With gas going up and money tight for some people, what are you doing to keep the cost down so you can still afford to skate? (I know some people have creative ideas/suggestions many of us might benefit from.)

I know some people will skate on public sessions if they have ones not too crowded that fit their schedule.

Some of what I'm doing:
--No new dresses this year
--Cut my own music
--Got my ice contract for summer in by the early deadline ($.50/session cheaper)
--This isn't really by choice but from June-late August I'll only get a 30 min lesson every other week versus every week. My coach is only around for the 8am-5pm M-F summer ice, he wont' be at the evening/Saturday ice (not that I blame him, he needs to enjoy his summer), so I'm taking an hr off of work (8-9) every other week and getting a lesson before work.
--Trying to get by longer between skate sharpenings
--Spending more time warming up off the ice so my time on the ice is more productive
--Not skating synchro this year because of my law school schedule So no monthly dues, no driving 2 hrs each way to practice (thank god, with $4 gallon gas plus tolls), no $275 new dress, and won't have to travel to Colorado and Maine. I think synchro cost me at least $4,000 last year with our monthly cost, my gas, flights to two competitions, hotel and everything else included.

Luckily one of the nicest rinks in my area is only 5 min from my house so I don't have to worry about gas to/from there for my other skating!

__________________
2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

I've started biking to the rink. It only saves me about 25 cents a trip- but it makes me feel good about myself.

When I added dance lessons, intsead of adding them on top of my freestyle lessons I changed freestyle to every other week.

Other than that- not much difference. I already barter ice time for teaching snowplow sam.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Skating is a tricky sport to trim back on, because so many of the required things (eg ice, skates, lessons) make up the bulk of the cost, and they are very expensive in and of themselves. Here are some techniques that I find are good for reducing cost, and just improving the value of resources you already use.

- Carpooling can be an excellent way to cut costs, in response to rising gas prices. You can drive one week / ride the next with a buddy, or if you're the one with a vehicle, others giving you gas money for a ride can minimize your gas costs.

- with respect to dresses, buying second hand or having an amateur make them can be a great way to find dresses at reduced costs. Don't hesitate to contact your local college to see if anyone in their Fashion Design courses would be interested in trying their hand at a skating dress: their work will be cheaper, they're often eager to please and you can end up with some really fresh ideas.

- Instead of cutting expenses of skating, increasing the income from skating can be a viable way to manage fees as well. Coaching part time on the side, even one or two lessons per week, can offer a substantial amount of money to offset your own lesson fees. If you're any good at choreography, choreographing programs for younger skaters can be a good fit: Often coaches of younger skaters are too busy to design a routine, or simply would like some fresh ideas and a new set of eyes. Parents are generally thrilled at the prospect of a slightly less expensive lesson for the routine, because they would rather put that money towards their head coach for helping their child with technical elements as jumps and spins. Actually, most parents wouldn't even mind you helping their child with dance lessons, provided their child isn't headed in a competitive dance direction. I know that most parents put more money towards freeskate lessons, or don't buy dance lessons, so a less expensive dance lesson often seems attractive. Talk to the busiest coaches at your club - often they are overbooked and can lose skaters to other coaches/clubs where the parents feels they get more attention. By offering the coach an opportunity to coach some of the less glamorous lessons, their students still get the attention of the head coach for technical skills and competitions, but you help to round out their overall experience.

- Keeping a diary of what your coach teachs you on each lesson can be a great way to retain lesson information. Take five minutes after each lesson to quickly jot down the main point - I just keep a notebook in my bag for this purpose.

- Enlist in the help of a friend/video camera. A lot of time in lessons can be taken up using video analysis, so if you do some of this on your own time, there may be things you can correct on your own, or things that you will see that relate to what your coach is telling you. Ask a friend to video tape a bit of your practice; generally non-skating friends think its cool to watch skating and won't mind coming to the rink every other week for like half an hour or so - make it a social thing, maybe they come for the last half an hour of your practice and you go see a movie afterwards.

