By Kallee Mudd

Well everyone, prom is just around the corner! Which means it’s time to gather everything you are going to need. But how much are you willing to spend? Every year the average family spends $1,078 on prom including: dress, tux, flowers, car rentals, and other things. But I’d like to give you helpful pieces of advice to help minimize your spending.

Boys, when ordering a tux think about what you want. Are all of the extra accessories really necessary? When it comes to class, “less is more.” Think about it. It’s one night and you only wear it for about five hours. You can always just wear your black dress shoes (no one looks at your feet, I promise) and your white dress shirt from home. That way you don’t have to spend money to rent what you already have.

Ladies, we all dream of finding “the perfect dress”, right? But exactly how much are you willing to spend to get it? Before you commit to a specific color or style, check out the sales racks. You never know what’s on the sale rack until you look. You should always be open to ideas because if you focus on a specific one, then you won’t be completely happy until you find the one you want (and that might take a while).

Another thing we (as in girls) all worry about is our hair and make up. Admit it, we’re all guilty of this. But do you really want to pay money to have a stylist do it? Try asking one of your friends who knows a lot about hair and make up to see if they will help you with yours. You can also look on the Internet for easy how-to tutorials and ideas for your hair and make up.

I hope this helps you with some of the problems you may have while preparing for prom. Remember, sometimes the priciest way isn’t always the best way!