Two years ago, my son went to his senior prom and did it up. Tux, haircut, limo, new shoes, dinner out, prom tickets, corsage and I know there was more I just can't remember it all. His girlfriend, same person today, shelled out even more. Okay, her parents did.

This year is his girlfriend's senior prom. She is an incredibly beautiful person inside and out. The expenses were considerably less this time around. Experience can really shave the price off things.

Son's Expenses:
Tux- Pebbles, $117 (2010) vs $185 (2008)
Shoes - Military shoes, not free but not new for the prom
Haircut - same price
Dinner Out - Prom provides excellent heavy appetitizers, dinner wasn't necessary as proved 2 yrs earlier and reconfirmed last Saturday night.
Limo - Chose to take nice car
Corsage - no change

Girlfriend's Expenses:
Borrowed Silk Prom Dress: beautiful, red carpet dress in silk, the real deal, her cousin dress last year
Tickets - ? not sure but similar in cost
Hair - same
Jewelry - new, Kohl's lots of tasteful bling
Shoes - lots of tasteful bling
Tanning Salon - new this prom, unsure of cost but common to paid $50 for a few sessions

They saved at least $600. Very smart of them. I wore my prom dress once, my sister borrowed it for her junior prom and bought her senior prom dress.

Since I'm no longer married and I have no daughters, I've often thought of giving my dress to someone to dress up as Glenda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz (lol). Yes, ballgowns were popular at the time. I paid thousands for my dress and it sits in a box in storage. Oh well, I probably won't because I remember asking my grandmother to see her dress and finding she had gotten rid of it made me sad. Someday I might have a granddaughter and she might ask to look at and try on my dress. So, I suppose I will wait and see.