For as long as I can remember, my dad has taken me with him to visit some of the school dances at NASH. Since he teaches here, he would stop by to say hi to some of his students and co-workers. I would mostly come to look at the dresses and to see an occasional babysitter at the time.

I’ve always had it in my head that I would buy a dress and go to the biggest of all the high school dances — Prom. What I didn’t realize was how expensive the event can become.

It’s only March, and many of my friends are already putting hours into planning what dress they’re going to wear and how they’re going to do their hair, nails, and makeup for the big dance. Some of them are planning to pay full price for a dress, which can range anywhere from $200 to $800, then pay for alterations and shoes and jewelry to match, as well as professional appointments for hair, nails, and makeup.

And that’s only to prep for the dance. Prom tickets themselves are $75, and then it’s another $10 for tickets to NASH’s Post-Prom Party. They’re then going to splurge on a limo to ride to and from the dance with their friends, buy a boutonniere for their date, and incur who knows how many other unplanned expenses.

Additionally, many guys like to “surprise” their dates with Prom-posals, which can range anywhere from a poster from JoAnn’s to food to even more elaborate plans. As going to Prom with a date should be a joint decision, none of these creative ways to ask someone to the dance is actually a surprise, which makes it especially hard to justify the cost of them.

My dad always told me that Prom is only as expensive as you make it, so why then do we choose to make it so expensive? Without all of the extra expenses, the whole process could cost someone as little as $85.

The answer is simply that more and more of our lives are being broadcast on social media for everyone to see, and everyone wants to look good for the public. If no one could see the hundreds and thousands of dollars that we spend on this one night, would it really be worth it? Some will argue that Prom will be the best night of your life, or at least your high school career, so you might as well splurge. Yet this idea seems a bit indulgent to me, especially with the rising cost of college and the fact that people like to have fun on more than just the night of Prom.

We all keep trying to upstage each other with the best dress or hair or makeup simply so that we can show the world that we have it all. And once we achieve that, we are left with a bill in the thousands.

We’re all in high school, so it’s hard to admit, but there’s no reason to spend so much when, without social media, we could all feel beautiful at a fraction of the cost.

Hopefully, Prom is a great night to look back upon, but it won’t be the end of the world if it’s not perfect. We’re all going to move on from high school, and other than having to foot the bill of our expenses, it’s not going to matter how much your dress cost or how you looked in your mom’s photos that you will inevitably post on Instagram later that night.

What’s going to matter in twenty years are the friends you made in high school and whether you had a good time with them. By that point, your dress will be long out of style (maybe so much that the style is back again), but there’s a chance that you will still talk to some of the friends you shared the night with. Why ruin that by trying to upstage them with your expensive tastes?

I wish that I had some great advice to offer on how to stop this epidemic, but in all honesty, the only way to solve this problem is to stop paying for all of these extravagant expenses. Most of us are rational consumers in our day-to-day lives, so we know how to make trade-offs. We don’t need to get our hair and nails done, and we don’t need an $800 dress. We will all be a little better off in the future if we spend our money on more than just the Prom “experience.”

With that in mind, I wish you and your friends a happy and reasonable Prom season.