Senior year: the final countdown to graduation and moving on to becoming your own person. It’s the most exciting year, assuming you participate in most, if not all, school activities, but it’s also costly. From the first day to after the last, it takes a whopping $4,000 dollars, on average, to have the “perfect” senior year.

This year we’ve had one of the best –if not the best- turnout for the student section. So, if you’re looking to have a good senior year, make sure to go to as many football games as possible. Assuming you do go to each game, and tickets are sold at $3 dollars, that’s $36 right off the bat. Add on the cost to go to basketball games and other sporting events, and you’re looking at $100 spent cheering on the North Hills Indians alone.

Of course, that doesn’t look like much, but add it with Homecoming Court, assuming girls buy cute outfits for $50 or less, and you’ve spent roughly $150, and it’s only beginning of the year! Now for girls, the formal dances are our kryptonite. While we love getting our hair and nails done, those alone usually cost a minimum of $70. Add on the cost of a dress and shoes, and the combo pack can range anywhere upwards of $250 for Homecoming and $500 for prom (and that’s lowballing it).

Girls aren’t the only ones who spend big bucks on the last dance, though—on average, guys spend roughly $270 on a tux and tickets for two alone. Of course, Prom is one of biggest nights of senior year, but there’s still a lot of money to spend if you want to have an overall good year.

As the year comes to a close, you want to make sure everything’s set for achieving your future goals; this includes college expenses, which is a costly combo of application fees, deposits, and room and board fees that adds up to $250 minimum (and that doesn’t include tuition or saving for when you actually get to college). Speaking of wrapping up a good senior year, the Cedar Point trip is only $55, until you add extra spending money, and suddenly you’ve spent an average $70 on one day.  Ironically, the most important day of senior year costs the least: it only costs $20 for your cap and gown. And don’t even get me started on post-graduation Senior Trip to Ocean City, where a week’s worth of living it up with friends boils down to an estimated $2,500 (again, lowballing it), which includes the cost of renting a house, public transportation, food, and enough money to buy extras.

All in all, senior year is costly, and insanely so. Of course, the aforementioned calculations are only averages, but it’s still amazing how much small amounts can add up to. Some people would question our sanity—is it really worth it to spend that much money for one crazy year filled with memories? Why not buy a yearbook? It’s only $90, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.