Although prom is one of the biggest nights of the school year, it can also be the most costly. Lermitte thinks parents should sit down with their children at the beginning of the school year and decide in advance to set a budget for the prom. A budget can at first mean a certain amount a parent is willing to spend and then become more detailed and the parents and children decide how much everything is going to cost for the whole night. Then they have to make decisions on where is their money will be spent - and if they don't have the money they might have to think of alternatives.
Parents can discuss with their children other ways around spending a lot of money on prom night.
For example, instead of having you daughter go to a hair salon, make an event out of it and have a friend or family member come over to do her hair. Or if a renting a limousine will be cheaper with eight people instead of six, find the most cost conscious way to pay for the transportation. And before your children go out and spend the money for prom night also have them consider what might happen after graduation. This is just the prom, there are a lot of other things next - the structure for managing money that you put into today with your kids is what will be used in the future. This article appeared May 16, 2000.