Feeling the Pinch of Prom Season? You're Not Alone

If $1,139 fell into your lap, how would you spend it?

When asked, Patch editors said they'd put their money toward new furniture, house payments, student loans, a vacation to South America or, "Diapers. Lots and lots of diapers."

But for average families with kids planning for prom season, that amount of money will be spent on limos, dresses and other prom-related expenses. That's according to a Visa survey reported by CNN and other media outlets on Thursday. 

• See related: How to Tame the Rising Cost of Prom Season (TIME)

Let that number sink in: $1,139 per family for prom. It's a slight increase over last year, and is a 40 percent jump from 2011. 

CNN spoke with Sarah Hoffer, a senior at Webster Groves High School, to look at where all of the money was going:

"Her biggest expense was a $259 vintage-inspired dress that she fell in love with online. Her mother, Martha Valenta, agreed to pay for an additional $220 in alterations. 

Hoffer also spent $50 on a ticket, $20 on shoes, $43 on a manicure and pedicure and $35 on makeup — bringing her grand total to $627, of which she paid about two-thirds." 

That's a below-average amount to spend on prom, but it's actually more in line with how much most Midwestern families spend, according to Visa's survey. Midwestern families spend $722 on average, which is the lowest across the nation.

That's compared to $1,528 in the Northeast, where prom spending is the highest. 

Something Else to Worry About

Though the costs of prom are high, parents may have something more important to consider: the prom dresses (or, more specifically, the lack of total fabric on each dress).

In an article for The Riverfront Times last week, Allison Babka lamented about the dresses that kids wear to prom nowadays.

"Where are the pastel cupcake dresses from Footloose or the black taffeta number that both Brenda and Kelly wore on Beverly Hills 90210?" Babka wrote.

For the piece, Babka showed pictures of each dress to her mother—"a corn-fed Ohioan with good taste and solid Midwestern values"—to determine if Babka would have been allowed to wear them to prom back in the day.

With short skirts, midriff cutouts and see-through sections, I'm sure you can guess how many of the dresses were approved by Babka's mom.

Expectations for prom are clearly different today than they were even 10 years ago. As your family faces rising costs and fashion challenges for prom, how are you adjusting?

For the parents, what conversations are you having with your kids? For the students, how are you talking to your parents? Let us know in the comments.