How much do you spend on a KCBS competition?

Just as moment of levity here--

When I was much younger, I lusted over a sports car (biggo bucks) on a lot.
I asked the sales dude--"What would the payments be?"
He said--"If ya gotta ask, ya can't afford it!"

I have kinda got that way about comps.
I am so tired of worrying about the $$.
I just "DO IT"

Hell, if I did not do comps, I would waste my money (and wasting is what it is for me) on something else!

Might as well go and visit with my friends and "see what happens at awards".

Just a thought.

TIM

Quite a spread of costs. I did keep track this year of "costs" and good thing as I took a GC and need to file tax receipts so I don't have to pay. Turns out I'm down this year but not much. 5 contests - about $600 per. That includes gas but does not include general supplies like foil, steam pans, etc. Does include Slabs products, meat, garnish, ice, gas, entry, some food for the cook and usually a little jack, bottled water, gatorade. Used to spend at least 200 more but had some team mates to feed and we consumed much more booze. I found out being serious about competing and booze don't go together very well.

Does not include motorhome, trailer, all the smokers, other gear and new toys. I now have and FEC100 with IQ4 in the garage. Need more space for it in the trailer. Tonto1117 if you read this I might have a good deal for you on a used golf cart and I plan to keep my existing trailer. Fiscial responsibility rears it's ugly head again.

Ford said:

Quite a spread of costs. I did keep track this year of "costs" and good thing as I took a GC and need to file tax receipts so I don't have to pay. Turns out I'm down this year but not much. 5 contests - about $600 per. That includes gas but does not include general supplies like foil, steam pans, etc. Does include Slabs products, meat, garnish, ice, gas, entry, some food for the cook and usually a little jack, bottled water, gatorade. Used to spend at least 200 more but had some team mates to feed and we consumed much more booze. I found out being serious about competing and booze don't go together very well.

Does not include motorhome, trailer, all the smokers, other gear and new toys. I now have and FEC100 with IQ4 in the garage. Need more space for it in the trailer. Tonto1117 if you read this I might have a good deal for you on a used golf cart and I plan to keep my existing trailer. Fiscial responsibility rears it's ugly head again.

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PM Sent:wink:

Comps cost alot!! Yes about 5 to 6 Hundred dollars per. We had enough sponcers and enough winnings that it only cost us out of pocket, includind gas---$90.00 each for the whole year. Next year may be different. But when you are winning, it's alot easier to snag the sponcers.

Hobbys cost money!!

Sometimes you win---Sometimes you don't

But we always have a great time----win or lose!!

Spice

I skipped over a couple of pages. Did anyone factor in practices? Meat is not cheap here in CA and Gas is thru the roof. Our typical entry fee is $300. We just got back from Arizona and the gas cost alone was $300 +. Luckily entry fee was sponsored. Meat was $230. Winnings were $275. You can do the math. Obviously, we do not do this for the money. BBQ is my passion and my only hobby. Can't complain. I know plenty of people who spend as much money playing golf. A new club can cost well over $300.

TOPS BBQ said:

I skipped over a couple of pages. Did anyone factor in practices? Meat is not cheap here in CA and Gas is thru the roof. Our typical entry fee is $300. We just got back from Arizona and the gas cost alone was $300 +. Luckily entry fee was sponsored. Meat was $230. Winnings were $275. You can do the math. Obviously, we do not do this for the money. BBQ is my passion and my only hobby. Can't complain. I know plenty of people who spend as much money playing golf. A new club can cost well over $300.

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That's why my pocketbook keeps getting skinnier all the time - boffa these hobbies together is killin me. LOL

The_Kapn said:

Just as moment of levity here--

When I was much younger, I lusted over a sports car (biggo bucks) on a lot.
I asked the sales dude--"What would the payments be?"
He said--"If ya gotta ask, ya can't afford it!"

I have kinda got that way about comps.
I am so tired of worrying about the $$.
I just "DO IT"

Hell, if I did not do comps, I would waste my money (and wasting is what it is for me) on something else!

Might as well go and visit with my friends and "see what happens at awards".

Just a thought.

TIM

Click to expand...

Amen Tim! It costs us about $600 per comp but we would still do it if it costed us a $1000 per comp. We are lucky because it has not come to the point yet where it has hurt so we don't think about it at all. Sharing expenses with my brother (the other Fat Polock) sure helps.

comp cost

I think last year we spent $5600 on 13 or so contest. I think we spend somwhere in the $400-$500 range and that is not including beer/soda and snacks. The most we spent this year was going to Pine Bluff, I think we were in almost $1000. Bbqing is a expensive hobby but I can not help to think all the people I have met and all the fun I have had.

I know of some folks who write off their hobby on taxes. This was my first year competing. We placed in the majority of the comps. That said, we almost broke even on three of the last four events due to placing high enough.

Like I said in an earlier post, IBCA is so much more economical in comparison to KCBS. That probably explains why there will be 50-100 teams in most of the events. I competed at one event that had 123 teams, the entry fee was $75, I won $150 for a 15th place brisket. That pretty much covered the entry fee and the meat. Now it didn't cover the gas or the charcoal or wood or booze.

If we didn't do the cookoffs we would have done something else on that weekend. Last weekend for example, we went to Shreveport blew $1500 in the casinos, a couple hundred on hotels and got a $140 speeding ticket on my way there.

Before this hobby I did motorcycles, before that there was sailboats and before that there was golf. It all comes out in the wash.

All that said, next year we will be more competitive and we plan on placing more often and higher. Heck we already have the gear, so much of the cost is minimized at this point. It isn't like we are still looking for what we need to be doing.

We have also learned to minimize the costs by buying right. I will talk to the butchers and buy meat in case quantities at a huge discount. We also share dinner expenses with a few other teams. One team will do breakfast, one lunch and the other dinner. One would think that we would all eat BBQ at a cookoff..... but nah.

Gas costs have definitely become a drag. Luckily we have a bunch of cookoffs within 100 miles of our home. For the most part we could probably do about 2-3 a month within that range.

One cost that we cannot get under control is that damned booze. Anyone have the plans for building their own distillary?

I have a freind who changes hobbies almost every year. Each time he does it, he buys the best he can for that hooby. He went from Guns, fishing, poker, motorcycles, golf and is back to fishing. I love it, I get to buy his used equipment for 1/2 the price.

I wish he would start bbq, then he might buy a nice cooker that I can take off his hands in a year. :twisted: