Ok I am going to be completely honest with you all! I would have so much more extra money to utilize if I wasn’t doing this show. Am I still gonna s do it? Hell yes. But let me break down some of the costs associated with the show just so you can see for yourself that this is a financial commitment as well as a mental/emotional/physical commitment.
- Federation Membership $70
- Show Registration $150
- Photos at the show $80
- Hotel (splitting with another girl who is on my team) $100
- Tanning $120
- Hair and Makeup $150
- Nails (doing them myself) $20
- Hair extensions and blowout $300 (I have a girlfriend who does hair 🙂 )
- Shoes $100 – one practice pair and one show pair
- Jewelry $20
- Suit $200
- Coaching Annually $1500-$3000
- Teeth Whitening $20 (I use Rembrandt)
- Silky Pajamas to tan and sleep in $30
- Sheets to bring to the hotel so you don’t ruin them $10 (found them on sale!)
- Bikini bite (tanning specialist uses it but it’s always safe to bring your own)
I think that’s all of it… but who knows! If I think of anything else, I will let you know. But seriously – before you make the decision to compete think about if you can afford it.
Now the two things I could save some money on here are hair/makeup and tanning. Ladies with more experience can do their own, but since this is my first show I don’t want to take any chances! Maybe for the second show I am doing at the end of August I can practice tanning myself and see how it goes but truthfully the less things you have to worry about the better. The other thing is most girls might not spend the money to get extensions put in prior to, but I did. I normally have my hair blown out since I have naturally curly hair. The keratin treatment just helps with manageability. And since I am in the process of growing my hair out, and was going to get clip in extensions anyway, I decided to get the tape-in extensions! My hair grows super fast with extensions and so I figured, hell, why not 🙂
My suit… well, I did not order my suit custom. This suit was ordered custom by another competitor, and ordered custom for about $800!!! I got it for $200 🙂 It is cut really well and the back is SO KILLER and really shows off my glutes, which are kind of huge right now – although I wouldn’t mind if they were bigger 😛 But be aware that quality is SO important. I think next time I will order one that is NOT blingy, get it cut really well, then bling it out myself. I am more concerned with the cut of the bottoms more than anything else. But for now I am super excited for this one since it will look so good on stage 🙂
The costs for a coach also vary. My coach is awesome. In all reality, he could probably charge WAY more than he does for everything he does for each of his clients. I am not putting the actual cost of my own package up here because (and I don’t know how to say this without sounding crass so I apologize) I do not want anyone reading this, going to my coach, and being like “She said she got your services for this amount so why can’t I blah blah blah.” It’s not fair to him, and in all reality, your needs may differ from mine so therefore your cost will differ. Picking a quality coach is so important – ie stay away from the cookie cutter diet and training regimens that so many people hand out to every single competitor they take one. They are NO GOOD and will drop you like a hot potato once your comp is done. Find someone who can coach you in AND out of your show so you experience the most success. You worked hard for your body, so wanting to take is slow and monitor after your competition is reasonable. I know for myself I am not ready to bulk again – personally I want to SLOWLY reverse diet and maintain as close to my show weight as I can, then SLOWLY bulk, and then compete again maybe a couple of years from now. 90% of this sport is the behind the scenes grind and the 10% is the time you spend on stage.
Lots to think about… if you can swing it and you can emotionally and physically take on a competition, I say do it! This experience has been more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. When you focus on what you gain from the overall experience, it makes it so much better and so much fun!!! ❤
Fit, Sweet, and Sassy! 