A guide to being able to afford skiing when you are done with college

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then here is my advice to you. best time to start saving.....as a freshman in high school. but not everyone is that young anymore. here is the break down. remember it is possible.

you should have 4000-5000 saved and you will be all set!

i did this and so did a bunch of my friends, so this is based on what we had to pay.
most of my friends had these lil studio one room places with a bed, couch, tv, kitchen area and table. they all lived there alone! each in their own and loved it! it was in a hotel so it had a pool and hot tub and free internet and a fireplace in the common room. its all you need!

figure you are going to do this for a 6 month period.

$500 a month for rent =                                       $3000
(what my friends paid for their studio places)
$300 a month for utilities =                                  $1800
(i like to over estimate things)
total for the basics =                                            $4800

if you have this much saved up you can afford to do this important things that will allow you to have the best season of your life:

NOT be committed to living in employee housing. If for some unforeseen reason you lose your job, you will still have a place to live.

NOT be committed to working 40 hours a week to pay for your rent and utilities. if you are taking off a year of your life to ski, you want to be able to ski! if you want a weekend off to go somewhere or do a comp, you can take it off without having to worry about being evicted!

ALLOW yourself to only work weekends
This will entitle you to - your free pass
this will allow you to work when you dont want to be skiing anyway, who wants to deal with those life lines on saturday? not me. this allows you all the perks of discounted food, free skiing, possible free/discounted tickets for friends nad family, and the freedom to not be fully committed to the ski school director and his power trip. (the key is to not let your boss know you are free during the week if possible!)

Dec 1 2008 10:42PM

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alexL

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sounds like a good plan, just cant forget food and gas and all that fun stuff im done high school in jaunary so i have until the fall until college so my big plan is to live with friends in san francisco and drive up to tahoe whenever i get the chance, definately not as good as living right by the mountain but i wont have any living expenses, just gas and food yay!

Dec 1 2008 10:47PM

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meggers

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Sorry I got cut off:

Also working on the weekend will provide you with enough money to buy food and beer!

The break down

4 years of high school save $5 a week = $1040

4 years of college save $10 a week = $ 2800

Total = $3120

4 years of high school save $10 a week = $2800

4 years of college save $15 a week = $ 3120

Total = $5920!!!! Think about it!

Then add in $100 here from a few birthdays and a $100 here from a few holidays for spending money and you are all set to go!

Dec 1 2008 10:48PM

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MitchPee

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I have a solution that's easier on the eyes

Work at Backcountry.com and hustle on the side. Get it?

Dec 1 2008 10:48PM

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49566738265

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If you invest conservatively simply for growth of capital you could probably double that over 10 years. So around 12 grand.

Dec 1 2008 10:52PM

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Barmski

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more like a guide to being lazy as hell. how about you just work 40 hours a week with a nite job, be responsible, make money, and still get 100 days in a season. Thats what I do ( i got 100 last season ) and 100 days is plenty if you ask me. But then again if you want to ski 200 days a season and have knees of steel then I guess your right.

Dec 1 2008 10:54PM

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TylerS

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im a sophmore in HS.

i made about 80 a week but since its ski season i make 45...

so thats around 180 a month and i put away as much as i can of that money at the end of the month. i leave it in a savings account and my parents have already said to me once im done with college i can use that money towards anything. just think about it, would you rather spend $100 on stuff you dont really need as a highschooler (ie: video games) or save that money and have more money to use on something that can make your life so much better after college

Dec 1 2008 10:54PM

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Peach.

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This thread is great I love it.

Dec 1 2008 11:07PM

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meggers

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its not meant to be lazy...its meant to be more like...work your ass off so you can enjoy yourself for a whole season and just ski. cause once you hit the real world its not fun. i did this last season and it was the greatest time of my life. now i work 50 hrs a week do grad school full time and only have time to ski on the weekends....so its meant as a guide to be able to ski everyday for a season stress free without worrying about bills...

Dec 1 2008 11:08PM

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3ski6guy0

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ya seriously man. all my friends work there and the benefits are fucking amazing

Dec 1 2008 11:15PM

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KyleA

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Or you can just get a real job during the off season and do that every year for the 8 years you are in high school and college. Rather than saving for 8 years of your life to have $4000 and one year of skiing.

Dec 1 2008 11:15PM

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Big--Ben

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nice thread, yea i do the same thing as you. I bartend like 50-60 hours a week from late spring to early fall, bank like 10 g's, then just ski all winter hahaa

Dec 1 2008 11:20PM

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Barmski

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similar to what i do, but an even better idea is to get a REAL CAREER in the off season after college that is only 6 months, and then leave the winter open to do whatever job you want that lets you ski. I work in the golf industry. Think bout it. Graduate college and then still be able to ski as much as you want without a REAL job gettin the way. Heres a hint avoid working for the mountain year round and do something totally opposite involving warm weather - example the hammer from meatheads is a landscaper in the off season.....

