National City resident Flor Burciaga knows what she – and her wallet – can expect from the senior year of high school. She’s had two kids go through it before, and a third is in the middle of it.
“We’re very familiar,” she said. “They have grad night, they have homecoming or prom. And then there’s additional expenses that come up.”
Tickets to Sweetwater High School’s prom started at $80 last school year. Prom dresses at Windsor range from around $60 to $200. Tuxedo and suit rentals cost about $150 at Men’s Wearhouse. Burciaga’s daughters did their own makeup, which costs $75 to get done at Ulta.
Then, there are the flowers that adorn boys’ lapels and girls’ wrists. Online florist 1-800-Flowers charges around $40 for corsages and an additional $5 for a matching boutonniere. Flowerhouse San Diego in National City charges $70 for a matching corsage and boutonniere.
This year, Burciaga’s son plans to go to grad night. It’s a trip to Disneyland, and it costs $360 total. The school offered a payment plan, breaking it up into payments of $160, $100 and $100 over three months.
But that still meant coming up with $160 on short notice.
“The challenge was, did I have the amount that was due for that first payment?” Burciaga said. “If not, if I missed it, then I can’t get on the payment plan.”
Burciaga said his school gives students chances to win grad night tickets or yearbooks at senior assemblies. Last year’s yearbook cost $75.
“None of my three kids have won,” she said. “That's still, you know, just a good kind of probability of somebody accessing something that a family is just going to face a challenge with.”
MG Portraits, based in Chula Vista, takes the school’s senior photos. Prices range from a one-pose package for $75 to a seven-pose package for $525.
Burciaga picked a six-pose package, the smallest package that included digital copies of the photos. She split the $450 bill into two payments.
The final tally for all these senior year expenses comes to between $700 and $1,400. And that's before considering the costs of college applications or other post-high-school plans.
A team effort
One possibility for avoiding all these expenses is to just say no, at least to some of them. But for Burciaga, that’s not an option.
“I would hate for them to feel that it’s because of financial strain that they miss out on things,” she said. “I want you guys to participate. I want you to have that experience. So how can we work together?”
That approach comes from her own experience with high school expenses.
“My parents were not able to navigate this. I needed to be resourceful,” she said. “For me, it's letting my kids be part of it, so they know that there's effort and there's sacrifice, but also initiative that they should have, too.”
Financial decisions are a “team effort” in the family, Burciaga said. They cut back on dining out to prepare for upcoming expenses. They sell clothes, hats and shoes they don’t need at swap meets or on Facebook Marketplace. They recycle aluminum cans and plastic bottles.
“We have to wake up really early, load up the car with the recycling,” Burciaga said. “If you take on the task of bagging up the stuff and coming along with me, then you get to keep that portion of the money.”
If she works overtime on weekends, she expects her kids to help out around the house. She encourages her kids to save the money they get for Christmas.
“If you're grateful, and you show that you have earned it, I think it just feels that much more valuable,” she said.
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