Parents When the monthly cost of gym equals a mortgage payment...

[justanothergymmom]

OK...So I am not sure if this is a "mini" vent or a question, or what....but I can't believe how expensive gymnastics has become for our family! I swear it started off innocently enough...oldest dd in the tot class, having fun once a week...it has ballooned into all of my dds now involved in this sport...3 on team! I would be embarrassed to give you a dollar amount of what we estimate we will be spending each month this year (taking into consideration meet fees and gym travel, as well as our monthly tuition), but it is comes close to a mortgage payment.

I am not sure how many people can relate to this post, but I imagine those of you with multiple gymnasts, or children involved in other expensive sports/activities or with one in college can feel my pain. I guess I am wondering what do you tell yourself when those doubts creep up as to whether or not the financial cost is worth it? Also, how do you afford it? Are you independently wealthy, working 6 jobs, or fundraising to the point that people turn the other direction when they see you coming? I am just looking for some insight into how other families handle the expense of this wonderful sport. Are there any families that are willing to go into debt to finance their children's activities?

I do want to add that my dds all LOVE gym and have no intention of giving it up willingly ...and they are all young enough that we have A LOT of years left (...to pay for...lol), if they do choose to continue with their gymnastics journey through their childhood. I do know that they gain a lot from this sport that is immeasureable from a financial standpoint, but at the same time we have other bills to pay too! :melodramatic: So how do you all manage to pay for it and what sacrifices are you willing to make so that your kids can continue doing what they love?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

man, i can relate. the costs for owning a gym and all that goes with it has become absolutely nuts! so...i tried standing on an intersection corner at night with my pants leg raised...just a bit...but no takers...no one wanted any lemonade!





okay, everybody's mind out of the gutter now.

 

[cher062]

Dunno you are too funny LOL

Ok paying for gymnastics well I use to have 2 on team and it was another mortage payment amount that's for sure. Now with just one in the sport we were relieved but as she is moving higher and higher in the levels it just gets more and more expensive. After a few years you can figure out a monthly budget so when the times comes you have what you need (hopefully - for me this year I didnt' plan well at all) But I have used credit cards to pay for the fees, I don't think I've been on a "real vacation" like a disneyworld unless a gym meet was attached to it and then only for 2 or 3 days. My car well there is rust 150K on the speedometer but we maintain it and it still gets me from point A to point B. Only buy what we need not what we want.
Yes I am that mom that folks want to know now what fundraiser does she have. I have asked both my parents and my hubbys parents to help pay for her gym which with the only grandchildren they have more than happily helped pay the bill for gym. I'm not one of thse super coupon queens that can get hundreds of dollars of food for a buck but I do use those coupons to bring down that bill.

We have the cheapest cable plan no frill channels etc, My cell phone no apps just phone calls very cheap, I really evaluate everything we have bills for and think hard is it something we need or something we really just want. there are alot of things out there that folks think they need but really they don't and when you have to make those budget cuts in your family you would be suprised how those items really arent needed.

 

[justanothergymmom]

man, i can relate. the costs for owning a gym and all that goes with it has become absolutely nuts! so...i tried standing on an intersection corner at night with my pants leg raised...just a bit...but no takers...no one wanted any lemonade! okay, everybody's mind out of the gutter now.

LOL, dunno! (Nearly spit out my drink on that one....) That is NOT the type of sacrifice I was referring to...and definitely not one that I am willing to make!!!

Please note that I was not griping that I am being charged too much, more that it is a strain on my budget due to the number of gymnasts that I have given birth to!!! Who knew!!! I can't even imagine how expensive it is to run a gym right now...I guess things are tough all around for parents and gym owners alike...

 

[exgymnastmomx3]

Had 3 on team until last year when middle daughter had to quit due to injuries. Extremely expensive. Hubby works around the clock, I work full time, fundraisers, etc. It's been 9 long years and oldest dd is going into 3rd yr. of level 10 and youngest is lv. 9. We couldn't have done it without financial support of my parents. Had to change lifestyle significantly and we didn't have a significant lifestyle to begin with! It hasn't been easy at all.

