By Cathi Coppinger

According to a new survey, it costs an average of almost $37,000 to raise a teenager today. I don’t believe it! Seriously! I feel it takes much more than that! Like we need to add a zero after the seven!  That breaks down to around $6,000 a year, although different years cost more than others.  The most expensive age is 16. The $6,000 includes birthdays and special occasions, vacations, all the extra food you need to buy, clothes, their cell phone, insurance, and spending money. And once they’re done with being teenagers, it’s not like that’s the end of your costs. Parents spend an average of $4,000 a year on their kid until they hit 25 . . . at which point, in theory, they start paying for everything themselves.