- Off Ice training on your own time can pay off in dividends. The associated office training with your club can often be super expensive, adding to costs. My advice would be to invest in a good pair running shoes and take training into your own hands. Better yet, grab a friend and you can socialize and work out together, since often training for skating leaves little room for both training and socializing on the same day. This can be a great way to connect with friends, even if they're not skaters. Maybe you rarely see your competitive lacrosse-playing friend because both of your training schedules are so hectic - by training office with them, each of you will bring a different set of familiar exercises to the table (maybe they know a lot about arm work, while you're an expert with abs) while you can catch up on gossip.

Hope these ideas help, and I can't wait to hear ideas from others!

I second the coaching tip. I coach six days a week (in the afternoons) and skate several mornings (6-9 a.m.) sessions. Although I guess most would consider me a full-time coach, I'm completely able to pay for my dance and freestyle lessons, which cost (on average) between $66-96/week, and still have some money left over. Of course, there's still a lot of budgeting involved and I hardly ever make any "fun" or unnecessary purchases outside of my skating-related expenses, but it's the trade-off I find worthwhile. You just have to realize that if you do A, you may not be able to afford B.

Thats the best part about working at the rink. I can skate a session before or after work. A couple times, I have literally gotten off the ice, put my guards on and went into the office for work. Unfortunately, my summer job back home is not at the rink. Though I have been able to schedule my job(s) around public sessions. Like previous posters have said, there is not much more you can do besides public ice, used dresses, and carpools. I'm in need of new boots, so I will probably get the boots but hold off on new blades for awhile.

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~Always Dream!~

Check my progress at www.freewebs.com/sk8tegirl06

Also, you may be able to borrow dresses. My costume costs have been cut as I've been able to use dresses or pieces that I've used before, and also make some. There are a variety of white leotards available that can be painted, dyed and otherwise decorated. Attach a simple skirt - and you have a new dress.

I'm also sharing coaching fees with my partner. The best thing to do is make sure your time on the ice counts!

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

I tend to take public transportation to the rink. If I go from school, it costs $2.50 (since I have to transfer buses), but only $1.25 if I get dropped off at the right stop. I still need a ride down the mountain to be able to be somewhere where I can catch the bus, but it saves some money.

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Youtube Videos

My rink's only a half an hour away by bike, well if I step on it a little, so I go there and back by bike. Plus side? You're thoroughly warmed-up when you get there (saves some ice time) and you're thoroughly warm when you get back which means you can stretch at home instead of at the rink, AND don't need a cooling-down on ice. Just don't forget to stretch at home, cuz I did at first and discovered I was getting some major muscle soreness.

Also, making dresses yourself really saves. Between my own and my mother's dresses, I've grown quite a fan of materials with like... small sparkly dots (starry sky effect) and sort of figures on the material drawn on in a kind of sparkly glue with holographic particles. Those materials are often $50/yard and up, but for skating dresses you only need very little, so you can use what little remained after somebody cut their dance dress out of it, or you can buy small pieces on sale at the dance materials shop much cheaper. Also a couple of times I found hideous clothing from such pretty materials at the market in one of those thrift-shop-like market stalls, quite cheap, and bought those to make dresses of. So far I only made 1, but I'm going to use more material for the costume of next year.

I also agree about filming on camera! And writing down everything the teacher says.
I also cut my own music - really, really not that hard - and I'm re-making my this year's artistic skating dress into my next year's singles dress, and at any rate my programme will be for 2 years, not 1. That way every summer, I only have to make 1 extra costume (1 year I make an artistic one, 1 year a singles one).

Oh yeah and from university, I got a REALLY cheap sports card for the gym. Lovely for off-ice, especially cuz some work with a private trainer was included! Plus I can go there with friends. I know some companies have similar health plans for their employees, where the gym and some lessons or yoga lessons are free or at greatly reduced costs.

I work at my rink and that's helped with the costs. my public sessions are free and my freestyle sessions are only 4.50 plus I get discounts at the proshop and in the cafe. Every little bit helps. Also since im at the rink so much I can see which public sessions are the least busy so I know when it'd be beneficial to go out and practice during them.

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1. Stick to local competitions, rather than traveling around and blowing a whole lot of money on plane tickets, gas, hotel rooms, etc. (until early next year when DBNAI, Mids., and AN come around!).