 

[kiwiflyer]

I take my hat off to those of you who are sacrificing alot so that your kids can do something they love. Thankfully my boy is only 16 months and only does gymnastics once a week (so that he can climb on stuff that isn't our furniture).

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I think it is much more expensive for you guys than over on this side of the water - but even so I could not afford the hours my daughter spends in gym - luckily I have an arrangement to swap her hours for mine coaching - so I actually pay nothing for gym. I still have associated cost though, its about $50 a week in fuel and parking, I buy all my leos online second hand so that helps and the club has a re-cycling scheme for things that the children grow out of and as the previous poster said its about being thrifty in life - currently I'm collecting loads of apples from friends and making hard cider - not beer bill for me this year !

 

[drivingmom]

3 on the team..........I don't know how you do it! I had 2 for a short time, now only 1 and it averages 500 bills a month! Fundraising only helps a little and really how many times can you ask the same people to purchase from you. Thankfully we always find the money!

That is why my signature is......

 

[bogwoppit]

I was just commenting to my lovely family, that this is the first Saturday in school time that we have no gymnastics, or any other sports! My son is in the big city working and supporting himself and both my girls are finished with gym for various reasons. Youngest will begin cheer, 4 hours a week Mom and Wed, next week.

THe money we are saving is HUGE and I think I am contemplating what to do with it. Funnily enough I upped my mortgage payment this month so we benefit long term

I know how you feel, we get pulled into gym so easily, it is fun, keep the kids fit, we make great friends. But it is expensive. My only advice is do not go into debt for gymnastics, in this economic climate it is a very tough hole to climb out of! Dunno's lemonade (sure DUnno!!) is not far off the mark, get the kids involved sell some old toys on ebay, and let them come up with small fundraising ideas, walking enighbours dogs etc.

 

[bookworm]

You're right, the monthly tuition alone is a mortgage payment (we refer to it as "our ski house payment") ...I have had 2 in the upper levels for many years and that's why I work! With meet fees ,coaches fees,leos,and travel, it easily averages $2000 a month...they love the sport and it has been great for them (and us) but I live for the day when i can spend that on myself!!!

 

[cher062]

I take my hat off to those of you who are sacrificing alot so that your kids can do something they love. Thankfully my boy is only 16 months and only does gymnastics once a week (so that he can climb on stuff that isn't our furniture).

LOL just wait - that was how my DD and DS started to in the mom and me class only $95 a month and a walmart leo for DD about $15 and t-shirt and shorts for son. I was thinking then oh this will be fun for them and it isn't too expensive. By the time they both were 3yo they were on Pre-team. there is 5 years between them so son was on team when DD was in mom and me. How could I say no to team when we let her brother do it. If I only knew then what I know now I could have put some money in a moneymarked just for the gymnastics.

 

[jcs]

By the time they both were 3yo they were on Pre-team.

Your son started pre-team at 3?? I know our gym invites 3 year old girls but that makes me nervous about my son doing mom & mom lol

 

[cher062]

yup he did just like my dd did. from 3 - 5 he went through the 3 levels of pre team and when he was 6 he competed then under the old clasifications for boys of Class 7 which would be L4 in todays classifications.

Why would a boy doing preteam at 3 make you more nervous than a girl doing it at 3? He's 19 now and the only reason he stopped was because he disocated his knee cap at 16 and would need surgery to continue. the fear of the surgery made him stop. After he stopped his gym hired him as a boys team assistant coach. He had been doing a few of the young boys rec classes since he was 14 (he looked older than what he was and at 4yo 14 looks grown up). He still has that job today and loves it because it keeps him involved in the sport he still loves. He still wishes he could compete - he misses that alot.

 

[MaryA]

I have asked both my parents and my hubbys parents to help pay for her gym which with the only grandchildren they have more than happily helped pay the bill for gym.

Yes, my DD is also on a partial "grandma" scholarship. I told my mom that I thought we could handle the monthly tuition (other DD is in dance and, like gymnastics, each year it gets a little intense and, therefore, a little more expensive) but maybe she could help with the meet fees. She said that she would, and last week, dropping off my DD at practice, she heard the HC quoting a price for the leo, warm-ups, and bag (new gym, all new "stuff"), and felt the need to slip me an evelope with a little something extra in it. I love my mom.

