Spending way too much money on triathlon

You should manage your finances like any other person would.  The way I see it, if I were not into triathlon, cycling, etc...I'd be spending my money on something else.  If you get to a point where you are considering spending money that you wouldn't otherwise spend...you should stop.

In race fees, airline travel, gas, hotel, swim club fees, and other coaching fees we are over $20,000 per year.  Equipment is extra but we don't pay full price for any of it as we buy it through team sponsors, etc...and many of the discounts are steep. 

I would encourage you to buy almost NOTHING new when starting out.  This sport is chock full of people who buy and buy and then quit in a year or even less....you can buy their gear for pennies on the dollar and it's barely used.

Just echoing what others have said, look for used or discount, sale stuff if it's things you "want".  I've found if you are patient you can find great deals on all this stuff.   You can get by training/racing with minimal gear if you are budget constrained.

I had been mulling over getting a new TT bike and put if off for awhile after hearing so much crap of why do you need to spend $2 - $3k on a bike, you're not a pro it's a hobby.  That was from friends who race and friends who had no idea about the sport.(wife had no problems with it!)  I considered things like I don't play golf all that much anymore and had dropped memebrship.  Don't really have any other hobbies as I just don't have a ton of free time.  Then it really hit home when out for a run one day I went by a house and saw a really sharp looking Harley in the garage.  Then I realized that maybe 2K on a bike really wasn't too bad for a hobby.

However I am pretty good at justifying things with myself!

I got into this trap, too, when I first started. While I got a screaming deal on my bike ($500 brand new TT bike, you old timers will remember that deal a bunch of us jumped on!) I went overboard on training clothes, 2 wetsuits (full and no sleeve! gotta have both!), upgraded bike shoes, tires, wheels, Garmin, sunglasses, helmet - it just all ads up. Now I have a closet FULL of bike jerseys and tri tops I've worn once, a wetsuit I don't use, 2 pairs of everything.

I will say it's nice to have an "extra" of some things like helmet, bike shoes and sunglasses for when I misplace something or want to lend something to a friend. But totally not necessary whatsoever.

And others have said this but I will echo the budget thing. Just like any other purchase, think in advance of what you need/want and how much you'll spend. Budget that out for however many months you can comfortably save up. Then buy it. I think a lot of people get caught up in a sale or a shiny new product and feel they have to buy it RIGHT NOW, when they really can't afford it.

Share a ride?

Just needed to add "YOU"RE" to the title of this thread and I may have heard that a couple of times from the DCOS.

Seriously, as others have said, it has to be personal budget.  You really can save a lot of money following the advice on here, second hand equipment from people that have done a season or two, and that can be everything from clothing to hardware.

It does level off a bit after a while, but then the spending can always pick up again with upgrades or longer races. My wife is very supportive of my tri and cycling, luckily I bought a lot of the stuff I needed for a HIM when I was single. However my wife loves to buy me cycling stuff. I spend a lot of my free time on tri, so I don't have a problem with spending some money on it. After my IM this year I should be good to go on gear for the next many years. 

And Xwhatever to finding stuff on sale. My TT bike sat on the showroom floor for some 14 months before I bought it at a great price (still new). My roadie was purchased for a steep discount at a bike shop grand opening. My wife wanted to get me some race wheels this year, she ended up talking my LBS into selling her their rental wheels that had been used 5-6 times for a very steep discount, etc. There are some very good deals on clothing, I never pay full price for workout clothes, takes some searching sometimes but they are there.

Try the classifieds here and on ST. ST has a ton of stuff being posted constantly, some very good deals. 

Get a pt job at a tri/bike shop

If you're spending grocery money or rent money on gear, that's "too much."  How you choose to spend discretionary money is up to you.  

I'm a very frugal shopper.  Most of my gear has been on sale, closeout, or used.  When I started out, I had 2 pairs of bike shorts and 3 pairs of running shorts.  I purchased another pair after the season and do that regularly.  I now have 3 pairs of shorts, 3 pairs of bibs, and a pair of tri shorts for cycling and about 8 pairs of running shorts.  I found some white, dri-wick shirts for $3 each a few years back and haven't bought running shirts since (I have converted a few dri-wick shirts to running use).  I got wind pants, shells, etc. on end of season closeouts or at TJMaxx (or even Walmart).  Even at that, I've probably got $1000 worth of clothing accumulated over the almost 10 years I've been doing this.  

I'm not racing for money, so it's hard to justify any "upgrade."  I did buy a set of "race wheels" from a bike shop for $100 (they were basic takeoff's) because I wanted the freehub and lower gearing options for a hilly race.  I do have gear that makes the day nicer, but again, this was purchased out of discretionary funds instead of going to movies or eating out.  

I'm training for my third IM.  I've worked down the cost of my tri-bike (purchased used) and my road bike (purchased new) to about $0.12/mile.  My running shoes cost me about $0.10-0.12/mile.  

In spite of the glossy ads in the magazines, this sport doesn't have to be expensive.