Cost of Family Outings

[Laurie919]

Last night my neice, great neice, Taylor and I went to see High School Musical on Ice. We spent close to $300.00 to do this.

The tickets were $33.00 a piece plus all the ticket master fees, then each one of the kids got something Taylor got a pen and my neices daughter got a little purse, we got two cotton candies because they came with a hat like Ryan wore. Four drinks were $51.00, now they came in cups to bring home, but still.....

How on earth do people with bigger families do things like this?

 

[DestinationHome]

We don't even have a large family and wouldn't do that. I, personally, wouldn't be willing to spend that much money on something with no lasting value. We do trips to the beach, the nature center and things like the ballet or other cultural events.

 

[Laurie919]

We don't even have a large family and wouldn't do that. I, personally, wouldn't be willing to spend that much money on something with no lasting value. We do trips to the beach, the nature center and things like the ballet or other cultural events.

How does the ballet have more lasting value, than taking your child to the theater or a musical?

 

[CarrieAg93]

We don't do things like that. My in-laws took my boys to Walking with Dinosaurs for as a Christmas present, but we could never afford something like that. There are cheaper options that are just as entertaining - church musicals (we're currently performing Fiddler on the Roof), productions and sporting events at the local college, high school or junior high.

 

[Black-bird fly]

We do go to musicals and plays but often it is part of a Christmas gift or birthday present so they are not typically for the whole family. My parents also tend to pitch in on those outings because they would like to go as well. It is much less expensive to do Beauty and the Beast with just one of my girls and bonus it is one on one time with them which can get hard to find when there is more than one child in the family.

 

[GolfingMom]

We don't do things like that either. DH and I would rather save the money and take the kiddo's on a nice vacation. They learn culture and have fun

CarrieAG93 has a good idea of looking into churches for musicals, local college, high school or junior high!

 

[DestinationHome]

How does the ballet have more lasting value, than taking your child to the theater or a musical?

I seriously doubt that 100 years from now, anyone will be going to see High School Musical on Ice. It's big today, but I doubt it will stand the test of time. The Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcraker have. Besides, we always go to productions by local groups (high schools, universities, local dance groups), so the cost is little to nothing.

 

[MyaShane]

$51 for drinks?? Can you see where that might have been a bit extravagant?

 

[coffeegal]

we don't do things like that. tho there have been shows we have wanted to take the kids to, we never have.

we do things like- free day at the zoo, camping, free concerts, ahl hockey, couple years ago hubby got several free pairs of tickets to nhl hockey, watching siblings play ball, park trips.

 

[Laurie919]

We don't do things like that either. DH and I would rather save the money and take the kiddo's on a nice vacation. They learn culture and have fun

CarrieAG93 has a good idea of looking into churches for musicals, local college, high school or junior high!

Family vacations is one part of the budget, family outings is another. At least for us.

 

[Laurie919]

I seriously doubt that 100 years from now, anyone will be going to see High School Musical on Ice. It's big today, but I doubt it will stand the test of time. The Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcraker have. Besides, we always go to productions by local groups (high schools, universities, local dance groups), so the cost is little to nothing.

We go to Broadway shows when they are in town too. This was just more of a fun thing.

 

[Laurie919]

$51 for drinks?? Can you see where that might have been a bit extravagant?

I don't understand this question.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

I don't understand this question.

4 soda's 51 dollars are a rip off and I wouldn't have wasted that much money on a soda when you could get them cheaper at Mac Donald's or some other cheaper place,or they could have went with out.That's just a lot of money to waist on soda,I'm shocked anyone would buy soda at that price.That's what she probably meant.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

You know these are the types of things i cannot wait to do with my kids. My mom and grandmother every year took me to the ice capades and I *still* vividly remember all the fun we had. Heck I still remember some of the shows too

I don't think there is anything wrong with going to something special like that once or maybe even twice a year. Now spending $51 on drinks... that is a bit much. I'd probably give the kids a choice you can have that and that or this and this. Not just let them get whatever they wanted. One souvenier and 1 food item. Or I'd have the kids share a soda and hotdog. There is no reason a small child needs a whole huge soda to drink.

Oh and we also always attended local musicals and other dance productions. Because we attended the "cheaper" local stuff through the year, we were able to do one or two big shows when they came to town.

 

[CelticRose]

Don't do. And my youngest is performing this week as the support ensemble for a Ten Tenors concert but the tickets were A$80~ just to sit on the ground or bring your own chair & no food or drink allowed to be brought into the venue. I won't do it. I think it is a rort. However I am a little odd this way & when I can swing it prefer dress rehearsals which I have done for theatre, music, opera & ballet. Not only do you see a first class performance at under 1/2 price, you get to see some of the *inside workings*, so to speak.

 

[Linnis]

Things like this in my family were not typical outings. Normal family trips were going to the beach for the day with a cooler full of food. Seeing a show like that was a once a year thing if that. Also if we wanted a keep sake we had to come up with the money ourselves.

I remember my mother getting us the cheapest tickets for a musical like Ragtime or Les Mis and then telling us no drinks at intermission because they were $2 and it was barely a shot of pop for that much.

 

[lucypevensie]

HSM on Ice is something we'd probably do if we were interested enough. One way to keep costs down is to pay cash for the whole outing. When you spend cash it hurts more so you tend to spend less money. This means I'd have to inconvenience myself and actually drive to the box office and purchase tickets with my money in hand rather than doing the quick online credit card purchase. Once there our money will be kept safely on our bodies and any souvenirs and snacks that are purchased will be bought with cash. I would strongly urge my DD beforehand to save up her money because she can expect to pay for her own trinkets. I might buy her one small thing, but the rest is up to her. When using cash and requiring our children to save for their own things we soon learn what is important to us. If we are not willing to save several hundreds of dollars for one outing then it's not something we want badly enough. We learn to prioritize.

 

[Black-bird fly]

If we are not willing to save several hundreds of dollars for one outing then it's not something we want badly enough. We learn to prioritize.

That's a good point. I went to the Women's World Cup when it was in the US with my parents and boyfriend. It was a very expensive outing but very worth it since I was/am a total soccer fanatic.

 

[Neenie1]

We just don't do things like this. We rarely even go to movies and things like that either. It's just not part of our priorities. We have fun doing other things together as a family.

Also we try as much as possible to take our own food and drinks wherever we go, so we hardly ever leave the house without a drink bottle for each child.

 

[LilLamb219]

We don't do those things as a family either. We try to do cheap things around our community like the free movies in the park or the plays that are put on by the parks department and there is a community band with free concerts. To these things you can bring your own drinks