AIBU to think this is a lot to spend on extra curricular activities per month?

[Picklesandpies]

Posting here instead of parenting as no replies -

We spend £304 a month on activities for our two DDs aged 10 and 7. This seems like a lot of money to me but I'm curious to know what others spend. This is for;

DD1 - dancing lessons, flute lessons, maths tuition, swimming lessons and Cubs.

DD2 - singing lessons, swimming lessons, guitar lessons, Beavers, rock band club at school.

Does this seem extreme? Dh earns a decent salary but we still have to be reasonably careful with money.

No we spend about £500 for 3 children (aged 10, 7 and 5). Dance alone for one costs £25 a week. I'm really aware that it's a lot and wonder if we should scale back but we can afford it and they enjoy all the activities/classes they do. if you can afford it and it's beneficial / fun for them I don't see the problem.

I've got 3 primary school age kids. They do swimming (£70 a month for swimming for all three but that's mainly swimming club which is 3-4h of swimming a week so good value), football (£18 a month for 2 but that's after school care until 6pm so cheaper than any alternative), Brownies (bargain at £10 a month for 2), violin (done at school but we have to buy the instruments and contribute to the cost by about £30 a month for 2). All of that together is still less than the monthly cost of them attending after school club once a week and we live in the North.

Wow Countfosco - we had a bill for a years flute lessons for dd1 recently and it was something like £378...

Living in the South East is such a rip off.

It seems a lot to me. Our kids (2 of them) do kickboxing 3 times a week, an hour each lesson.

We pay yearly so get a discount for that, also a sibling discount.

We pay just under £1000 a year.

2 DC
6 Hours of kickboxing a week.

(£1000 ÷ 52 weeks = £19.23 per week. £19.23 ÷ 6 (hours of lessons) = £3.20 per lesson/hour)

Wow, a year's flute lessons were £378? That's a bargain - if it's 30 20 minute lessons then that is £38 an hour for a qualified teacher.

I was shocked we had to play for the music lessons at all, mine were free when I was at school a million years ago! It's tuition in groups though not 1:1 so CruCru's calculation isn't correct.

I don't think that's a lot. My 4 unfortunately preferred extra curricular activities like skiing, riding, snowboarding as well as piano, cello and trumpet. Then there was the children's theatre that they all loved as well as brownies, scouts etc. I try not to think what I spent, however they all still play instruments/ride/ski so the money wasn't wasted.

I spend about £125 on one DS - Beavers, piano, kung fu, tennis, swimming, sailing (yearly fees plus some tuition) and 2 after school clubs. Seems a lot when its written down but he's still bouncing of the walls

It is group lessons for flute for dd too.

Flute lessons at school for DD were £140 for the year! It is heavily subsidised and we have a local music organisation that provide free violin lessons for year 1, they also provide instruments for very cheap hire etc. I suspect they are funded by the Welsh assembly.

Gosh, how wonderful!

I spend about the same. We do at least one activity after school every day, all at the request of dcs. Dance/swim club/football/brownies/piano/acrobatics.
To those saying don't they get any chill time - yes, loads. School finishes at 3.20, bedtime 8.30, so an hour long activity is only 20% of the 5 hours they have.
I think it's great for them, I'm hoping one of the things they do will turn in to a life long hobby. It's worth it.

Haven't tried to count ours up!

DD plays violin and flute and has singing lessons - £45
DS1 piano and clarinet - £30
DS2 piano, oboe, cello - £45

DS1 rugby - £75 membership plus £150ish kit

DS2 tennis and golf - £30

That's weekly and obviously doesn't include the purchase of instruments-the most expensive of which is DDs violin so far

MsJolly you sound like a very musical family!

I have to say I'm feeling a bit better having read some of these posts. I think it does vary a lot depending on where you live.

How much you spend can also depend on whether they have an unexpected natural ability for a particular activity. The cost can skyrocket especially when they are a bit older and are in elite training several times a week, and it involves a lot of travel or expensive equipment/clothing.
My eyes still water when I think about what we were spending at one stage.

Ah, sorry I see. My son has 1 on 1 lessons - I don't think the school do group lessons.

Just depends whether you can genuinely afford it. Don't prioritise activities over repayment of credit cards to 'keep up'. Find cheaper activities.
It seems reasonable as it includes tuition that I wouldn't count as activities.
I'm thinking back to most expensive period when eldest was at university but others weren't. We paid sports membership for her and violin lessons to manage stress - about 90 pounds a month.
Then rugby was cheap at £70 for season but needed clothing and transport and tour fees x 2 boys.
Sailing was expensive in summer.
Dancing was really expensive activity for x two of them with lessons four times a week and Saturday associates. Plus gear.
Orchestra and music lessons were done via school so about £20 each a week x4
Drama likewise done mainly through school but expensive when one was in professional production as we had to transport and buy loads of tickets for people.

It's not necessarily the cost of the activities it's often the surrounding costs.

A bassoon can easily set you back £10, 000 for reasonable but not top range instrument. Likewise a decent violin is going to take you into thousands and is necessary for higher grades, for example.

DC is 2.5. We pay £37 a week in term time for her activities. So averaged over the year makes £117 a month. She does swimming, dance, Spanish and rugby tots.

A bassoon can easily set you back £10, 000 for reasonable but not top range instrument. Likewise a decent violin is going to take you into thousands and is necessary for higher grades, for example

I always learn so much from you, Crumbs1. Thank you for the insights you share 🙂

I suspect a touch of sarcasm VeryCunningStunt but that's fine. You can buy a recorde for about £7.50 and hurt your parental ears just as much as with a £450 student violin.

For me it isn't just the money, but also the constant stimulation.
If you can afford it, and your children enjoy it... but also know how to entertain themselves and use their imaginations to play alone... great!

Beavers £30 subs per term.
Uniform and kit expensive

Karate £7 per week
Grading expensive as to yearly membership

Football quit as couldn't afford fees
Luckily don't live near water so hasn't asked to join sailing club

Suppose could do more clubs but I'm not willing to cut into my fags and booze allowance

We spent £26 a month for dd & ds (15)... that's their gym memberships. They go to football on Wednesday which is free at our local AstroTurf centre. They go to a maths club on Fridays which is free. They are teaching themselves guitar in their spare time. When they were younger they occasionally went to after school club which was £5 per child per night. You do spend quite a lot tbh.