Thank you for this thread.
I am a mentor and inherited the running / setup of the team. I've been running finances for them and trying to bridge the gaps are hard. We'll have some goals based upon the information I see here.
Our team budget this year was 11k for everything- food, robot, transportation, 1 regional, NO nationals, the KOP, and all PR material. I'm down to my last 400$ right now... and I still need to pay for another set of bearings
edit: err, I'm amending my post to include a few other factoids: Metal prices are up 30%; we've had to reuse last years scrap pieces and cut them. We gutted a robot from a number of years ago for parts- all included in the BOM- to get us where we are now while we search out cheaper suppliers. This year the Parents have stepped in to help defer the costs of food, saving the team about 500$ worth of expenses.
I provide this information in hops that it helps a new team, and also in hope that, if there's an easier/better way of doing something I'll be told about it.