Dec 1 2008 11:30PM

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-dAvE-

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i think the best way is to jsut work alot during the summer and the off season and to just know alot of ppl.. to be able to have discounts on stuff and stay at their cottage close to the mountain.. u get to ski more since your staying over night, save money on gas so u dont have to drive back and forth, and u sleep somewhere for free... just gotta know someone at the ticket booth and your all set!!!

Dec 1 2008 11:30PM

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Sir_SkrillALot

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Yeah no joke this could probably be accomplished just as easy from June-November so you can ski December-May if you just get a full time job and then work part time during winter. I worked almost 40 hour weeks this summer and did it for almost 7 weeks total and still have money Im going to be able to use until at least February (and Im a HS money so I spend money on useless shit). Its just about giving up certain times so other times can be easier. Ive also read stories of people working 70+ hours all summer-fall long to be able to ski hassle free all winter and spring with money being not much of an issue.

Dec 1 2008 11:46PM

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bhill2.0

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I really fuckin wish I did something like saving up but I never had a "official" job. But highschool was vass and so is college so fuck it

Dec 1 2008 11:50PM

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3ski6guy0

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savings all good until you have to PAY for college. then you need every penny you can find. even with loans school blows

Dec 2 2008 12:21AM

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Powdered_Donuts

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+kk why couldnt you have wrote and sent me this back in 95/96 when i was a freshman in highschool, damn lol

Dec 2 2008 12:22AM

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TimmyP

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oh shit i only have like 2k saved up, but hopefully an apartment 600-700/month split 3 ways, plus, multiple part time jobs will keep me afloat

Dec 2 2008 12:57AM

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laurence^

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sometimes wish i was more frugal

Dec 2 2008 1:20AM

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coolhandluke

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the real world sucks, van wilder the shit outta college if you are able.

Dec 2 2008 1:23AM

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Schwipples

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Get a true ski bum job like painting, carpet laying, etc.

I own a window cleaning business that allows me to work part time during the summer and cover all my bills, school, and expenses throughout winter. I still get to vacation TONS during the summer, and take winters off.

Dec 2 2008 1:01PM

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Cheech_Sander

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great post meggie... and congrats on dooming hundreds of groms to ski-bumdom. :)

i did it to an extent last year, and trying again this year... but i only have a couple months to save a couple grand ( i have 1500 now)... id have 10,000$+ just since this summer alone but my fucking RENT in L.A. is $1300 /mo

gotta sublet this shit and move to compton to start savin

Dec 2 2008 1:07PM

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skiP.E.I.

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I save all my money I make over the summer to pay for college, plus luckily when I was born my parents set up an education savings plan for me, which supplements. Since I spend carefully, I usually can have a few hundred-$1000 left over by the end of the semester. This way I won't have a massive student loan to worry about and hopefully have a small bit of $$ when I'm done school. (I am in Canada at a pretty small art college so my tuition is cheap enough for this to work.)

Dec 2 2008 1:18PM

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thelazyboy

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heres a good advice

MOVE TO CANADA !!!!!

college is much cheaper , face it

Dec 2 2008 1:26PM

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FUUUCK

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heres my plan:

-work part time this quad, pay my bills and ski.

-once schools out this feb, work full time for a month. Save up $1000 at least.

-Sell my downhill frame and some sunglasses, get another $1600.

-hustle a plane ticket off my mom.

-fly out west and live in someones closet, only exposing myself to ski.

-fly home before april

Dec 2 2008 1:46PM

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prisnah

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To do the same thing I just saved a few grand at my regular job, paid for rent for the season up front, then got laid off in November, collected unemployment and skied and partied on that all winter. Worked 1 night a week as a dishwasher for like a month for the free food and drinks but that shit sucked so I quit and went back to just skiing and partying.

I don't think you're factoring in enough added expenses here though, i.e.- equipment costs, tuning and maintenance, gas, renters insurance, season pass, extra scratch for roadtrips, etc.

My season cost me about 10k, +/- a few hundo.

Besides, if you're working weekends you're absolutely killing prime partying time.

Dec 2 2008 1:46PM

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Malczyk

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here's some more factors to put in there:

Food = even if you're a cheapskate like Will Wesson it's still around $40 a week
Student loans? = They kick in 6 months after college, at least for me. approx $300/month for THE REST OF MY LIFE
Transport = someones going to give you a ride to the hill and you owe them in beer, weed or food or $
health insurance = unless you live in Canada, this is an issue you need to figure out
MISC = things come up, lets get real... add another $20 a week for that.

off-setting factor = convince parents this will teach you how to live on your own (even though you were in college for 4 years in the "real" world) so they don't feel bad helping you out. Or better yet, you just have rich parents and you're clueless on how much they're actually spending on you when you think you're "ski bumming". rant over

Dec 2 2008 1:47PM

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TheWorst

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thats cool but what mountain do you find a studio for 500$ a month? where i live it would be at least 1000$

Dec 2 2008 2:33PM

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prisnah

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Oh and my apartment was a 2 bedroom for 600 a month, so I ended up doing about $300 in rent and about 150-200 in utils a month after all was said and done.

Dec 2 2008 2:41PM

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