On average, how much do you guys spend on each building event?

[wethose]

I'm filling out a budget form and I'm not sure how much it'll cost us next year.

Towers-
Mission Possible-
Thermodynamics-
Mousetrap Vehicle-
Hovercraft-
Helicopters-

[wethose]

oh, and forensics!

[Macgyver]

Just on Hovercraft, I'm over $150 (at least $30-40 out of pocket). For Mission and Thermo, I lost count after $60 out of pocket.

[wethose]

Just on Hovercraft, I'm over $150 (at least $30-40 out of pocket). For Mission and Thermo, I lost count after $60 out of pocket.

Holy crap! What do you buy with that money? Where do you get it from?? I'm so out of the loop for building events..

[cool hand luke]

last year we spent over 2k on builds. Granted it was our first year so we didn't have a stockpile of stuff like we are getting now. And we also bought things multiple times. I bought 6 different springs to launch our scrambler before finally getting the correct one.

[WhatScience?]

I'm filling out a budget form and I'm not sure how much it'll cost us next year.

Towers-
Mission Possible-
Thermodynamics-
Mousetrap Vehicle-
Hovercraft-
Helicopters-

Before you start spending money, I would advice taking the advice of some of your biggest resources...your teachers!

I am in middle school and that's basically how I get everything that I need.

For our school, the chemistry events had a bunch of stuff that we didn't necessarily own. I borrowed it from a teacher.
For events like thermo, and mission possible...you need some plywood. In fact, plywood can be helpful in other events to. I don't know about mousetrap, but for battery buggy, it builds the frame. Call on one of your schools shop teachers, they can help.
Wood shop teachers might also be happy to get you some thin balsa for towers and helicopters.
For Hovercraft, check if one of your teachers has a 3d printer, that can help.
For anything electricity related, does on your schools physics classes have a unit like electricity. Or is there an elective covering a similar topic? Chances are that they do experiments. Ask that teacher.

In my general experience, if you ask nicely, most science teachers are willing to help science olympiad.

[Unome]

The amount you need to spend varies greatly. You can build a National-medaling Mission for $1000, but also for under $50 if your builders are really skilled. Towers - likewise, can medal at Nationals with $50 of balsa (which is sufficient for well over a dozen towers if they're particularly light). Helicopters is probably best done with a kit, but it's possible to do very well scratchbuilt.

[JasperKota]

Mousetrap vehicle - Depends on the resources you have, and what you decide to use. I've spent around $60 on this event so far, which is mostly from trying carbon fiber. You can easily make do with just wood and 3d printed frames.

Helicopters - If people have never done an aviation event or helicopters, it's easier to start out with a kit. There was another option for kits last year, however this year I think there's really only the Freedom Flight kit available. In addition, you'll need a winder and lubricant, which will bring the total to around 70-80 dollars. If you don't go with the kit, however, costs go down. Balsa sheets can be found at local hardware stores, covering can be ordered online for not too much, as well as hooks and thrust bearings.

[Otkrlj]

For towers, expect to spend 50 to 150. For mosetrap it depends on your materials. Kt can varry from around 10 to 100 something.

[PM2017]

I'm filling out a budget form and I'm not sure how much it'll cost us next year.

Towers-
Mission Possible-
Thermodynamics-
Mousetrap Vehicle-
Hovercraft-
Helicopters-

On mousetrap, I've managed to spend $180 so far, but lots of that is bought in bulk, so future years will benefit. (also, I wasted lots of money on wheels. I would recommend simply going with what the forums say, and not try to experiment lol)
On mission Possible, I've spent over $200 and counting. (Its not really the things that you would expect to be expensive. It's really all the small things that add up.)

On top of this, I think i've gone through 1 and a half kg of PLA filament through iteration and failed parts. ( approx. 45 dollars filament in total)