Honesty moment: having a budget or tracking my spending each month isn’t fun… but the financial security it’s provided me has been priceless. Keeping a budget as an athlete has helped me save on food, gear, vacations and more, all while giving me the opportunity to grow my savings account and emergency fund.
Budgeting means more than tracking my money: budgeting has helped me save for the future and build wealth.
With so may financial decisions to make every month, does my budgeting process look different than those of non-athletes? The short answer is not really. While what I purchase and save as an athlete differs from someone who isn’t as active as I am, the steps I take are pretty much the same.
Before you check out the steps below, don’t forget to download a free monthly budget that you can save and customize.
Here are the 5 steps I take to keep and stick to my budget
Step #1: Calculate My Take Home Income
Knowing how much income I have coming in each month is always my first step. Whether it’s my full time job or extra income, I make sure understand what my earnings look like.
This may look very different for athletes. Maybe you only work seasonally during the summer or off season. Or maybe you can only work odd jobs because of your competition or training schedule.
Whatever it is, make sure you understand the exact number you’re bringing in, which includes understanding your take home pay after taxes are taken out. Use this link to help calculate what your paycheck will look like after taxes are taken out.
Step #2: Set Goals
My goals change every week, month and year. It’s important to set goals so that I can plan out my next financial steps. Examples of goals that I’ve had include:
- Building my savings account: have 3-6 months of savings in case of emergency
- Build my stockpile of products for workouts and fitness: healthy snacks, beverages, protein supplements and more.
- Staying debt free
- Put money aside for child’s education
- Save for vacation
- Put money aside for date nights
- Save for a down payment on a car
- Save for a down payment on a home
Some goals like saving for date night or a vacation wont take long for me to accomplish. Keeping a budget will also help me stay on track to reach more aggressive goals, like saving for a car or home.
Step #3: Make a Plan
Next, it’s important I make my plan to help me reach my goal. Based off of my income, spending for items like rent, food, utilities, along with any debt I owe, I put a plan together. As an athlete, I also want to make sure I factor in select items or products to help me stay in shape. My priorities include fresh fruits, veggies, proteins, and healthy snacks. When needed, I also find ways to incorporate new gear into my budget, items like sneakers, gear and anything needed to help treat aches and pains after workouts, like like ointments, ice packs, etc.
Each week (typically when I get paid) I spend a few minutes paying off my credit card debts, I put a few dollars aside for our little one’s schooling, and then allocate the rest to housing, expected grocery costs and other expected payments for the month.
Step #4: Prioritize Saving
Saving can be so hard to do when you have bills to pay and debt… I’ve been there and I get it! To help me save for a rainy day, I put as much money aside as possible as soon as I get paid.
Depending on my money situation, there have been times I can only put aside a few dollars, like $25 or $50. When times are good I’ve been able to put more money aside like $500 after getting paid. No matter what it is, I save as much as I can.
Step #5: Track All Spending
To be successful in keeping my budget, I make sure to track my spending each week to make sure I’m on track. Click here to download your own budget for free.
In the beginning, this meant monitoring my credit card activity, eating out/groceries, tracking how much I spent on clothes and going out. Now that I’ve been on top of my budget over the past decade, I check in less often because I’ve already created habits (saving, spending in moderation, etc.) that have helped me save and avoid debt.