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Consumables (brakes, tires, fluids) are the obvious one, however I find other costs really add up. In my E90 when pushing on in the dry will burn 1/3 of a tank of fuel in a 20-25 minute session. With 4-5 sessions per day across a 2 day weekend thats 3-4 tanks of fuel just on the circuit. From NYC most circuits are 2HR's drive minimum, so I'm easily in $200 on fuel in a weekend. Then factor in hotel for two nights, food, a few beers in the evening and it can really add up. Insurance is optional but thats another $300. I'm comfortably in the $1k+ range for a weekend. I'm not even including all the mod's you will then want to buy as you improve! Even little things like GoPro's, timing devices etc. are an investment.
Its certainly pay to play, but man is it addictive and the buzz is like nothing else.
Also to some of the other posters, not all novices are created equal. If you have any karting, autocross, or really a lot of fast road driving you will progress pretty quickly. I think you should do pads and fluid as a minimum if you know you are going to get into it, but its really up to you. A bottle of SRF is more expensive, but it only needs to be flushed once per year. Similarly track pads on street tires will last a very long time so its worth investing. When I was on PS4S I ran SRF with a hybrid pad (PFC Z-Rated) and it was perfect. Once you move up to something stickier (Get RE-71 as SYT_Shadow suggested, they are amazing) you can progress to a harder track pad such as a PFC 11.
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