Many sanctioned contests allow you to enter just one or two categories. Depending on the sanctioning body (ala. KCBS), while you wont be competing for the overall Grand Champion, you are able to compete (and for money) in those that you want to enter.
This will allow you to keep costs modest, hone your skills, and hone them to/towards real competition.
I for one have seen two things that were a personal disappointment to me and those are:
1. Teams that compete in unsanctioned competitions and think they're honing their skills that get trounced badly in sanctioned comps and get very disappointed.
2. Teams that are very good and win unsanctioned comps and spend all that time and effort only to find out that they might've won the sanctioned competition IF they'd entered (and made a few bucks).
Compared to the cost of travel + meats + equipment + seasonings + all the other stuff, the entry fees are a smaller percentage.