How much do your children's expensive hobbies cost each month?

[SocialSkills00]

if your dc has an expensive hobby, how much does that cost you monthly?

I spend approx £200 a month on horse riding. I thought that was bad, but a friend says she spends £500 per month on dancing (!) which includes lots of private tuition & competitions.

£20 per half hour for guitar lessons.

Gosh I feel poor and a bit scared 🤣 kids aren't in school yet but I'd no idea how much it could all add up to!!

It doesn’t have to! Plenty don’t. But be wary of dancing lol - it starts adding up quickly.

How on earth do you do horses for £200 a month? Do you have land?
Basic livery costs me £300 a month each horse, before anything else

Figure skating and synchronised skating is expensive.

£738/month on lessons, ice membership club membership and synchro membership.

her skates were over £890 plus blades are extra. Dresses - could be £200.

Her next competition is abroad and I’ve just paid over £500 for her hotel, travel, entry and that doesn’t include my travel to get there.

Musical theatre 3 hours a week, ballet 50 minutes a week, online screen acting class 90 minutes a week, violin 30 minutes a week. Total is £100 a month which seems pretty cheap now i have added it all up! Previously she also did gymnastics and swimming which we would like to add at least one back in

I am American and yes - ice hockey is prohibitively expensive for most people. But loads of sports are - skiing, anything involving horses, most things involving competitions - they’re all expensive. I certainly didn’t grow up doing any of this so I’m happy my daughter has the opportunity to. Would be much more difficult if my son starts showing an interest in anything more expensive though.

630 a month (two kids).

Doesn't include buying musical instruments. I'm sure I have left some activities out.

I find it a lot of pressure as my kids are teens now and they are so expensive.
I really would have been better off with one child.

O I will be keeping a tight reign on it all, and am now extra forewarned!

It's just one those occasional bumps to earth when I feel like I'm doing really well financially and am reminded promptly there are levels I've not even imagined 🤣 (yes, I came to this thread to see what expensive looks like!)

Karate and Kickboxing.
Club membership, lessons, insurance, kit and gradings. Averages around £110 a month.

@50Balesofgrey I didn’t say we have horses.
£200 per month is one private riding lesson per week plus one pony care group lesson per week

Ive had a reminder how cheap my kids hobbies actually are when I ghought £17 pw was expensive!

Thats not including the other DDs rugby, and 2 x Scouts.

Dd dances competitively and I don’t even want to think about the cost. Fees are around £250ish each month. But then there are private lessons on top, singing lessons, Acro, costumes (last one was £260), normal class uniform, shoes etc, entry fees, petrol, hotel stays, meals out because we’re miles away. Fees for her associates classes. It just goes on and on and on. It must average at least £600 a month over the year and It wouldn’t surprise me if it was more.

My advice for parents of apprix 5 yos... Stay away from Dance and Football!

Ds plays rugby and cricket, both are incredibly cheap compared to DD’s dance.

Mine are relatively cheap compared to some of these!

DS does drums at £100pm and swimming at £37pm
DD does baby ballet at £22pm and swimming, a toddler fitness class and toddler trampolining all included in the £37pm

It will obviously depend on the level and your location, but those are definitely not standard costs in Canada for an average 8 year old! Or for a recreational adult.

Competitive dance is by far the most expensive hobby any of my children have done. I think it’s because there are always ‘extras’ - you have your set fees for classes per month / term but then there are - private choreography classes , extra ‘polish’ classes , entrance fees for comps , tickets to watch them at the comp (!) , costumes , shoes , travel , then end of year shows , tickets again , costumes …. Repeat repeat repeat !
Football for us has been very reasonable - set cost of around £230/50 per year and for that you get weekly training , weekend match, kit provided. No hidden extras !

My son is only 9 so maybe it goes up but he plays football at a community club and it’s £25/month including special goalie training and all the kit. We just need shoes and gloves and such on top. And the time, enthusiasm and petrol for the Sunday mornings!

(he’s not particularly good so maybe that helps! He doesn’t do any of the academy stuff)

The tickets to watch them at the competitions is where I lost my mind a bit. Hundreds and hundreds and they can’t just give me a parent ticket?

This one has really shocked me, can I ask how that is made up.
When my DS played grassroots it was literally just weekly subs.
When he go signed to the academy it cost us nothing and that included day release to college, all kit, tracksuits, boots, game day wear, suit, tie and training kit, all physio sessions, nutrition sessions, all of his travel all over the country, at least 4 training sessions a week, one being full day, and one, maybe 2 games a week during the season and daily training during pre season. It also included foreign competitions, again it didn’t cost us a penny.
We had to pay for our own travel to watch but I’m shocked that it is costing you £800 a month

Yep, we’re at a comp over 4 hours from home this weekend and it was mandatory to buy two tickets at £25 each! So another 50 quid on top of what we’ve already spent. Just ordered new tights so another tenner gone. Dance makes you spend money like water.

I have 2 figure skaters. Their main coach bill is usually £700-800/m. Plus ice time. Plus ad hoc coaching (1 is having dance lessons). Plus ballet for strength and flexibility. Plus ad hoc off ice training if able.

Comp entry is £80-100 each. Plus travel, days off work, hotels. Costumes.

Plus Skate camps when available.

Family holiday to Canada this year so they can do a Canadian skate camp.

I can’t bring myself to add it up. And the 430am alarms….

Wow, some of you have huge bills, scary stuff but no doubt the kids love it.

Far cry from my day when I was given a metal detector and told to find my fortune for the next 5 years :(

DC have fairly 'cheap' extra curriculars.

Dd1 rowing £50 a quarter. Covers up to 4 sessions a week. Then BR membership at £42 per year and race fees if she wants to race, it's normally about £10-12 per race at the moment she's racing once every two months ISH. Hockey -£5 per training session and game and membership about £50, season only runs Sept-April though games are often every week and fair bit of travel.

Dd2 Swimming £40 a month and Kayaking £5 for two hours on the water every week (all kit provided if required). Plus £35 membership annually. They do trips occasionally which are additional but normally approx £7.