Also, like you, we have gotten rid of cable (yea netflix!), have basic phone plans, and both cars are more than 10 years old and have more than 125K miles on them. When my duaghters tell me that we "need" a new car, I tell them what a nice car payment our monthly dance and/or gymnastics fees would make, and they stop badgering us about our embarassing cars. I'll admit to being somewhat embarassed by them myself, I have to say.

All that said, I can't imagine having 3 kids in gymnastics! Not only would I be broke, but I don't know that my heart could handle the stress. So far at least, dance is WAY less stressful.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

WOW Bookworm!! I cannot even imagine! I thought having my ONE DD in the sport was very expensive (which, of course it was). I had always said I didn't know how people w/more than one doing competitive gym handled the finances!!! DD just quit after 6 years, so now I am pondering what to do with the "extra" $$. My fear is that it was just get sucked away w/o noticing any "surplus!"

 

[gymgal]

We have 3 kiddos - one in gym, one in travel ball and one in swimming. On top of that, two of them are in music lessons and one is in hockey. it definitely gets expensive. We fundraise a lot and our family vacations revolve around out of town meets and tournaments. Grandparents help out sometimes and any money the kids get from birthdays/holidays goes into their activity funds. We are heavily relying on their smarts and /or talents for partial college scholarships. We have saved some for college but not nearly enough, especially for a private U. (though we have 6 yrs left for our first).

 

[KarenUK]

My DD does 8 hours of gym a week, plus ballet, tap and modern dance. I have a son who is a county level judo player (trains 4 times a week plus county once a month) - less expensive than gym but the travel costs for country training and so on rack up, plus my eldest who is an air cadet who will probably be university bound in a year or so - he wants to read law so we are in it for the long haul.

If my DH comments on the cost of DD's hobbies, I remind him that she's 11 now, and when she is 14/15 and he knows exactly where is is, who she's with, and what she's doing, then he won't mind the cost so much...

 

[UnoMas]

We have 3 in gym, 2 on the team, and oldest DD also does competition dance which costs just as much as the gymnastics. I used to work 2 days a week, now I work 5. I am now doing after school pick up to avoid paying an afterschool sitter. We just got rid of cable (kids are never home to watch it). Vacations are pretty much during Jan-March (meet season travel). We definitely don't have much extra money and should when you look at our income...it is mostly going to our girls' activities. I am pretty much working to pay for their gym and dance. But for me it is a worthwhile thing to work for. Much more worthwhile than expensive cars (DH has had his car for 6 yrs), electronics, all that. I believe that experiences are what you remember and what make your life worthwhile. I also firmly believe that my children are (for the most part) polite and well behaved, and I credit a lot of that to the discipline required in gymnastics and dance. I hope that when I look back some day at my empty bank account I will still feel that way.

 

[jcs]

yup he did just like my dd did. from 3 - 5 he went through the 3 levels of pre team and when he was 6 he competed then under the old clasifications for boys of Class 7 which would be L4 in todays classifications.

Why would a boy doing preteam at 3 make you more nervous than a girl doing it at 3? He's 19 now and the only reason he stopped was because he disocated his knee cap at 16 and would need surgery to continue. the fear of the surgery made him stop. After he stopped his gym hired him as a boys team assistant coach. He had been doing a few of the young boys rec classes since he was 14 (he looked older than what he was and at 4yo 14 looks grown up). He still has that job today and loves it because it keeps him involved in the sport he still loves. He still wishes he could compete - he misses that alot.

When I say it makes me nervous it was more for my wallet....I didn't realize they might consider boys that young for pre-team.

 

[cher062]

JCS If your gym has a competitive team its the same drill for them as it is for the girls.

we actually started with my son in a preschool class then went on team track and of course my DD who adores her brother had to do it too. (even today at 14 yo my DD still thinks the world of her brother and her brother is very protective of her too)