In today’s episode, we tackle the question that doesn’t have a great answer: how do you budget for a year of being a competitive dancer? It’s tricky. Yes, there’s the base cost of X dollars per month for the dance training itself, but then there’s all the extras that really gouge you:
* Costumes
* Photo shoots
* Teacher appreciation gifts
* Teammate appreciation gifts
* Senior dancer appreciation gifts
* Misc meals and snacks
* Gas/mileage
* Gifts for teammates during Valentine’s Day, Halloween, holiday season, etc.
* Team swag (optional but…are you going to be the parent that doesn’t get their dancer a hoodie to wear at school?)
* Team swag for parents (optional but encouraged)
And if you have an end-of-year dance competition that you have to travel out of town for, get ready for more financial pain with:
* Hotel costs (jacked up during competition season)
* Meals (God bless you if you’re a strategic enough of a planner to bring your own food to the hotel…for us it was lots of eating out)
* Other costs for being out of town (house sitters, dog sitters, babysitters, etc.)
Hope this helps! And while you’re reading this, why not subscribe?
Thanks,
-Brian
