present-that was $365 for 5 days.

[litebright]

I spend $150 a month on piano lessons for the two kids (DD2's meet once a week for 50 minutes; DD1 meets twice a week for an hour). Another $90 a season for soccer for DD1 (two practices/week plus games on Saturday). Right now DD2 is only doing music.

The real killer is summer. I WFH, so I can make due with half-days and with our sitters, that's about $250 a week. If we do camps, it's like $350-500 a week or more (total if both kids are in a camp; because otherwise I have to do camp for one and sitter for the other, which is nearly as expensive as both kids in a camp).

ETA: Oh, and thankfully since I WAH, I also don't have to pay for school aftercare. If I worked a regular job, I would -- and at my school the drop-in rate is $20 per kid, per day, which I need to use sometimes. I think if you do every day, it's a few bucks cheaper, but still -- nearly $200 a week for care between 3:20 p.m. and 6 p.m. for working parents. (That's for two kids. Tack on another $12 per kid per day if you need before-school care because you can't drop them off between 8:15-8:30 a.m.). 

[gummybear]

When I did the swim school it was $85/mo
Gymnastics is $180 a session (8 weeks)
Odyssey of the Mind if "free" this year bc the school paid the entry fee, but as a coach I am buying stuff for the team (I will prob be reimbursed at the end of the year)

CYO soccer was $30
CYO cross country was $35
CYO intramural basket ball is $25
CYO track is $80

CYO is a minute FRACTION of the township cost for sports so it's a huge cost savings. It's nice that she is old enough to participate now

[Elsa]

Every time I see/hear that, I kind of roll my eyes. I'm not paying $235/week for any kind of activity for my 5yo. And I NEVER expect to be paying almost $30K a year in activities/school supplies for my kids. No chance in hell.

[savan]

DD is into year round activities. She swims with a swim team at $115 per month and does gymnastics at $120 per month. She also plays soccer, $300 total for the spring and fall.

DS does soccer, $300 total for the spring and fall, and winter basketball, $150 for the season. His biggest expense is private tutoring at $400-500 per month because the school doesn't provide the services he needs.

I figure when DS is done with his reading program we'll be transitioning to braces and all that money will go to the kids' mouths. I budget $1000 per month for kid stuff and we hit it every time. It is cheaper than daycare but still a ton of money.

[cjcouple]

This is so dependant on the activity but i can see how others spend a ton. And ai can totally see how people say money is reallocated to other areas. (Foods, activities, clothing, shoes)

Sports per season average $50-60 per kid for rec level.

Equipment is another $50 pending on the sport. And fundraisers/pics usually run another $60. So under $200 per kid all in every 3 months or so.

Swim lessons are $300 for both kids per session (every 3 months). The only equipment is low cost. (a suit and goggles)

School costs maybe $200 per year per kid. Thats supplies, field trips and fundraisers.

Summer rec camp is $350/kid for 6 weeks of the summer.

My oldest is in 5th grade and also plays sax which we rent for $80 every 3 months.

So all in I would guess 2500 a year for both. Daycare was wayyyy more.

But my kids do not play AAU or travel. Those are $$$. Hockey gymnastics dance karate are all a lot more than rec sports. Just for prek gymnastics back in the day was $120 a month for both. Not including attire and show tickets etc. Higher the level the more money it is.

Also clothes get more expensive and they go through shoes like crazy.

But a lot of this is optional extra costs. Some kids only for 1 activity and costs are low. Shopping 2nd hand stores could lower costs.

[revolution]

It's no where near the cost of daycare. BUT, if you add together her before/after school care and activities it is probably close. DD does competitive cheer and although gym fees are only $75/month there is still travel to her competitions and uniform/bow/competition fees/cheer stuff. We do have the option to fund raise to help offset the cost.

Both kids will be in rec tball/softball in the spring. That's not bad at all for less than $100 each for the season.]

ETA:  my nine year old still needs care in the summer, so with 10 or 12 weeks off of school, we have to find somewhere for her to go from 7:30 - 5:30 5 days a week.  Usually, it is the Y summer camp.  That usually runs us about $1500 for the summer for her, and the DS is still in full time care until he starts school in August.  <--- CAN NOT WAIT TO NOT HAVE TO PAY FULL TIME CARE YEAR ROUND.

[bdubs419]

I think those who are saying that costs don't go down much are those who have to pay for before/after care and for care for the summers/camp/etc., not so much sports/activities.

I live in a relatively HCOL area. Daycare is approx. 1,500 per kid. The after/care and before care program is our town (that is run by the YMCA at the schools)is still OVER 800 PER KID a month. So yeah, taking that into account then paying $300 per week for the entire summer for camp. Then add in some sports/activities. So yes, I think it will go down some, but if I factor in before/after care, summers and activities, it's not going to be nearly as much of a reduction as we once thought.

