PROM $EA$SON!

New survey said the average family will spend $1,078 on their teenagers proms.

And that amount goes up the LESS a family makes!!

Here are the official survey numbers, courtesy of VISA

$1,078

Amount the average family with teenagers spent

33.6
Percent increase over the $807 the average family spent in 2011

61
Percent of the costs parents covered

39
Percent covered by the kids.

$20 to $250
Cost of prom tickets, depending largely on location

$25 to $130
Pre-prom dinner, per person

$30 to $275
Hair, makeup, and nails

$30 to $125
Prom photos, per person

$200 to $500
Limo rental, split among all riders

$100 to $400
Average prom dress purchase, with plenty of families spending much more

$1,200
Prom spending by families earning less than $20,000 a year

$842
Prom spending by families earning more than $75,000 a year

$695
Prom spending by families earning $40,000-$49,999 a year

$2,635
Prom spending by families earning $20,000-$29,999 a year

$23,050
The federal poverty level for a family of four

$1,944
What the average Northeastern family will spend on prom

$1,047
What the average Southern family will spend on prom

$744
What the average Western family will spend on prom

$696
What the average Midwestern family will spend on prom

WOW!

My Upland High prom picture, taken from the Disneyland Hotel.

If I were to add up MY prom expenses, here's what I came up with:

Prom tickets: FREE (My date was on the prom committee!)

Tux: $100 (I think)

Limo rental: $200 (I think.  Crap, this was a long time ago.  I remember it was an old-style English car with the steering wheel on the wrong side, and it was me and my buddy and our dates . . . so we were the only ones paying for it.)

And I was only making $4 an hour at Taco King.  I can't imagine agreeing to spend nearly a week of salary for a freakin' limo ride!

Flowers: $30 (I'm being generous here)

Tickets to Rocky Horror Picture Show: $10 (After we got back from the Disneyland Hotel, we went to the midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show in Montclair, and had a blast!  What was the cost of movie ticket, $5? Times two?  And I was the 'victim' of a virgin sacrifice!)

TOTAL: $340-$350 (Of course, this was a 'couple' of years ago, and I'm a guy...so I can totally see costs nowadays exceeding $1,000.