Oh, Prom. What a wonderful rite of passage. It only makes sense then that you have to dish out a little extra to make the night memorable. Unfortunately, “a little” extra is running up to $1,000.

Let’s map it out. You have to figure most girls are spending about $200-300. Not all, but most. The cheapest tuxedo at Dunhill for the boys is over $120. A bouquet is another $40, a boutonniere $10. Most likely, your group went in a party bus or limo so let’s chalk that price up to around $50. Now, you are going to be hungry after all that dancing, so $20 more for dinner. Girls, you cannot forget your hair and nails, so I’ll be nice and say a solid $50 for hair and $40 for your mani/pedi. Accessories and shoes can run you up to $100 as well. And for the cherry on top, it is a $40 ticket.

Now this can all vary as well. Maybe you got a spray tan. Perhaps you borrowed your dress. Who knows what people found necessary to do for the dance. Either way, spending hundreds of dollars on one night seems too extreme for me.

“I spent about $600 and I went cheap. It is too much that is expected from the night. It is kind of a letdown because there is not even a meal served either,” Reilly Cosgrove (12) said.

It is not like it is your wedding day. It is prom. Most of us should be saving up for college not dropping $300 on a dress.

“I spent around $300. I think it is too much to rent a tux for one night. And $40 is a lot just for the ticket. It was just $35 in the past to go to Formal and now it is $40 for Prom, but it was not any different. I just feel like the price keeps going up,” Francis Jagiella III (12) said.

Personally, I can barely afford prom, and being a senior I have to buy things for three different banquets, and somehow still have money for college.

My bank account is really loving senior year.