Anyone else's kids got extremely expensive hobbies?

[bjorni9]

What started as a casual club, has turned into a lifestyle. Mountain biking, 4x, bmx freestyle, bmx racing. It has saved my ND child's sanity, and drained my bank account. I buy and sell and work so much overtime just so we can continue. It is far better than any play therapy or council funded clubs we've ever received (especially for his mh and mood). Anyone else making big sacrifices for their kids' hobbies? If only football would've stuck!

DS swam and played water polo competively. Still teaches swimming alongside his regular job. Not so expensive but took a lot of time- the best hobby for a teen boy.
Dd1 danced/acted. Represented England and team GB in various competitions. Worked professionally as a child/teen. Now acting professionally so time and money well spent.
Thought the costs of dance/performing where insane however...
Dd2 showjumper-2 ponies 1 horse.
Livery, training, competions, transport must be over 3k/month without any vet bills. Haven't added up for fear of the answer-she wants to work with horses so looking forward to the day she starts funding it all herself!

There was a thread on Mumsnet once in which everyone went on about how cheap it was to own a horse. Owning a horse in no way meant that you were well off.

Ballet...started as ballet, is now ballet, tap, modern, lyrical, commercial, latin, acro, tumbling and private lessons for support.

Then there are associate programmes, workshops to show dedication, show costumes, exams...the list is endless.

But my ND kids bloody loves it, shines like a star and for a short time forgets to mask and is just herself. Lost in the music and the movement.

As you say, that achievement on its own is priceless

This is an interesting thread - it's wonderful to think of all these kids being active and of course you should spend it if you can and they benefit.

BUT - as has been mentioned - how sad for all the children who could easily enjoy and benefit but will never be able to afford it.

There are certain private schools for example that produce multiple olympians - is that fair? Absolutely not.

In my neighbourhood I know parents on low incomes who struggle even for the basic costs of a child doing weekly football - you need boots for starters and weekly subs. If you don't have a car you become very reliant for lifts - this puts some families off entirely.

State school sport is appalling - we should be encouraging much much wider range of sport in school and allowing MUCH more time for it! Imagine if state secondaries supported/encouraged hockey/ motorcross/ bmx biking - I live outside London our state schools here have plenty of space - much of it large fiellds going unused.

Private schools know the benefits and have sport daily and encourage a much wider range of activity.

no wonder we have a MH crisis among young people - such inequality in access to fun and healthy sports.

Competitive ballroom, 3 kids did it at the same time (2 in couples, 1 recreational so not quite such a big commitment). There’s group classes, comp fees, travel, costumes, practice wear, shoes and private lessons - usually 2 a week when they’re in a couple, 3 nearer big comps - 1 in each style of ballroom, Latin & New Vogue (we’re in Australia, this is a 3rd style at all comps, though as they get older they might specialise in just 1 or 2 styles).

Kayaking - also ND, 13 yo boy. Takes up a lot of time but is very time consuming as we have to drive him everywhere and he needs different boats for different types of water so the kit is expensive. He's currently in Wales with DH on a 1-2-1 lesson at £200 for the day!

My (most likely - awaiting assessment) autistic daughter lives and breathes horses.

Riding, grooming, watching, playing with horse toys.

Wants her own one day... is avidly saving up and doing odd jobs at 9 for her pony fund.

But its worth every penny. She was practically mute in school or new social settings. Horses have become her gateway conversation and she comes alive at the stables.

So expensive but so glad we found her "thing"

I’m a single mum with a disabled child, thankfully she receives DLA which pays towards her horse riding lessons.

I work full time and receive no help from their father. I sacrifice things so that my children can do the hobbies that they enjoy, keep them fit, gets them outside, and probably saved my daughters life.

I don’t drink, no gym memberships, no expensive subscriptions. I don’t get my hair or nails done (pointless with a horse anyway!). I prioritise them and their hobbies over things for me right now, and when they are older it will change again.

I keep a strict budget and every single penny is accounted for, but please don’t assume that we are all well off/middle class because that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Absolutely the same as my daughter. Horses saved her life I have no doubt about it.

Maybe look into a loan pony until she can have her own? We bought ours but another lady on our livery rescued a horse from a sanctuary for a very small adoption fee, maybe something to consider in the future x

Horse share can work out cheaper than regular lessons. I used to pay £20 a week for my share horse for two days a week.

My dd does drama and gymnastics. Gymnastics is hugely expensive if they get into a team. Drama lessons are mega bucks plus headshots and spotlight membership. I'm poor.

You see - this is the only justified one, pre-professional and could have led to a job!

Otherwise spending £££ on ballet classes for a child with no proportions or music lesson when tone-deaf is such a waste.

We put our very active DD into gymnastics at age 3, hoping it would tire her out... She's almost 10 now and getting good. She's done all the local comps now, and there's getting to be chat of regional and national comps...
DH are rather hoping that she'll perhaps do another year or two, but once she starts secondary she'll lose interest...

DS was very keen on rock climbing for a while, and showed promise. He was quite slight, but strong and fit, perfect climbers build. His coach kept pulling me aside to say, "Have you thought about..." Fortunately, he lost interest when the weather got cold and wintery (he'd "done" all the indoor walls within about a 20 mile radius, and was getting into outdoor climbs). DH and I resisted the urge to mention it in the Spring, and DS seemed to forget it was a thing...

