As someone who just finished up high school this past May, I have been to my fair share of dances. Sure, every teenage girl idolizes their prom experience because of movies like "High School Musical" and "A Cinderella Story," and it's fun. However, dances are not worth the amount of money you have to fork over to have the "night of your life." Instead of spending anywhere from $100 to possibly even $500, that you clearly don't have, if you're a teenager working a minimum wage job for probably only 20 hours a week. So, instead of using that money, you could put it toward something you love and think is important. To me, that would be fueling my slight coffee addiction.

Prom is such a hyped up event with the idea that you and your friends are gonna have the best night ever, wear red carpet style dresses, and end up falling in love with your hunky dream man. Instead, you'll spend hours trying to create the perfect makeup and hair look (I mean we are all amateurs when it comes to that stuff), sweating the entire night because of your dancing, and probably end up somewhere like Taco Bell or McDonald's by midnight. I know that dances seem like a once and lifetime experience, but I know I could've used that good chunk of money to go towards something else.

My senior prom dress, alone, was around $200 and that is not including the shipping I paid for it to get to me on time. Honestly, the amount of time, effort, and stress that it takes to find the perfect dress is exhausting. Everyone wants to have one of a kind dress, so you spend days hunting the internet to find "the one." A lot of my friends were frugal and bought most of their dresses from Amazon or Pinterest, which can always be a hit or miss. Personally, I bought my dress off an online boutique due to sizing and selection. Don't get me wrong, the dress is beautiful and I loved it, but the $200 almost isn't worth it.

The dress alone being $200, you still have to think about shoes, accessories, and everything else that goes into your night. By the end of your transformation, eating out that night, and probably doing something after prom, you could be to almost $300+. For me, I worked a minimum wage job all throughout high school and that amount of money is at least a good two weeks pay. Looking back, the memories with my friends were fun and I'll remember them forever, but I easily could've bought a dress from Forever21, did my hair and makeup myself, and gone to Steak n' Shake for dinner and would've been completely fine.

As a college student, I don't have a lot of spending money but I frequently do homework or write articles in coffee shops because it helps my mind flow and is an easier place to concentrate. So, because of that, I spend a lot of money on coffee. And, it is not like a black coffee, it is always something a little fancier (an iced vanilla latte is my favorite) and those can add up to around $4-$5 each trip. When I think about it now, I really wish I had that extra $200 or so to pay for my coffee expenses rather than an expensive dress that I only wore once. If I had saved that money, I could've bought around 50 CUPS of coffee this year. In reality, that adds up quite a bit.

Therefore, don't stress about the amount of money you have to spend on prom. It may seem like it, but I promise a $20 dress will make the same impact as a $200 one. You won't be remembering the dress, but rather the precious time you spent with your friends. So, save your money and buy a coffee instead!