What are some ways to save money with rock climbing?

Alison...your site is frickin awesome! I love the interface, and it does seem like a great way to find gear and find the best price for it! How long has it been around? Surprised I'm just seeing it now! I'm a huge fan of SteepAndCheap (also their sister sites WhiskyMilitia and ChainLove), but they don't have a ton of gear. You get the occasional shoe/harness/rope, but the only "gear" I've seen are single carabiners or the occasional quickdraw. For that, the more mainstream sites of Backcountry.com or Moosejaw.com would be your best bet, but they're not going to have as steep discounts. Just my two cents!

For me the biggest regular expenses are climbing shoes. While expensive if you wear them out often, there are many ways to save money.the best trick that I've used is pretty simple: First, find a pair pf shoes that you really like. For me, it's the 5.10 hiangle. I've been wearing them for a while and they fit perfectly. If you haven't found that perfect shoe yet and tend to bounce around between models and brands, this hack isn't for you.Buy two pairs of the shoes. Yes, I know it's a big buy in at first but trust me here.Climb in one of the pairs normaly and set the other one aside. I promise this is going to start making sense soon...Once you've worn down the shoes, start wearing the second pair of shoes and send the first one off to get resoled. Because resoling is MUCH cheaper than buying a new pair of shoes every time, this saves a lot of money over http://time.My current pair of shoes has been through a few resoles and they feel as good as new. While it is a bit of a purchase at first, this has saved me a lot of money.Repeat the process every time you wear through your shoes. just send them off, and wear your other pair! NOTE: make sure you get your shoes resoled BEFORE they have hit the point of no return . If you wear through your shoes until there are holes, you've gone too far. A good sign for when a resole is necessary is when the rubber begins to peel off and delaminate, or a hole is just starting to appear (if the fabric doesn't tear you're good) Another point worth making is that if you buy "edgeless" shoes these cannot be resoled.

This is more of an approach then a strategy. Resit the urge to get a lot of gear until you have borrowed it and used it a couple times with friends. Wait until you really feel like you need it. I'm as materialistic as the next guy. I indulge in retail therapy and would buy every new gadget at REI if I had a money tree. One trick I use to counter these urges is to remember the gear heads that used to show up to a rock climbing gym I ran for three years. after coveting all their gear I would reflect on the fact that the best climbers in the gym usually walk in with a chalk bag and some shoes that's it. When we would climb together outside they have the smallest pack. I remind myself all the time. If I really want to enjoy climbing, all I need to do is get strong, not get another quickdraw. Then I  go to the gym and try to climb more climbs, harder climbs then I ever thought I could.