Last week’s poll asked if we should have more toll roads in MN and the overwhelming response to that question was “no”. While many cited concerns about double taxation, there was a great discussion on the number of accidents which may be caused by the speed differential created by MnPass lanes and the need to leave the far left lane and head to the exits on the right side. Definitely an interesting question and one that would never be proven as MnDOT is way too interested in funding projects with these dollars.
This week’s poll comes following a recent survey done by a local website which handles traditional graduation party invitations. According to their survey the average family spends nearly $1000 on graduation parties and over 1/3 of respondents had done a home improvement project to ready their property for the event.
I haven’t been to many graduation parties in Minnesota, only one actually, so I cannot comment on the amount of money I have seen spent at these parties but when I graduated from high school I know that we didn’t do any home improvement projects in preparation and we did a lot of the cooking ourselves (or had friends/family help) to offset some of the cost. However, knowing how much a regular old summer BBQ for ~40 people costs, I don’t see $1000 being all that astronomical for a party of near 100 people.
What do you think about graduation party costs? Do you think that people should be paying ~$1000 or should they be doing it for less? How about the 37% of people who have done house improvements prior to the party. Is that something that you think is important either for others or your own home prior to a party? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on below and vote on the sidebar. After you do both of those things feel free to check out our expired polls in the archive or read through the previous posts about polls here.
Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
Loading ...
June 5th, 2011 at 8:57 am
the daughter had a ‘open house’ and about all we did was cut the grass and flip burgers.
the son didn’t want a open house, we didn’t argue about it.
my druthers would be to do a ‘home improvement’ project to get the casa ready to sell vs having a bunch of kids dirtying up my house so i have to clean it AGAIN.
and if i did have an open house, (the biggie), no alcohol!
bb
June 5th, 2011 at 10:01 am
I would only do a home improvement project to get ready if it was something I wanted to do anyway. My family has a tradition of grilling, Uncle Andy flips the burgers and it’s open house style. I have no idea how much is spent, but I know the grad usually rakes in over 1K in cash.
June 5th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
I doubt I’ve ever been to a graduation party that cost $1000. Almost all of the ones I’ve been to have been simple affairs where the family makes the food and people sit out on chairs on the deck or lawn. Of course, I’ve only been to a couple in the last five years, so maybe things have changed.
June 5th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
We dropped 20 grand into a outdoor living area prior to and partly because of my daughter’s grad party last summer. On a day like today, I am quite glad we did so!
June 5th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Tim, I find it easy to spend $300 to feed less than 30 people for a simple BBQ with everything made by me. I imagine that $1000 for 100 isn’t a stretch.
June 5th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
My daughter graduated in 2008. We built a patio and got new carpet, paint and furniture for the basement prior to the party. The basement needed the carpet and paint anyway and although we were always planning on a patio someday, the graduation party accelerated that timeline. We have enjoyed it ever since, so not a waste of money by any strech of the imagination. For the actual party, we did a BBQ with hamburgers, polish, brats, multiple fixings, multiple variety of salads, fresh fruit, beverages and cupcakes. All the food was made by myself or my daughter. I never really figured out how many people were there, but it was a lot more than I had expected–good thing I don’t like to ever run out of food at a party so generally make more than I would think I would need! Between the food, decorations, invitations, paper goods, renting chairs and tables and everything else that goes with a party, the total was well over $1000. Beverages really add to the cost of the party–we did do some beer for the adults, but since it was Sunday afternoon, not much was consumed, but it was hot and the soda was flying out of the coolers. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I enjoyed celebrating my daughter’s accomplishment as much as she did. I especially enjoyed watching her shine that day–she was a gracious hostess to all that attended. I enjoyed being able to visit with my family, friends and co workers during the day and feel the money really was well spent. I considered the party for her as her graduation gift to her. She really was excited and helped out a lot with the party. I wouldn’t have missed doing that for her for anything. Of all the parties I attended that year, I felt that hers was probably less extravagent than some of the others–several had professionaly produced videos playing (we had a powerpoint with scanned pictures and a boom box for music) and some of them had been catered affairs. I have noticed that the ones I went to last year and the one that I have gone to so far this year seemed really toned down from the year my daughter graduated. I can only assume the economy has something to do with it?
June 5th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Four years ago when my son graduated high school, we rented chairs, borrowed canopies and tables, and decorated and made the food ourselves.
We didn’t serve alcohol, but sure needed some after the last guests left. We probably had more than 200 people over the course of the afternoon.
As far as home improvements go, we worked like heck to make the yard beautiful and full of flowers, but that’s about it.
I imagine that some people use a party as an excuse/reason to do work on their house/yard that they have been planning to do anyway.
College graduation week before last? We went out for a really nice dinner and threw some money at him.
June 5th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
The only “home improvements” made for my high school graduation by my parents were packing up my crap and moving me out. Graduation parties/open houses didn’t exist where I grew up. Neither did senior photos…both seem to be a Midwest phenomenon.
I can guarantee this…even though I have 8 years before the first one and that’s a heck of a lot of time for inflation, I won’t spend $1K on a grad party. I’ll throw open the garage door, grill up some brats, have some pops and waters in a cooler, and that will be that.
These extravagant expenditures and parties seem insane to me.
June 5th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Timely topic – We had a grad party for my son today. This is our third (and last) time around and we have the system down.
