How much do you spend a month on skating?

[Neverdull44]

How much do you spend a month on skating?  What is your level of skating?  How do you save on skating?

I ask because people think figure skating is very expensive.

I have
1)  a daughter who does group lessons.  About $100 a month.  She is doing waltz jumps and one foot spins, so about six months into skating.  Her skates were $250.  She is going to start occasional private lessons, but can go onto other group lessons for about another year of learning.

2) a son doing hockey.  About $200 a month..  He's taking a 10 week learn to skate and a 10 week pee-wee hockey course.   This is two hours of ice a week, all with coaches.   He also gets an extra hour, public skate card.   His skates were about $50 and all the rest of his gear about $200. 

3) a husband doing hockey.  About $1200 a year for Sunday night game.  His gear was bought a long time ago.  Occasional stick has to be bought.

4) and me, figure skating  - about $275 a month.  I spend about $200 a month on ice time and about $75 a month on private figure skating lessons.  (I try to do one lesson every two weeks).  My skates and blades were $700, but bought a long time ago.

Luckily, I am able to afford this and it's not a strain on my budget.  But, wouldn't it be nice if rinks had a "family deal" type arrangement?

[AgnesNitt]

This is from last year.
http://icedoesntcare.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-much-does-it-cost.html

I no longer test, and only take a half hour lesson (plus group).

Gas is the killer for me.

[ChristyRN]

I spend roughly two hours of salary per week on skating. I figure it's less than therapy and much better for me. Therefore, it is worth it. That includes one half hour private lesson, one group, an hour of FS ice and a public after the group lesson.

[PhysicsOnIce]

I have not worked it out per month, but here are the numbers:
Ice time : Per season ( September- May )club inscription which includes 10 hours per week of club ice time and about 15 to 20 minutes of private or semi private (up to 4 students) lessons: 475 €
Private lessons: 37.50 € per hour I normally do 1 hour per week
My new skates with blades and orthopedics: 630€
Of course there are the test and the competitions which run 35€ to 50€ per test/competition.

I am working on all of my doubles with the expection of my double axel at the moment, and depending on the training day may have up to three coachs( each specialized one aspect of skating) and our head coach  that I refer to with questions during the club ice time.

[ChristyRN]

I'm going to leave it at I spend about two hours worth of my salary per week. I think I'm worth it.

[Query]

Most of you leave out the cost of driving. The IRS has estimated $0.51/mile total cost of driving (that's obviously not just gas). For a lot of people, that may be the biggest cost. It isn't uncommon for a reasonably frequent skater to drive 100 - 1000 miles/week, counting skating sessions, lessons, and sharpening. That's $50 - $500 / week.

Most people think of vehicle purchases and depreciation, incremental accident and insurance costs, wear and tear, gas, oil, tires, other maintenance and repairs, washing, etc., as a separate category, so they don't think of this as a cost of skating - but it's real.

Plus, if you don't drive very far to the rink, you may have bought or be renting a more expensive home than you otherwise would, to stay close to the rink. Maybe it even affects your available work schedule, or forces parents to home-school their kids and hire tutors.

I don't remember the exact figures, but he NBC Sportscasters estimated that the high end competitors spend something $80,000 - $110,000 / year. Of course, that isn't typical of most skaters.

[ls99]

Am a cheap skater.

As a senior, $4 per 2hr ice time in the winter season 3x/week. Never paid for lessons, learned by falling down, a lot. On second set of skates, used Ridell boots $40 or so, Gold Seal skates $120, again ebay find. Mounted them myself. About 3 or 4 years of since starting, forgot when I started.

In summer, ice time is $7 for three hours, usually do 2 hrs. One or 2x /week. No senior discount.

Cheap way to keep in shape and have fun as well.

[cbskater]

Right now I am doing one group lesson, one private lesson, 2 public ice sessions & one freestyle session in an average week. It's adds up to $60 week paid to the rink/coach. If public is too crazy I will do an extra freestyle for an additional $10. This of course doesn't include gas & wear & tear on my vehicle as I live 35 minutes from the rink.

I skate at Adult basic 5-6 level and am working on my Pre-Bronze moves. I am planning on skating more often in the near future, so my costs will go up. However to be able to get on the ice & completely lose myself in my skating, forgetting everything that was stressing me out beforehand, that is priceless.

