I actually save money by taking a group class. With the class, I get free public on the day of class, plus another free public for each week of the class, so for an 8 week class, I get 16 free publics. The class basically pays for itself in terms of free ice time.
Not counting equipment, it probably works out to $300-$350/mo, and that's including about 3-4 hours of private lessons a month. Since we have a friend that competes in dressage, I like to remind my husband that it's still cheaper than getting a horse. I see it as an investment in my physical and mental health.
Do you learn in group class? I find that I don't. I had a coach early on but didn't do more than two lessons. I liked her, but really wanted to get to a higher level so we had something to work on beyond the basics.
Let's see....
I could walk to the rink because it's right around a mile from my house and we did not do ice skating when we purchased our house so I don't think that factors in for us. But-at .51 a mile that would be around $4 a week for car so $16 a month.
I do a power/edges class each Saturday at $5 each so $20 a month.
My daughter and I each take a private lesson each week at $15 per half hour so $120 a month
The lessons take place on freestyle time so that's $24 a week or $96 a month
I practice once a week on public ice and it's either 5.50 or 4 depending on if the desk person counts me as a student (the managers usually do but others don't) so I would say around $20 a month for that
My daughter and I practice on one public session a week as well and that's 9.50 so $38 a month.
That would be 280 a month. I budget more than that and use what isn't spent towards the ice shows that happen twice a year and between registration fees, costumes, tickets for the family, etc. are around 300 combined.
It was much less expensive when we did group lessons at that point it was $95 for an 8 week session which included the lesson and then a public skate session each week. But, we had reached the point where group lessons just weren't working as well anymore.
Too Much. ;D
Littlerain-My guess is that the rink rates may reflect where you live. I'm in the Midwest and often told by our administration that the reason our pay is so much lower than comparable institutions is the cost of living here. I'm in the Midwest and our rink is part of the parks department. My guess is that both factors play a role.
littlerain, I manage to offset a lot of my costs with my Freelance work. The ultimate goal is to make my Freelance stuff pay for the skating. Sometimes it goes in the black, sometimes in the Red, but I do have a master plan for making it work.
The trick is when unexpected expenses come up... I talked with my coach this week about how we go about testing. He charges an hour of his time to come with me on the test. This makes total sense, I am in no way begrudging this, but it's an extra variable. Plus there's Club Membership and Testing Fees, more variables.
And I use a lot of weekend Public Ice, which is really cheap but a bit of a gamble when it comes to how useful that will be. I have lists of what I practice on any given session: Main Ice Practice Ice is limited to things I need space on like Jumps, Power Stroking, Spirals and those kinds of things. Studio Ice Practice Ice is all about Edges, Figures, Spins and new turns, since that ice is usually really quiet and I can focus without needing a lot of room. Public Ice I use for very new things where I am touching the wall, or things I'm scared to practice alone. (Public Ice right now is all about BO3, Brackets and Rocker/Choctaw patterns, Loop Prep and Sit Spin Awkwardness.)
It's not so much How Much Ice Time you can get, but How you can best use the ice time available to you. :)
What test are you working on right now? I'm considering if I want to test, but can't seem to decide! But I'm having my first private lesson as an adult after group class today. Yay!
Right now I'm a revolution away from being good for Pre-Bronze MIF and Freeskate. And if I test in the fall (which is the goal) I should be fine!
Right now coach is pushing hard for "Pretty" and not "Muscle through it" which has been my MO for the past two years. LOL
We're starting on a Sit Spin, which is hilarious on two feet, and a Salchow. Coach is going to visit his fams for 2 weeks at the end of this month, and I told him I'd set a personal goal to get that Salchow by the time he got back. he kind of raised his brow and smiled at me... I'm not sure how to take that!
I enjoyed my lesson! Yay! I mentioned that I like the idea of testing, though I'm not certain I would actually take the tests, and coach said "I thought you would think that" lol! (She also is the primary coach for the adult class) In any event, she said that we can work on the moves tests either way, so that's what we're doing :) but gosh we covered a lot of stuff in the lesson!
That's great! And that's smart--to follow the testing curriculum regardless of whether you actually test or not. That way, if you do decide to test down the road, you'll be covered. I'm almost positive I'm going to the same thing. Initially when I returned to skating a month and a half ago, I didn't want to test because I didn't really want to jump. I was always fearful of jumping when I was a teenager (i.e. why I only got up to FS4 after 5 years), so I was like, no way am I doing it now in my 30s. But earlier this week, I told myself to stop overthinking everything and just do it. Threw myself into a waltz jump, and not only did I land it, but it was quite fun! The next day, my LFO 3-turn reappeared out of nowhere, quickly followed by a half flip... Oddly enough, I seem to have less fear of jumping now at 32 than I did at 16! So, now think that I do want to follow the USFS curriculum. I'm just not really interested in the whole "testing in front of a panel of judges on a specific, pre-scheduled day" thing. The days of stressing myself out about skating are over. :)
That said, I think it's smart to always keep the door open (hence, following the curriculum as if you were going to test)--passing, and moving up, a level certainly does bring an awesome feeling of pride, and a great sense of accomplishment!