2. Look for the biggest markdowns possible on dresses and/or costumes in the various eBay stores ($50, marked down from $130, for example).

3. Get that cute little gas-sipping new car!

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This space has been put on hiatus for retuning....

Cram as many people as humanly possible into a hotel room for competitions (record to date: 7)

Cram as many people as possible into the car on the way to competition (record to date: 8 in a Suburban)

Use programs for two seasons (no new dress the second year)

Join a health club with free classes (no additional cost for Pilates, weights, or kickbox), have a spouse who's company pays the health club dues as part of a wellness benefit!

We barter things. I help the coaches when I can get some free lessons.I help organize a summer camp,fees waived. I work at the rink for ice not money.
I cant save on comps, due to where we live. We have to travel.
We were going to regionals this year but we changed our mind. Non qualif too far away !
Selling old dresses has helped a little too !

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http://www.youtube.com/user/alaskanmom

My club also has a fundraising deal with another club, working at a stand at our MLB games. I don't do this because I make a lot more putting in a few hours overtime at my office (doing legal research versus being on my feet and flipping burgers...not a tough choice there) and I can't make it to our stadium for the 4:30 call time on M-F games anyway (I'm lucky to be out of my office by 6), but if you are able to do something like this it is untaxed $$ that goes right to your account with your club.

Our rink has ice time most of the day starting at 6am for $10/hr or $18 for 2 hrs. It's pay-as-you-go and show up when you want so that works out nice, no need to worry about contracting ice, and you don't lose money if you can't make it.

__________________
2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

This may sound like a "duh", but prioritize your expenses outside skating. If you can do w/o something else, it will avail more $ for skating. Saving money for skating does not have to only involve skating or rink commuting expenses. Here are some obvious ones:
Pack your own lunch.
Stop buying boatloads of clothes/shoes you don't need.
Go to the library instead of buying books you'll only read 1x.
Sell your cr@p on ebay.
Etc.
The list is endless.

Kay

__________________
Visit my figure skating journal
http://www.skatejournal.com/

Another way to save on costs: carpool with another skater who lives near you (flo and I do that--saves on gas).

Also, if you do crafts of any sort, make crafts as gifts (for coach, friends, family) instead of purchasing gifts--can save some $ on holiday and birthday gifts this way. This isn't necessarily $0 since crafts require supplies/equipment, but if you already make crafts, you may be able to make some items using supplies you already have.

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

I am pretty frugal (CHEAP!) anyway and try to get the most mileage from my skating dollar.

I skate an early session (7 to 9 a.m.) on my way to work. The ice is cheaper and also less crowded and the rink is only a few blocks off my regular route to work.

I try to be efficient with my coach's time. I keep a notebook at the boards and record things I need to work on. In practice I consult the notebook to remind myself what needs work and to write down any questions for my coach the next time.

Hopefully I will have a backyard rink again for next year and be able to do some extra ice time for free.

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

I am actually considering this option after my car is paid off (should be done sometime hopefully this summer.) I've been eyeing something hybrid but couldn't afford one before.

I'm reading this with interest b/c I was also considering helping out with skating school so I can at least skate the public sessions for free and get one FS session off, which would be just enough to offset my on-ice cost. My problem is that my weekends are just as busier than my weekdays with my own SKATING TRAINING (gym, occasionally ballet training) and I don't know if at times I would have to work weekends on a software release. (Which may end up being the case this coming weekend. I was VERY thankful that I didn't have to work from home THIS weekend!!!) OTOH, it may force me to practice the "smaller stuff" in between skating school on the public sessions.

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I don't know about other universities, but as a student here at Ohio University you can skate for free on public sessions (well, not entirely free -- there's that little cost called "tuition".) Perhaps other universities offer something similar.

In addition, any student well-placed in the USFSA testing track may volunteer here to be a coach, and then no-cost freestyle time becomes available in addition to free public sessions. All of the LTS classes are taught by student-coaches, and some of them also give private lessons too. Students also earn a little money coaching and teaching LTS, although the university controls hourly fees that get charged.

Drawbacks? Yes, there are. Our rink here in Athens, Ohio is a seasonal rink open only from September through March.

