To ski or not to ski

I’ve been thinking about taking up skiing. It is a VERY expensive sport, but it’s pretty fun. I have all the clothing – I just need the equipment. Oh, and the ski pass. It makes me lightheaded just thinking about how much it will all cost.

BF and I were looking at used equipment on Craigslist, and someone is selling a complete set of ski equipment for $450 (includes skis, bindings, boots, 2 pairs of goggles, poles, helmet, plus a ski bag). BF said that it was a total bargain for really high quality stuff, and I of course would try to negotiate the price. I think I would offer $375 and hope for around $400. That’s if I decide to buy it.

The ski passes are on sale right now for the rest of this season and all of next season for about $375 including taxes. That’s a really big discount considering they are regularily $750. I’d have to decide rather quickly, as the discounted ski passes sell out very fast.

So all in all it will cost me about $750-800. If I do go for it, I would pay for it with my Travel Fund. Then I would reduce my Entertainment Budget each month from $100 down to $50, and add the extra $50/month to my Travel Fund. Or, when I sell my scooter next month, I could use that money to pay for the entire thing.

If I do decide to go for it, $800 out of my Travel Fund isn’t going to hurt me. At the rate I’m saving, I should have $10k saved for our trip by March. That leaves approximately 3 more months of saving above and beyond that amount. Plus starting at the end of this year I’ll be able to save $725 more per month once I move in with BF.

Getting the equipment would be nice, because if it’s really good quality then it will last me for years and years. But then again, if we move back to the island after traveling, how often would I go skiing? Once or twice per season? Although if I didn’t have the equipment, then I probably would never go at all – renting equipment is such a rip off!

It’s a really hard decision to make. Buying the equipment would be an investment, and going forward I really would like the opportunity to ski on a regular basis, but I would also enjoy not spending $800. Hmm.