Priorities and spending for graduation & senior year

 A lot of families go *all out* for graduation. We chatted with both Sam (last year) & Nick about what was important to them, and what they didn't care about. 

Here's our list. 

Things they didn't care about:

• Neither of them cared at all about announcements, so those were easy to skip. Apparently, sending them out is much less common in our area. 
• Sam wanted senior pictures, Nick did not. Nick did get photos through the year book session, as well as for both of the sports he played, which was fine with him. 
• Neither of them wanted an open house, although my parents hosted a party at their house for Sam, and will host one for Nick as well. All of our family lives in the area near my parents, and as a bonus, Nick's friends will also attend, as they are road tripping & staying with my parents for a few days. I will give my parents money to cover all of the food & drinks for the party, as well as additional food money for when the boys stay with them. As we know, feeding teens is pricey! 

Things Nick is prioritizing:

• Nick has a very large circle of friends, and several different "groups" that he hangs out with, partially because he plays two different sports, and also because he is just quite a social butterfly. ;-) Nick is really interested in doing two senior trips - the road trip, and also a trip to Hawaii with a second set of friends. He is in charge of paying for both trips, and is using money earned by his job (he works at a restaurant) to save up. He also has to have saved a certain amount for college. We helped him use his airline miles to book his flight to Hawaii, as part of his 18th birthday gift. He will pay for the shared condo, food & activities with friends. 
• The road trip should be reasonably priced, as they are mostly camping, and staying with family & friends along the way. Nick also asked for a national park pass for his 18th birthday, which my parents bought for him. That will allow them free admission to the parks. When I asked about their food plans, the boys were all planning to raid their parents pantries. Oh, to be 18. I will likely treat Nick to a "stock up" shop, where he can pick out easy to make & consume road trip food, as they won't have access to a kitchen while camping. He also requested camping & backpacking equipment for Christmas, so he's pretty set on those items, and I found a few other things he needs through Buy Nothing.
• There's nothing cheap about a trip to Hawaii, but the boys have decided to stay in a condo, to save money on meals. That should help with costs, and the condo is slightly cheaper than a similar hotel room/suite, given that there are five of them. One fearless soul is a great cook, so he is menu planning, and creating a grocery list of items they need at Costco, and will prep all of the meals. He's getting a slight discount on the cost of the condo, which is well deserved. 
• Nick is also big on all of the senior milestones. We had a big group for his soccer senior night, and while tennis senior night was quieter, M & I had posters, and all of his friends came as well. He definitely cares about: attending the grad night party (almost $200), having an ad in the yearbook with his elementary picture, and the senior poster, which hangs up during graduation & is a collage I'll put together. The collage will be about $20, so nothing too crazy. I paid for the grad night party tickets back in September, when they were a lot cheaper. 
• He is also, of course, going to prom. Because he's bringing an outside guest (vs going with friends), we also paid for her prom ticket. He will fund the dinner & flowers. He has a suit from last year that he can wear again. 
• My parents are flying in for graduation, using repurposed flights from when they were planning on coming to visit in April (to watch Nick while we were in Spain). We are planning a graduation lunch for the day of graduation for the six of us. If last year is any indication, it will be a whirlwind, with graduation practice, lunch, the ceremony, and then Nick will get on the bus for his grad night party. As a bonus, I'll be taking my mom to a winery for a belated Mother's Day event. She always appreciates time together & activities vs gifts, so the timing works well. 
• We used United flight credits to get flights for the three of us (myself, M & Sam) to fly to my parents for Nick's graduation celebration. Nick will be road tripping there & back, so doesn't need flights.

Since I wrote the initial draft of this post, we've hosted two more impromptu parties, including the end of season tennis swim party, when they got eliminated during league finals. Being able to throw together snacks, drinks & dinner for the tennis team for their last hurrah? Priceless, and what we always want to prioritize. Some of this other stuff, just not anything anyone will remember. 

My (moderately) frugal impromptu hosting trick for teens? I keep a bunch of unopened Trader Joes snacks in my bedroom closet. If I leave them in the pantry, they will all get opened & consumed unnecessarily, when people should be eating meals. When we have unexpected guests, I always turn to the bedroom closet "pantry". That's where I also stop if we are taking people skiing, etc.