I'm happy for them to do clubs - I certainly did plenty as a child. But this constant push to "see if they can make it big", I personally find pretty grating. What happened to kids just doing something for the fun of it? With no pressure to be the next big thing.

Another ice skater's mum (figure and synchro) here. Squad training, private training, skates, dresses, competition fees and travel...

Ice hockey 600 per annum (all year)
DH Biking 800 per annum (summer)
Skiing 600 per annum (winter)
Snowboarding 200 per annum (I’m the teacher) (winter)
Swimming 200 per annum (all year)
Piano 600 per annum (all year)
Horse riding 900 per annum (most of the year)

ND 5yrs, would like him to have a semi professional career in one of the top 3 at least through his teens, in part to avoid him falling into the naughty rebellion era. The mores sports the less prone to alcohol, drugs etc as he won’t be allowed to touch them if competing.

Interesting thread, as we live in the mountains a lot of our speciality sports get subsidized by local government thank goodness. Good to see despite the massive array of activities it’s minimal cost comparably with some of the activities in the UK although by the time he’s 10 I imagine it’ll start going into 2000+ a year for one or two of those activities 🫣

Mine did
drama
cycle, track & road
swimming
Athletics
triathlon

all were relatively inexpensive, monthly fee for swimming club was £40 a month, althletics was £20 per annum, cycle club was £30 per annum to join and £60 for bike track, triathlon was a cheap joining fee £2 a week training

some costs for races and fuel to Newport and Manchester

seems. Got away lightly

This is really sad. If a family can afford it, spending on a hobby is never wasted. Kids gain so much enjoyment, physical activity, emotional regulation, trusted adults in their lives, creative outlet, skills etc. There should be no necessity for them to be wanting to pursue it as a career for a hobby to be worthwhile. I'm delighted if my child has a lifelong love of music but not a career.

My daughter plays a sport to a very high level. While this does not cost us a huge amount of money initially, the time spent driving to training and matches, fuel costs, kit, eating out, hotel stays etc all add up to make it a pretty expensive hobby!

Agree. A school-mum-acquaintance has spent a small fortune since her DD announced, aged about 10, that she wanted to do ballet.
The mum immediately set up a "child's name ballerina" instagram page, and the way she spoke about it, was like her DD was going to be the next Darcey Bussell...
Thing is, anyone who knows ballet, knows that 10yo is too late to start, and although DD had a perfectly normal body shape, it was the wrong shape for ballet.
Mum threw everything at this ballet hobby, even repeated "holiday camp" things with the Royal Ballet - of course making out that DD had been specially invited to attend, but it's actually an "anyone can come if they can pay" thing...

4/5 years later, the ballet has been quietly dropped, and DD announced that she wants to do musical theatre... Of course, she's the next Carrie Hope Fletcher...

Sailing for us, it's the travelling to meetings. At least we have a roof top boat. He is talking about changing class. that will mean a trailer.
A friend was talking about her DS who is trying to get into an orchestra, double base player. Expensive instrument I understand but over £1000 for a bow. (She said).

Another one with an autistic daughter obsessed with ponies from when she was tiny. I managed to avoid getting her lessons until she was 8, hoping that the obsession would dissipate or that the reality of riding lessons wouldn’t be able to match the reality… but 15 years later we now have six horses 😬. It has been insanely expensive (and compared to some families we’re doing it on a relative shoestring - it would be incredibly easy to spend several multiples of what I’m shelling out each year). But, and it’s a huge but .. dd struggled hugely with school then came alive at the stables. She’s now riding professionally, I’m still having to support her but she’s gradually bringing in more money and she’s happy and healthy so to me it’s worth it.

I try not to think about how much we spend on our son's hobbies
Between ice hockey, piano, a 1 on 1 skate coach, karate and swimming it's extortionate.
HOWEVER, since he has ADHD it sure beats the alternative of him climbing the walls whenever he's at home for more than 5 hours 😂

As parents we'd lie down and die for our children. In the meantime we shelled out money for their hobbies. Ours have appreciated the sacrifices we made and are now supporting their own children.

The circle of life.

Dance mum reporting for duty!!

I have 2 DDs who both dance competitively, and my monthly fees are now around £500 every month just for classes. Then on top of that we have multiple competition entry fees, costumes which can range from about £70 up to £400+ for each (and between both girls they have about 30 competitive dances for that REALLY adds up), shoes, exam fees, private lessons, workshops and conventions….the list goes on!

My eldest is fortunately/unfortunately quite good so aside from national competitions also tends to qualify for at least one international competition a year, and is part of a national team that means we need to travel to another part of the country once a month. I work full time but also end up having to buy extra annual leave so I can take her where she needs to go.

As a consequence I do have very little spare cash and we have to make a lot of sacrifices, but I can see that she learns a lot beyond the steps and technique. Teamwork, discipline, the value of hard work, how to lose and still feel proud of yourself, how to be a humble winner - all things you don’t learn at school, so hoping in years to come it will stand her in good stead and all be worthwhile 🤞

We struggled supporting DS with his music but it would be pennies compared to what some of you spend. Music lessons were free in his school but instruments suitable for his ability were not cheap. Transport to the county bands and orchestras only required a donation towards travel. Most transport to competitions was provided by the band or orchestra he was with but there were smaller ensemble and band performances where he had to find his own way. Then he was invited to join a band that played in gigs locally (earning him £ 100+ a time) so he would cover the fuel for whoever ended up driving him there and back.

Two of my DD's were only interested in travel and worked and saved for that themselves.