Prom costs more than Kanye’s shoes
Prices have gone from super expensive to ‘Your grandkids will pay for this’
Illustration by Sarah Chi
“Promposals,” have gotten more and more expensive as the years have gone on. By 2020, perhaps we will be asking people to prom with literal stacks of cash.
It’s finally over. The holiday season and all of the reckless spending brought with it has finally drawn to a close.
Whether you’re still kicking yourself for buying that useless hoverboard, or spending way too much on your significant other’s Valentines gift, we can all agree on one thing. It’s now time to give our wallets a rest, right?
Wrong. Well, if you’re a junior, that is.
The class of 2017 made it to Prom. During this magical night, sparks flew, memories were made, and the kids finally got to escape from their nagging parents for a night.
Prom shaped up to be one of the best nights of each junior’s life. That is, if they were able to look past the price tag.
A recent study by Visa found that the average American family spent approximately $919 on prom this year. No, this is not a typo: $919.
This includes everything from the tickets and buses to the promposals to dinner. In comparison, the average family of four spent $882 total on Christmas shopping last year, according to americanresearchgroup.com.
Turns out, maybe that hoverboard was worth it after all.
Surprisingly, the price of prom is actually lower than 2013, when Visa’s conducted its last survey and the average family spending a ridiculous $1,139. High school students can breathe easy though, becaue on average, parents covered about 73 percent of expenses.
While Visa’s study certainly is a high estimate, it gets the point across: prom is pretty expensive. I don’t believe it was quite enough to put any student into $53 million of debt like Kanye, but who knows, San Ramon never fails to surprise.
But let’s be real. It was totally worth the hundreds of dollars for a fun night of dancing, being among friends, and questionable decision making.
It doesn’t matter if you had to sell the family pet or mortgage the house because it’s a night that you and your friends will remember for the rest of your lives. That is, until you go to college in a year and never talk to each other again.
Your money was well spent as well, for the hosts behind the dance provided you with a variety of snacks and refreshments that were rarely touched and thrown away in large quantities when the event ended. Plus, there were fun photobooths that everyone waited in line for half an hour just to fight over who got to keep the photos in the end.
But I digress.
I don’t mean to seem like I’m talking down prom, because I was just as excited for it as the next guy. You just can’t expect to come out of the experience without giving up at least a couple arms and legs.