I save money on my skating by doing public instead of freestyle whenever possible. Also, whenever someone in public asks me questions about skating I ask them if they're interested in group lessons. Our rink does a buy one get one free if I sign up a new customer that hasn't taken lessons before. Half price lessons for me. I buy my skate dresses secondhand on Ebay. I also make sure that I get the most out of every lesson. I arrive at the rink early, warm up properly & I am on the ice before the coach. I have a notebook that I take notes in right after my lesson so I don't forget what I've learned. I review my notes from the previous week before my private lesson and I keep a list of what I need to practice on sticky notes on my notebook so I can review it before public sessions & don't wind up skating laps wondering what I should work on.

[Rachelsk8s]

I know I spend a lot on skating, I'm not sure exactly how much but I'm also single and have no family to support other than myself. I have taken over as co skating director (part time) at the rink I coach LTS at 3 times per week and teach one private lesson a week; this is my fun job and it ALL goes back into paying for my skating I'm on the ice every single day, I take 2-3 private lessons with my coach per week which also includes 5 practices a week. Fortunately I don't have to drive far to skate, I live within about 10 miles ( on average) from all the rinks I skate at with the exception of one, but I work very close to that one, (from my full time job), so I figure it's not really driving too far. Skating is very therapeutic for me and I enjoy every minute I'm on the ice, which in return lets me not feel so guilty about the $ I spend

[Kitten23]

I'd rather not do the math on this one because I could probably put down a good down payment on a house...

[Meli]

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.

[Neverdull44]

How funny, I have two sisters who do dressage.  They each, until recently, supported two horses, a horse chiropractor, horse shoes, blankets, food, medicine, acupuncture, custom saddles, horse trailers, special trucks, competitions, travel . . . we're talking well over $1,500+++ a month.  Each of their two horses died within a month of each other, so I don't pick on them too much about their horsey habits lately.   It is sad what they are going through.  I just hope they stick with one horse each in the future.   

But, my golly, our family's skating of 4 people is cheap compared to horses!   

[taka]

I set an overall budget each year to cover both my ice time & lesson costs and other less frequent costs as they all add up. Things like sharpening, skating clothing, testing, NISA membership, club membership, boots and even things like my post club skating session hot chocolate are budgeted for! I put money aside each month to cover it all. Anything left over at the end of the year gets rolled over the the next calendar year - it helps make paying for big things like boots new less of a shock! I walk to my rink so no travel costs.

I spend approx £150/month just on ice time and lessons. That is for 2 practice ice sessions, 2x30 min one-to-one lessons and a club session (which includes 2 group lessons for free if you wish to join in. I do the dance group.) Other skating related costs vary month to month.

If I want to skate (and do everything else I want to do outside of skating! ) I have to budget. My field of work isn't necessarily very secure job-wise so I need to plan ahead, skating costs included.

[FigureSpins]

I actually don't spend any money on my own skating, but I should since it would be a business deduction.  I skate for free on public sessions and don't take lessons.  My remaining skater DD costs me only $42/week since she doesn't practice.   

[Loops]

I pay for the year in one lump sum at the beginning of the season (No summer ice here).

For my skating I paid Euro 430.  This is for the license (think USFSA membership) 4.5 hours a week- 2 synchro and 1.5 dance session with a lesson, about 20 minutes of one on one, then I can join the group, too if I want, and I usually do.  It also includes one hour of physical training/week.

There were a few little costs- I had to pay 40 for the practice uniform, and some other little "contributions" for tights, team-make up and some other things....I think it was like 30 Euros.

We also get charged up front for competition fees.  This year that cost me Euro 400.  This covers transportation, hotel, entrance fees and meals.

I also paid 12 Euros for unlimited sharpenings this season.

So the grand total is 912 Euros for the year (my husband nearly dropped it was so "expensive"....I think it's a bargin!).  Dividing that out for the, what 40? week season is 23 Euros a week.

What's not included in that price though are skates (I had to get new ones this year) and the competition dress- we didn't get new ones this year, but will probably next year (Oh please, I hope...).

My daughters lessons cost 20 euros every five lessons.  This includes borrowing a pair of Riedells from the club skate library.

