It's coming up to the end of the school year and that means class and school trips. They seem to be getting more expensive every year and the more children that you have in school, the more it's going to cost you.
Now I know that in most cases the Home and School helps defray the costs, and you may even be lucky enough to have a class that tries to raise the funds to help out with the cost for each child, but there will inevitably be a cost to you. You know you can't be the parent that says no for your child to miss out on it. Especially when there is only one trip. I mean come on, everyone is going! However, what do you do when there is more than one trip for that class, or more than one child needing to attend a trip?
Plus, with handing out money for soccer, baseball, swimming lessons and any other summer activities that are coming up that your child is involved in, it just may seem like your wallet never stays shut!
We've started to implement something in our home so that our children are understanding the costs that are involved with the activities.
Every time they have come to us in the past several months with needing money to see this play at school, or to go on this field trip or that one, we have looked at the price of the event with the child and have asked them how much they were willing to contribute to it, what it’s worth to them.
Once, it was a play that two of our children were going to attend. It was going to cost $5 for each child to see it. I took each child aside individually, and mentioned the cost to them. Then I asked them how much they were willing to contribute from their own money to be able to attend.
I must say, that they were stunned at first that I was asking this of them. I heard all of the not fair's and being told that I am a mean parent and such. However, when I stated that it's not fair that I shell out all of the money and I don't even get to have any of the fun, they started to see my side.
One of my children is a saver and is VERY stingy with their money. This child still had birthday money left from last year and their birthday was coming up again soon! When presented with the question of how much were they willing to contribute, this child was willing to cough up $1. I was not renegotiating with them, I was willing to take whatever they thought it was worth for them. 20% was a good contribution. They went off to their penny bank and brought back the money asking for change.
Child number 2 was a little different. When presented with having to contribute, this child told me it was worth $2 to them. However, they didn't have exactly that amount on them at the moment (money burns a hole through their pocket VERY quickly). This child asked if they could do some tasks around the home that they normally weren't asked to do to earn the money. Sure thing! I love having more time to finish the other tasks around here that I don’t always have the time for.
I told them that the job would be paid on how quickly they accomplished the task and how well it was performed. If it had to be done again after I checked, the wage would be cut down. Well, they lugged out all of the wood for the spring clean up VERY quickly and it was very well organized. No boards were missed. They earned their money to go to the play.
Now soccer is happening, and one child is contributing 50% of their soccer membership and is finding other ways to earn the money than just helping around the home. It's really made them think more about how much things cost to attend and how much it's really worth for them to go. I enjoy seeing the creative ways that they come up with for making money and have noticed that they put more effort into their activities and sports because it's some of their money paying for it.
We also take advantage of family rates, when they are available, as we usually have at least 2 children involved in the same activity. We also shop around for activity costs. Our children are allowed to go in one summer activity that they choose plus swimming lessons, because those are mandatory in this household.
Now soccer is happening, and one child is contributing 50% of their soccer membership and is finding other ways to earn the money then just helping around the home. It's really made them think more about how much things cost to attend and how much it's really worth for them to go. I enjoy seeing the creative ways that they come up with for making money and have noticed that they put more effort in to their activities and sports because it's some of their money paying for it.
We also take advantage of family rates, when they are available, as we usually have at least 2 children involved in the same activity. We also shop around for activity costs. Our children are allowed to go in one summer activity that they choose plus swimming lessons, because those are mandatory in this household.
Activities for the same thing can have remarkably different price tags attached to them. Take swimming lessons for example. There's a pool in town that offers swimming lessons for quite a bit of money. It's the place to go, you see, and everyone wants to be there, so they can charge what they want. However, the local Red Cross offers swimming lessons sometimes at the same pool and sometimes at a different one for a cheaper price. Then there's also the private lessons route, which amazingly, can be even cheaper then a group one depending on where you go.
Last year, my children attended swimming lessons at a local campground that was really the same distance as the popular place, just in the opposite direction. It was a wonderful facility and the classes were nice and small, with a playground for the children to play on that were waiting for their siblings that were in class. The cost there, for 3 of my children to attend, was less than the cost for ONE of my children to attend at the popular place! They came away with the same report card and certification and their teacher was actually an instructor from the popular pool to boot!
How do you do the school trip, extra curricular activities? Do you pay all, some or none? Do your children go to these events? All of them, some of them or none of them? Do you have a cap on how many events they can attend for summer recreation? Let me know. I would love to hear from you. Drop me a line at smile_zil at yahoo dot ca or leave me a comment.
Enjoy your day!
