5, 6, 7, 8,....Dance!

Have you ever played a sport that has cost you or your parents a lot of money? Have your parents ever made the phrase, "your going to put us in the poor house!"? Trust me, your not alone. People don't seem to realize that just like hockey or football, dancing has its expenses as well and isn't all just spins and twirls.

On average in a year my parents would spend roughly 2,500$ on my dancing. And when I say this, I don't mean including all the hair pieces, make up, entry fees for competition, costumes and shoes, I mean this is how much per year it was just for me to take classes each and every week. To put it all into a better perspective I have created a list of all the expenses (roughly) behind dance that no one really thinks about when we tell them dancing is expensive!

• Weekly classes: 250$/month
• Competition classes: 1,000$
• Costumes: 60$/per costume (averaged at 11 each year)
• Make up: 100$
• Hair pieces/accessories: 100$
• Entry fees(for competitions each dance you enter you have to pay for): 1,200$
• Music: 50$
• Extra practices: 20$/per practice
• Clothes to wear to dance: 500$
• Shoes: 500$
• Total in 1 year: 6,670$
• Over my 9 years of dance: 60,030$  

All in all this is a lot of money for something you wouldn't think would cost this much! Dancing is a sport too and along with it comes the gear and the fees. I am very fortunate to have grown up being able to do something I love as I know there are some kids out there who's families just can't afford to have them play sports or take part in any extra circular activities.

I want to hear your opinions, do you think that parents spending this kind of money on extra circular activities/sports is ridiculous or do you think it just comes with the sport?