Also, there are NO full-time, non-student coaches to take lessons from. All coaches here MUST be enrolled students because work-learning is part of the mission of an educational institution.

If you plan to attend college (and embrace poverty for a few years! ), you might inquire about these sorts of opportunities offered to students.

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Bill Schneider

And, of course, you can make gifts to throw for friends at competitions - cuddly toys are cute, but not exactly practical!

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Here's one I didn't see but seems obvious -- don't buy bottled water, bring your own water in a reusable container!

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Gordon Zaft
http://sk8rboi.blogspot.com
School figures are skating's equivalent of the Latin Mass.

Great tip! I can't believe it wasn't already mentioned. I know at my rink, buying a bottle there can cost $1.25 a bottle. I'd up to almost $7/week if I bought one everytime I was there!

Man i miss skating in college! It was so CHEAP! If you go to the right school, it can be very affordable.

I did my undergrad @ Miami (Ohio) and ice for freestyle wasn't free but it was pretty cheap ($2.50 for a 45 min freestyle session, but it got bumped up to $5 my last 2 yrs there). They did, however, fully pay 100% of entry, travel, food and hotel for skaters to go to intercollegiate conference competitions while I was there (those were fun!). Not sure if they still do. And of course synchro is a varsity sport so those skaters had that paid for. I was able to take advanced figure skating as a phys ed class for credits. It was basically a freestyle session, I think for the 2 hrs of ice/week for a semester it cost $45
I did my masters at Syracuse. All the ice time you could possibly want was FREE (it was mostly public session but the rink was for students/faculty/staff and their immediate families only so it was usually empty or only a few people skating around who stayed out of your way and you could play your music). Synchro team, all expenses included (warmups, dresses, airfare/bus/hotel for competitions, ice time, etc) was $300 total per year for the 2 years I was there, I think they're up to $450 now.

Same issue @ SU though, coaches were all students. We did have some girls with impressive backgrounds coaching but unfortunately not all of us could get approved to coach because you had to be elegible for work-study. As a grad student on an assistanship already, I was not able to coach there.

Another nice thing about skating in college is that skaters can be pretty good about helping each other out and coaching each other.

No rink at my law school (Cleveland State University) so I don't get any of those perks.

__________________
2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

I second that! When I skated on my university's intercollegiate/synchro team, we travelled to Boston (via plane), Michigan (drove), Indiana (drove), Ohio (drove), Virginia (drove), West Virginia (drove) and Rhode Island (via plane) all expenses paid. Well, except for our dues of like, $500 for the season. We stayed in luxury hotels, got brand new custom Del Arbour synchro dresses and custom embroidered/personalized team jackets/warm-ups, had all our competition meals/team dinners, competition entry fees, and any coaching/choreography (if we worked with the team coach) paid for us, etc. That $500 also included 2 hours of ice time twice a week (private for just the team) from September-May.

We were allowed to fundraise by working big name concerts at a local venue (think Dave Matthews...Jimmy Buffet...Kenny Chesney...good tunes!) and all we had to do was sell beer (if +18 and trained, which was free) and pretzels, chicken, nachos (for 18 and younger). Whatever money we earned went toward that $500 due, so some of us ended up paying nothing!

As an added bonus, we were also given roughly $100 spend money to go away to the competitions to buy whatever we wanted.

Skate in college if you get the chance. It's not that stressful between school and skating, and so, so worth the experience!

Mine only has a speed skating team.

But they pay like (converted) 100 dollar a year and get equipment and ice time for free. Jealous.

THe bottled water is a great idea.

All i suggest is ebay ebay ebay. Make sure you sell all your used stuff out there. There are tons of people looking for anything! We sell all our used skating stuff on ebay and use that money to buy new.

I also once contacted a dress seller on ebay and asked about them custom making one for my daughter. I like one she had but wanted changes made to it to make it "nicer". And she did and it was just under 100.00 for a custom made piece! As well until she grows out of it. We keep picking new music to go with the dress!

But no matter how bad of shape you may think something is in-its a treasure to someone else.

I have even seen people sell lots of used tights with holes in them lol. But if you are new to the sport maybe you dont mind if you are layering up anyway