[sotally tober]

DD is 11 and plays soccer - though, we push her to go into various programs/camps other than her regular fall session. This seems to so far work better for us than putting her into a select program (which runs at least $3500/year).

Fall Soccer (rec, though her team will likely move up next year) - $175
Summer Soccer Camp (either at UW or Sounders - about 1 week long) - $300
Indoor (right after fall soccer ends) - $65
Tournaments, Spring soccer, other camps, etc. - About $150 total

Definitely not even close to the cost of daycare.

[bex1973]

Morgan take a ballet & tap class and that only runs us $45 per month. Her shoes are about $70 (for both type) and leos are cheap at Target. Biggest expense in recital costumes and even that was only about $140.

Much like with our day care costs I feel very lucky to have this be so affordable in my area.

[somersault72]

Karate is $119 month, although ex h splits the cost with me. Soccer, basketball etc is about $75 a season and he had been doing 3 a year. He also does a couple camps in the summer which run about $250/week (again ex h splits that with me).

[AHappierHour]

the girls are in tumbling and cheer and that's $110 a month each
Soft ball was $150 each for the season.

I would guess I pay $20 a month each for Girl Scouts. Dues, random activities, snack or donation item.

If my girls stick with cheer and move on to the more competitive levels I could see spending around 20k a year with travel and monthly fees. But that would be for both of them.

[namasteak]

Feb 7, 2017 9:46:31 GMT -5 Elsa said:

Every time I see/hear that, I kind of roll my eyes. I'm not paying $235/week for any kind of activity for my 5yo. And I NEVER expect to be paying almost $30K a year in activities/school supplies for my kids. No chance in hell.

If I'm paying $30k/year for my kid to do something it better be some kind of amazing private school. 

[namasteak]

Some of these costs amaze me!

[lishie]

My son is in scouts, $65 a year.

Both are on a swim team. $375 per season.

DS1 does a one a week camp at TechShop near us, learning Adobe, laser cutting, 3D printing and other tech stuff. That's our most expensive activity at $150 a month.

[xokell2]

$160 a month for two days of taekwondo for the older guy and $80 a month for swimming for the younger guy.

[nahoku]

DS is 10 and his sports are getting more expensive - being on the traveling basketball team was $400 this year, baseball was $250, I think. DD does gymnastics twice a week now (she's 7), and that was around $180 for 8 weeks.

Even though they're not in daycare - H and I both work so they have to go to a kids club before and after school and full time in the summer and those are just as expensive as daycare it seems.

[sandyapples]

Activities here are pretty cheap. Whatever they are in to at the time at the local rev centre (dance/art/gymnastics) is $20/ month tops. Swimming lessons are $76/3 months. Soccer in the summer is $175ish for 3 months. Girl guides I think about $100 a year. I SAH but I usually let them do a week of day camp which is $150 each. Overall I average about $150-200 a month on activities.

My girls are 4 and 6. They have never shown enough interest/talent in any particular area to justify going to a real dance studio, travel team, etc. I let them do whatever they think will be fun.

[Gato]

Both DDs take gymnastics on Saturdays, which costs $160 a month.

Then the 8 year old did acting in the summer and fall 3-5 afternoons a week, but that was free (or you might look at it that she was unpaid!).

Summer camp is the killer, budget-wise.

[NewGirlNic]

My son does martial arts and the gym he goes to is $150/month (there are different payment plans... we put down $600 at the beginning of the year to have the monthly payment lower). Plus the quarterly tournaments ($60), payment for each advancement belt test ($40? I think) and they do other monthly events like parents night out ($35-$45) and day camps for school holidays ($50). New gear, uniform etc... I feel like I'm always giving them my credit card! 

He was doing weekly piano lessons (I think we paid $250 for 10 weeks of lessons or something like that?) His piano teacher is no longer doing lessons so we need to find someone else. DS now wants to take drum lessons instead (send help!) 

He plays soccer through school and that is cheap. I think it was $50 for the season which basically is the cost of the uniform (shorts, jersey and practice tshirt) 

Then there is summer camp, which is the biggest cost. We send him anywhere from 2-5 days a week, depending on our vacations/schedules (you can choose the days at the beginning of the summer, minimum of 2x's/week) and I think it's $50 per day, more if he goes on a field trip day. They do weekly trips and sometimes it's $5 extra to cover the bus to a park, sometimes it's $10-$15 to cover admission to a baseball game, amusement park, museum etc. 

[ECB]

Sports run $75 - $120 per sport (baseball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse) + equipment for lacrosse.

DS is in a stroke clinic to work on his form for swim team this summer ($150).

Then summer camp!! Thta's about $325 per week for about 6 weeks over the summer.

It's a lot less than $1200 (plus) in daycare/ month that I know some people spend. But it's still a lot of $$ over the year.