As January 1st 2016 checks in the invariable anguish of many athletes kicks in. The sporting calendar goes back into overdrive and the Rio Olympics keep getting closer and closer. The million dollar question for many athletes and teams is “ How am I going to organise my expenses”? Well this blog post attempts to answer that question in three quick and simple steps.
1 Building the Calendar
This allows a team or athlete to get a good sense at how busy the year will look. It may only be a rough layout but at least it’s a plan that can be worked on. This step is about laying foundations for the next couple of steps. The calendar can always be updated with some competitions removed from the schedule or added.
It is crucial that a team or athlete take a break or a small vacation to allow the body to recover. Once you have the competitions and training camps dates on the calendar try and see where you can fit small breaks. Once you get the overall picture you can feel free to make any changes during the calendar year. Make sure that if you make changes you do them in advance so you can plan for contingencies.
2 Calculating expenses
Once your calendar is set try and find out what the costs of travelling to these competitions would be. You can also include the travel expenses of your vacations if you are seeking a more holistic calendar. Add up all those expenses and try and get as accurate a total as possible so that there will not be any discrepancies
Now I know for some this may seem like a daunting task as you see numbers increase and the costs get heavier. However, the calendar is always up to change and costs change with it. Make sure the totals are as accurate as possible. Lodging costs such as hostels, hotels, AirBnbs have to also be taken into account.
Once travel costs have been calculated then you can look at competition fees. These may differ in currency and in price across the world. Add up your competition fees and set a total. Finally you should calculate the costs of training and equipment so as to get a better idea as to the overall costs for the year. Training can include sport camps or academies and specialized coaches anywhere in the world. Equipment as well varies vastly depending on an athlete's specific needs, one should calculate the total that equipment will cost.
3. Repeat Step 1&2
This may seem too fast and easy but the process isn’t really that long. You can go back to your calendar and look at the competitions that you are going to compete in. Feel free to change the event at which you will attend at any time. For the expenditure side , the totals should be accurate enough so that when you do the calculations your estimations aren’t too far off the actual totals.
According to Impact Credit Union and Report called " Personal Finances and the Time Value of Money" if one plans ahead 20-30% of ones expenditure can be saved in comparison to no planning. So, planning expenditure is very important no matter for what it may be.
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