How much do you spend?

[Dakota]

Not counting the first year (where everything from ball bag to uniform needs to be bought), how much to you spend each year in fees, schools, replacing equipment, new hats, upgrading equipment, etc.?

I checked my records for the last three years, and I am averaging about $350 - $400 per year. Some of that, of course, is just because I want to (e.g. this year I am buying a new chest protector - not because the old one needs replacing, but just because I want to try a new one). Some is routine (ASA registration fee, case book updates, NFHS registration fee, association dues, etc.) And, some is necessary replacement (e.g. I bought 2 new hats last year; I'm going to try to get by with what I have this year).

But, I was wondering - what do the rest of you spend on average per year?

[Skahtboi]

So far this year I have bought two new pairs of combo pants at $45 each, a couple of new pairs of compression shorts, and a new jacket. So I am already at the $200 mark. I am wanting to buy the Wilson Chrome Moliben super-lightweight mask (actually my wife has been on me to get a new one for over a year, the old one is a "little" checked on the laminant), and the cheapest I have found that is $85. This is about standard in a year. Next year is the all new hat year. I would say that about $300-400 in a given year is about normal for me!

[SWFLguy]

I'm at the "twilight" of my career---
I spent about $100 this year---
new FHSAA hats and a new pair of
combo plate/base pants-- local and
state dues run me around $70.
I'm not in this for the money--
it fills some of my free time, and
I really--- really enjoy it !!
I have 2 varsity games next week --
Play ball !!

[whiskers_ump]

About $300 a year, but I belong to six different associations
and most require their shirts, hats, etc.. My expenses are low
because my DD gives me hats, masks, indicators, ball bags,
shirts, and even plate shoes...Registration fees are a big part of my
expenses. Love to see my birthday, Fathers day, anniversay, and
Christmas roll around.

[mach3]

Including travelling to the clinics etc. and all the stuff concerning Umpiring (books, manuals, equipment, ...) I would say it is about 600-700 € per year.

Of which half of it is travelling and clinic expenses.
And you have to consider that everything I buy I have to pay customs to get it to Germany. But compared to most other collegues here I guess I ran on the top of spending in Germany.

Raoul

[Andy]

I pay dues to My State HS association in order to officiate volleyball and softball. I also pay the annual dues to ASA. That comes up to about $100.00

From my records for last year, I spent about $600.00 on supplies and equipment, which is about typical for a year. I try to only replace one "big ticket" item a year, last year, I bought new plate shoes. I will generally buy one or two new hats per year and rotate them around to try to keep the newer ones on most of the time.

Depending on the sport I'm working. Softball, on an annual basis, I might run about $150 to $300, depending on what equipment and uniforms I'm replacing or adding to. If I replace nothing or buy nothing new, $150 would be the most with all the registration fees.

[Skahtboi]

Looks like this year is going to be an above normal year, expense wise for me. I just went ahead and ordered another pair of plate shoes, since Riddell has discontinued the Arbiter series, one that I have always liked from an appearance standpoint. I also plan to get the mask that I referred to above, and I just realized that I really need to get a new ASA jacket.

[Steve M]

I'll spend about 230 in registration & association dues and another 35 or so for rules-related items (getting the books bound, Bennett's rules differences book, ...). 2 new hats and 1 new shirt per year for each group that has their own emblem & a couple of plain ones for a total of 10 hats and 4 shirts. I'll replace a pair of gray & navy pants each year so that I stay at 4 good pair of each. Add another few bucks for the pre-season dry cleaners - I take all my pants & have them pressed before the season. I end up getting 8 or more colored t-shirts. And I like to have 2 pair of good base shoes & 2 pair of good plate shoes, so I've got to get base shoes this year but am OK with plate shoes. Idon't remember the totals from past years and will know last year's totals in a couple of weeks when I do my taxes - but I'll say that I'm in the 600+ range per year.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally posted by Dakota
Not counting the first year (where everything from ball bag to uniform needs to be bought), how much to you spend each year in fees, schools, replacing equipment, new hats, upgrading equipment, etc.?

I checked my records for the last three years, and I am averaging about $350 - $400 per year. Some of that, of course, is just because I want to (e.g. this year I am buying a new chest protector - not because the old one needs replacing, but just because I want to try a new one). Some is routine (ASA registration fee, case book updates, NFHS registration fee, association dues, etc.) And, some is necessary replacement (e.g. I bought 2 new hats last year; I'm going to try to get by with what I have this year).

But, I was wondering - what do the rest of you spend on average per year?

Judging from your post, you must be filling out your Schedule C for 2003.

To give you an example of what my Schedule C looks like here are my figures from 2002 and 2003. I submit two Schedule C's one for basketball officiating only (because I have been officiating basketball for 32 years) and a second one for baseball/softball, soccer, and volleyball because I have been officiaing those sports for only eleven years.

My totals for 2002: $9,639.00 in gross receipts and $9,613.76 in expenses. One should remember that if you use the mileage deduction you get to deduct an amount of money far in excess of what your actual automobile expenses really are.

My totals for 2003 (I officiated only six months because of a knee injury): $5,454.00 in gross receipts and $7,064.47 in expenses.


I use Micorsoft Outlook's Calendar as my officiating diary: It includes the sport, schools involved, partners, odemeter reading from my car, telephone calls, and any other type of expense that I have relating to officiating. I have have two Excel spreadsheets: one for my basketball Schedule C and one for my other sports officiating Schedule C. My columns across the spreadsheet correspond to the appropriate lines of the Schedue C. The rows represent calendar dates. Within the columns I also keep track of my actual gasolene expenses even though I use the mileage deduction because I like to see how much I acutally pay out in gas for officiating. At the end of the year, I just push a button and it adds up all of the columns and I just put the numbers on the appropriate line on the Schedule C.

It took me less that fifteen minutes to have my Schedule C's ready to file our income taxes. My wife and I filed our state and federal income taxes online during half time of the Super Bowl (yes, I missed the wardrobe malfunction, even our two sons, ages a 10 and 13 missed it because they went to their room to play a football video game during half time). We received our state refund on Feb. 06th, and our federal refund on Feb. 13th, both deposited electronically to our checking account. It was the easiest return we ever had.

[TexBlue]

In 2001 $341
2002 $913
2003 $236.

In 2004, I'll probably spend around $350 to $400. At least that's all I'm planning on. I also average about 5200 miles a year driving back and forth to the tournamets, with most of that being in 2 out of town tournaments I go to.