Anyone else's kids got extremely expensive hobbies?

This is a short sighted approach to these activities. Throw in commercial premises- rent, buildings insurance, annual professional membership for teaching to the exam boards, public liability insurance, keeping 1st aid and safeguarding courses up to date, staff DBS’s, PRS music licensing and the cost of staffing (cleaner, more than one teacher if a bigger venue), kitting out and equipment as well as maintaining and replacing said equipment and you have to set your prices to cover all of these costs. Yes some but not all of these costs of these can be cut by operating out of a church hall or community centre, but let’s face it- when choosing a dance school for the first time people naturally gravitate to the studio with sprung floors, barres and mirrors and not the one running out of a church hall. The cost of running a dance studio, dedicated martial arts centre or gymnastics club has to be reflected in the prices, not to mention that it is a job not an expensive hobby for the teacher/ business owner who deserves to be paid a wage too.

Most sports. Luckily not horses l with the vets bills/emotional outlay. We spend £££ on kit and events, but at least it sits in the garage between use and doesn’t need feeding/exercise/stabling.

Water polo- several clubs membership fees, expensive costumes and kit, loads of petrol and hotel fees for away tournaments

Twins that horse ride. It would honestly be cheaper, day to day, to have a pony of their own to share but I’m too worried about vet bills, etc.

They also attend a crazily expensive drama club.

They are seven.

As a music parent this is lovely to hear.

Mine is music. Specifically Choral music. That’s not expensive in itself but as he spends half his life in chapel he’s starting boarding school this September. Even with a scholarship that’s eye watering

Absolutely. Mine would probably love to have the time to cause some trouble somewhere 😂

This. Both kids are at one of the larger junior clubs in the SE - £150 between them for fees each month, plus monthly race fees into a pot so it's not too traumatic in the summer when they're racing every other weekend. At least we're near Dorney so can commute to that in the summer / when the rivers are flooded in the winter. Although the parking fees for each regatta at Dorney are 😱

Spent the same as you on a single for the oldest - and youngest won't ever be his weight as she's a lwt girl. She will need a single of her own next year. Training camps are £1500 each once a year abroad.

£5-6k a year on rowing for the both of them I reckon.

But the youngest also (!) swims. That's probably another £5k a year in itself. Plus £2-3k on a swim camp. £400 on a race suit you can only wear 5x and then they stick a nail through it and damage it and it can't be worn again.... Don't believe anyone when they say swimming is a cheap sport and easily accessible for everyone.....

Still - keeps them off the streets and all that so can't be all that bad 🤷‍♀️

Music - instruments, lessons, courses, accommodation when taking to courses, travel, concert tickets. Wouldn't change it at all, it's basically why I work. They have learned so much, even the one who no longer plays. Made lots of friends, have some lovely trusted adults in their lives, travelled around. I do feel sad that it's so expensive at higher levels as I think everyone should be able to access higher level music tuition and experiences if they show potential but unfortunately it doesn't often work like that. There are bursaries etc, but can be hard to find.

Gymnastics for DD2 - it's wild.
And my pilates is £200 a month!

We do a sport that you’d think would be incredibly cheap but it the travel to races to practice and then the races to get picked for things, then the competitions themselves. I think we spent at least £7k last year per child. Ridiculous.

Us too. Really expensive instruments, travel and so on, but worked out as it's their career now!

Same.

Yes but also had to say no to another because we can't afford it! Older DD competes in a sport so x3 a week training plus match at least every Saturday which can be anywhere within a 2h radius for preliminaries but could be country wide towards the summer if they get to final stages. Younger DD is following in her footsteps in the same sport but luckily not as much yet. Even the kits and equipment is 100s every year! Had to say no to younger DD horse riding because we just can't afford it, but she goes to a riding campus during Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. They say the baby days are expensive!!

Horse riding. She doesn't have her own horse, mainly because I don't want to be getting up at silly o'clock to look after one. That keeps costs well down but still, I miss the days of paying subs for Beavers!

£30k a year for drama? How?

Yes of course, it can be done cheaply at the lower end. Our club is about 150 per year for membership. But if you want to compete...

Say you stay purely on the coastal circuit. Each weekend regatta is probably £100 per child all considered. Not including accommodation etc if required.

However if you move more towards fine boats, and want to compete at a higher level:

Each British Rowing event has higher entry fees than coastal for example, then they tend to only be held in Nottingham or Dorney. So you have a couple of nights accommodation each time etc. We spend on average £300 per event per child for those events, of which there can be 8 or so through the season they want to attend.

If you get better still and need your own boat (sculls are designed around weight brackets, most small clubs like ours don't have multiple across all brackets) then like anything, there is a range. When we looked for DD because she is a lightweight there weren't many second hand around, so we bought her a new one...at the lower end of the price range. Hers was £8k, plus blades, bags etc, up to around £9k. From a good brand, but not the pinnacle. It is unlikely she will outgrow it weight wise, but may want to 'move up' as t some point. She was 15 when we got it and had been rowing for about 3 years by then.

Ds will be at the same point next year, he may or may not be as in to single sculling as she is, if not we will hold off, and perhaps he uses hers periodically for training with a few adjustments. Yes, boats can be shared, but one of the main draws of having your own when you train as much as they do is that it is set up around your frame, he is 4 inches taller than her already at 14 and lighter still, so very different physically.

Add to that the speedcoaches at £500 each, the kit, the training camps, the erg for home training, the fuel, gym membership, trials etc.

So like most things, it can be done cheaply for sure, but if they get the bug and are good, they can quite quickly start costing £££.

How is this £30,000/year?!?

My impression is a lot of these clubs are fleecing parents, especially when there's a carrot of it being professional one day. Things like drama, gymnastics, football and dance should not be THAT expensive to run.

Sailing and horse riding I understand due to the actual equipment.

Mine do music stuff which although expensive (£50+ a week for both) probably doesn’t compare with some of these

having done music/orchestra stuff as a child I think it’s worth it but sometimes I do wonder!

Horses 🐎 Showjumping in particular 🤦‍♀️😭

Dc does Latin & Ballroom- yes it's the competition outfits, the shoes, the competition fees, travel to competitions often involving an overnight stay, and of course class and exam fees.

The class fees are very cheap so I thought we were getting off lightly but . . .. no.

One of mine id a Climber. Compared to her friends dancing, its cheap. Her lesson Saturday will be £25 for 5 hours. But its an hours drive away, then theres the toss up whether to stay for 5 hours or come home (so 2x2hr round trips...).

I forgot the music lessons - so add £80 a month …

God no - just swimming, martial arts (about £5 a session) and Cubs/Scouts (cheaper).

Mind you, we have paid £100 an hour for A level tuition for a couple of months, only because we knew the tutor made a massive difference to DS1’s confidence in the subject years before. Also £40 for driving lessons at the same time, so over £500 a month for two months. Thank God ten years earlier it was about £50 a month for activities.

How does rowing get expensive? I’d have thought you just pay to join a club and they provide the boat, no?

It’s kind of sad that so many of these hobbies require huge investments to participate in. But I can see how it happens - any time there are comps or kit or equipment involved - which is most do the time.

Maybe we should have a thread for cheap hobbies!

How is this expensive? I know nothing about Irish Dancing. Is it the clothes?