What is a reasonable amount to send a Teen to the fair with?

My Teen wants to go to the fair with friends this year. What is a reasonable amount to give her? I don't want to go broke, but I want her to have fun.

 

30 bucks or so.

 

Depends if she plans to ride anything and whether she purchased her tickets presale. Ride tickets are $18/book at the fair and that doesn't go very far. Entrance is $8.00 if she is 13+. If you send $30, that only leaves her with $6.00 to eat and play games.

 

Back in the day when I was a teen, I usually took about $50 with me for an evening at the fair (about 6 hours), but then again we didn't ride a ton of rides, it was more about the hanging out social aspect and eating the fair food and the occasional midway game. Now days I wouldn't have a clue, as I can usually get away for somewhere between $40-$50 for both me and the wife.

 

I'm thinking at least $50 if not more. That is a pricey way to spend the day, even if you don't go crazy on food and rides.

 

$75 bucks? You got room for a new son?

 

I doubt if he could afford it.

 

Just do the math, after you talk to your child to see what they are planning (more rides, less rides). $18/book of tickets, $8 to get in, probably about $10 per meal (drink plus food), and then a little extra for snacks (you can get really thirsty walking around for awhile) and fun extras like a souvenir or games. I think the $75 sounds pretty reasonable. I wouldn't want to send too much more than that because having a lot of cash in your wallet can make you an easy target for bad people. At least the first $30 of it is gone at the gate.

 

A point about tickets (in case someone has been living under a rock)...

Tickets are $18 for a book of 18 (ie, $1 per ticket)

Kiddie rides are typically two to four tickets each. Larger rides are three to five tickets each and spectacular rides can be as many as six to eight tickets each.

(Information from the NC State Fair site)

 

Unless she is going to ride rides, I would say $40-$50. That's what I am sending mine with.

 

Thanks for all of the responses. She had told me that her friends are bringing $65-$75.00 with them. I was thinking WOW, that's a lot of money for the fair. Maybe I'll send her with $50.00 and if she wants anything else she will have to use her own money. :mrgreen:

 

thats what I am doing! I would have to fork over $150....not gonna happen. Mine have more cash than I do anyway.

 

What day are they going?

 

they want to go Saturday w/ girlfriends. I think J is going with ROTC on Wednesday too. I am sure it will change a dozen times between now and then. What about daughter, when she going?

 

She wants to go Saturday. The weather should be beautiful.

 

feeling lucky.

Wow im so happy my teen is a great kid. she asked if she could go with a bunch of her friends and one of the friends Parents will be with them, when i asked her how much money she needed to enjoy herself she said Oh Mom 20 would be fine ill have fun no matter what, im with my friends! I am a Lucky Momma and so proud of my DD.

 

Just FYI: If you're planning on paying anyway, why don't you order the ride tickets (if needed) and admission ticket online before? That way you save money and she'd have more to spend. But I think today might be the last day to do that, so I'd do it quickly!

(my family of 5 are getting 3 sheets of tickets and admissions for less than the tickets alone would be at the gate, yay!)

 

He has said that about 5 times that I can remember.

 

You are correct, today is the last day you can do that. There are several places around you can pick them up as well. It doesnt save much on entry, but it's almost half off on the ride tickets.

 

Thanks, I looked at that earlier, but had no idea how many ride tickets to buy. I'll probably pay for the admission and some ride tickets online so she doesn't have to carry too much cash.