The event was from 11am-2pm. We fed 150 people scrambled eggs, sausage links, Belgium waffles, fresh fruit, juices and pop for about $760.
We threw in with a neighborhood buddy of my son and rented a shelter house located in the park across the street from our home. It has electricity, restrooms and running water.
This is the third time we have done this. Our share of the cost was $380 and we have the added benefit of not hosting all those people in our home.
June 5th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
MSPD, I had both.
June 5th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
My wedding only cost about $2500 for 125 people and that included a lot of beer, a dress, a church, a park site and hair/makeup. People spending $1000 for a grad party is dumb.
June 5th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Huh…maybe I was just in a small pocket of sanity.
June 5th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
The more likely reason you didn’t have senior pictures was because you were too ugly and your parents didn’t want to remember you as a pimple-faced geek.
And you were such a loser there would have been no one to invite to your grad party anyway.
;-)
June 5th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
mspd ,
when you throw open the garage door, the 1/2 stall that is, you cook the johnsonville’s, i’ll bring the beanz, and after the youngsters depart for greener pastures, you, eye and awesomebill can split a yuengling as we clean up:)
bb
June 5th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Nate didn’t want one. I’m trying to talk Eric out of one now.. not as easy. If we have one I’ll make sure the budget is about $125.00, and we will serve booze or I’m not going.
June 5th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
We did a “fair food” theme. Rented a hotdog steamer, a popcorn cart and a slushee machine for the weekend (total cost around $150). We bought hotdogs, etc. at Sams club and got slushee mix and popcorn from the rental places (another 100 bucks or so). Add in the sodas and some snacks and we were probably at about $350-400 and fed about 200 people). We doubled up with our next-door neighbors, whose son graduated at the same time. Borrowed some tents/flies from other neighbors. And we hung blue tarps on all the walls of the neighbors’ garage. Was a nice space and we had a blast.
June 6th, 2011 at 12:52 am
Seriously, this survey is about what people “should be” paying for a party for their kids? Was this a slow news day at the county jail, or did MTV take My Super Sweet Sixteen off the air? ;)
June 6th, 2011 at 2:03 am
We got the basement finished at my parents home just before my graduation open house. Was it done for the open house only? No. Was the open house part of the reason it actually got done? Yes. Its been done for almost 20 years now, and used frequently, so its not like a one and done deal… As far as the cost, the open house cost is all what you make it to be. Invite as many or as few as you want. Provide as much or as little as you want. We did a relatively low cost pulled pork sandwich and some fixings and cake with pop only (actually a Keg of 1919 Root beer) and some punch. No need for real beer at this event. I have ZERO expectations on what will occur for someone elses. Different strokes for everyone. Similarly, my grooms dinner was a very casual affair (and everyone had a good time…)
June 6th, 2011 at 7:20 am
No home improvements here for our two high school graduates. We had beer & wine for the adults. Our cost was under $1,000. We had taco & fajitas with the fixings, salads & treats. I made everything. Next year, I am teaming up with a neighbor and will split the cost for the two graduates. I honestly don’t think graduating from high school is that big of deal to warrant these extravagant affairs that I have been to.
June 6th, 2011 at 8:15 am
Nothing special when I graduated, family, friends and a BBQ from what I recall. The other one I can remember going to, for a family friend, I’m sure had some money spent on it, as the family was rather affluent. I think the cost may be proportionate to 1) the want for a big party, and 2) the ability for fork out for said party..
June 6th, 2011 at 11:10 am
I was riding my bike around some trails in Farmington this weekend, and as I passed one house in the back, I saw that they had a Pepsi trailer back there (the kind that pulls behind a pickup truck, and that you see at lots of street fairs) about 25 empty pizza boxes, and what looked to be a couple of pizza warmers. I’m betting they had an ‘in’ with somebody, but it looked like the perfect setup for a party, and they probably had a great time!
June 6th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
It has been 16 years since I graduated HS but I clearly remember getting new carpet the week before! I have a huge family and there is no doubt my parents spent $500+ on food, etc on my grad party.
June 6th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Personally I think big spending on a party for your kids graduating is a complete waste of money. I think it would make so much more sense to put that money into a fund for the kid than wasting it. When I graduated from high school, I think we went out for dinner. That was 1986 and neither my mom nor dad’s family have been big on family get-togethers. It wasn’t until I married into a family that I’ve been inundated with large family gatherings. (My wife has 5 sisters and they live close)
I quizzed my wife about the events we held for our boys when they graduated. They were each 1 year apart so whatever we bought for the first one went in a box and came out for the 2nd one. She figures we spent about $350 for the cake and food, drinks, not counting labor. We and her sisters did up sandwiches, fresh fruit, and all sorts of stuff. Sams Club supplied the cake ($24) and my neighbor that works for parks and rec got us some tables and chairs. Loaded up the back yard. Had volley ball and some games for young kids.
For her family, such events are more a way to get relatives to travel to your house and give your kid money. As far as doing stuff on the house? I’m a big proponent of doing almost nothing to clean a house prior to a big party, especially if kids are involved. Why? Because about 5 minutes in, the house is a mess already so what is the point?
June 6th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Mikeh said:
AMEN, brother!
June 12th, 2011 at 7:02 am
[...] week’s poll asked if $1000 is too much to pay for a graduation party. The majority responded that it is indeed too expensive while the rest either thought it [...]