Hockey for my son was 100 for the season plus gear (we spent about 175 Euros on that, including skates and helmet....hockey club does NOT have a lending library).  This is three hours a week of ice-time/lessons (he's 5, so he does only 2 hours).  Next ear it'll go up significantly [grrrr] but hopefully we won't need to buy gear.  He also did a 2 week ice dance camp at the end of August.  That was Euros 90/week + 28 for his license.
So all that plus the two weeks of dance comes out to 483 Euros including gear.  For him, we get reimbursed a significant amount of the non-gear charges from my husband's work, so I don't know the final cost.

I can't really economise more.  Public sessions are relatively few here, and they're packed, so there's no practicing anything.  I let my kids have at it though, and might mess around with something little in a corner.

[cbskater]

Funny how several people are comparing skating costs to having horses. I do both. I have a horse & I skate. You can economize with horses, too.  We live on acreage where the horse can stay on our property, grazes on our land & she needs little feed to stay at a healthy weight. She doesn't wear shoes & I take good care of my equipment so that it lasts a long time. I replaced a saddle last year that I had had for 33 years. Of course it helps a lot if you don't compete on the horse. I used to before I had kids & had time to ride daily. My daughter rode, too but decided she liked skating better. I was spending a lot of time in the ice rink & decided to try it too. Now I am hooked. I love both activities. I know I could go further with either one if I gave up the other but I can't bring myself to do that. I just ride for fun now, but I would like to compete on my horse again sometime. The main obstacle to that is finding the time to ride several days a week & where I live the weather doesn't always make that easy. Right now I am focusing more on my skating as I prepare for going to the ISI adult competition in New Jersey in October. One of my friends at my rink goes every year. I have wanted to go the last 2 years & didn't so I am determined to do it this year.

[sarahspins]

I almost break even with ongoing skating costs since I work at the rink (ice time is free, I can even take some classes for free too if I am not assigned to teach at the same time), and that income basically takes care of the expense of getting to the rink (gas, toll charges) as well as covering what my coach charges me for my lessons.  It's a great arrangement

My daughter also basically skates for free as well.  She's only in basic 7 and doesn't take private lessons.

Other more "yearly" expenses, like club membership, test fees, boots, blades, sharpenings, etc aren't that bad if you consider the big picture, and the cost of many other things....like any hobby, there are expenses, and unless you are unable to pay your bills because of skating, I don't consider any of it to be excessive.

[eillie]

I'm a student (so, poor), but I treat skating and all of its related costs as an indulgent but totally worth-it hobby because it makes me very happy, and I think that happiness spreads around to improve other areas of my life. It also helps that I only have to financially support myself, and I don't require much else other than basic necessities, like shelter, food, internet, etc.

I'm beginning/intermediate level, I think.  I'm working on single jumps and will hopefully start testing (pre-bronze) in the next few months.

I estimate skating costs me about $250 per month, which includes a weekly lesson, mostly cheap but sometimes rather expensive ice time, and a monthly sharpening.  Occasionally my wallet takes a further beating for the necessary equipment though (boots, blades, pads), and I suppose testing will mean more skating expenses.  My main way of saving money is to find cheap ice time, which is pretty easy in the winter, but completely impossible in the summer where I live... 

[lilicedreamer]

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. 

[Meli]

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.

Group class is a bit of a mixed bag for me at this point.  For this round and the previous round my coach has been teaching the class, so she can have me work a higher variation of the skill being taught. I may work on three turns while others work on two foot turns.  I'll test pre-bronze this summer (hopefully) so a lot of what I do in class is refining edge work (without hockey players barreling at me while I work back edges), and improving turns and crossovers.  It's also right before my private lesson, so it's a good warm up.

[mamabear]

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.

[Neverdull44]

Yes, I'm thinking of buying a house closer to the rink!  I live only 15 miles from the rink, but have to go there daily, and some days twice a day (hockey & skating).  Time is a factor too.

[littlerain]

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.

Wow, you have some good rates there. I'm not sure any of the rinks around here offer such inexpensive private lessons or the option to take a class for $5. Wish I could take a power class for $5 each lol

[pegasus99]

Too Much. 

[littlerain]

Too Much. 

I can imagine, considering how much you skate lol!! But at least you must make a lot of progress!