SHOT
12-24-2002, 01:28 PM
Took this from..AdonisNacho
If I told you that being a bodybuilder is a lot like running a business, you'd probably think that I've been mixing some Drain-O into my oatmeal, wouldn't you?
How can I draw such an analogy? Well, for starters, businesses need to generate revenue in order to grow and succeed; and so do bodybuilders. Businesses must allocate those sources of revenue in the most efficient ways to maximize their gain per unit cost. So must bodybuilders. Business owners have to invest both time and capital into their company; and so must bodybuilders. Of course, while the particular needs of the corporate world may be different from your needs in the iron game, very similar principles can be employed to evaluate and hopefully meet these needs.
With all that being said, it's very easy to liken bodybuilding success to a company's success; each requires hard work and capital: two needs that can easily serve as limiting factors to ultimate success. Aspiring bodybuilders can have the will to train diligently, intensely, and intelligently, but if they can't afford to eat or pay for a gym membership, they're destined for failure. Likewise, there are lots of companies out there with hard working employees, but these companies may never be a "cut above" due to financial shortcomings. As my fifth grade teacher often said, "Money makes the world go round." (Although I think she said that with a tinge of bitterness since the salary of a fifth grad teacher is barely enough to make a 1978 Gremlin go round, let alone the world).
At the other end of the spectrum are those with seemingly bottomless pockets who still manage to fail because they simply don't work hard. In a bodybuilding context, these are the folks with the fancy gym bag, clothing, and every supplement imaginable. Meanwhile, they're doing twenty sets on the hip adductor five times a week, staying out all night, eating junk, and wondering why they aren't huge yet. Similarly, a business may have all the money in the world, but if its employees spend all their time at work chatting by the water cooler about how great Tribex has made their sex lives, that business will flop like a newbie trying to rock bottom squat 800 pounds!
Alright, now I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you, as loyal Berardi followers, are far less likely than the general population to have trouble training intensely or intelligently. In other words, I'll assume that the money issue is far more of a concern for you. As you all well know, the bodybuilding lifestyle can get expensive. However, that's not to say that you cannot afford it.
Think about the last time that you heard someone say, "I can't afford to eat more protein" or "supplements are too expensive." While often these are just cop-outs that allow weak minded individuals to have a ready-made excuse for failure, sometimes the money issue is the limiting factor. When this is the case, one of two things might happen. The person will decide to just go on being fat and lazy like much of the world because making excuses is easier than actually solving problems and working hard. Or they may mindlessly search for shortcuts in the wrong places. As a result, they wind up with a nice set of man-breasts from gyno caused by the generic andro they bought or the soy protein they pulled down from mommy's medicine cabinet. Lame complaints and feeble attempts to cut corners could all be avoided if these individuals had known how to budget properly. This article is designed to cut through the bull and show you how you can budget properly so that you wont have an excuse for not succeeding.
Like any well-organized company, a bodybuilder who budgets appropriately will be taking the steps to ensure that the resources necessary for success will always be present thanks to adequate cash flow. I'm willing to bet that you've probably never considered how terrible a bodybuilder you would be if you did not have money to provide you with the wherewithal to eat, sleep comfortably under a roof, train, and supplement. These factors are a bodybuilder's lifeblood, but cash is the lifeblood of the factors themselves. Furthermore, I'm willing to bet that you'd all like to know how you could afford this sometimes-costly lifestyle.
With that in mind, let's cover a few broad guidelines that must be considered in creating our Bodybuilding Budget:
1) Prioritize - If you haven't read Dawg School - Basic Training for Beginners: The Bodybuilder's Hierarchy of Needs by Testosterone Magazine's Chris Shugart, I strongly urge you to check it out now. Basically, physiological needs (the foundation of Maslow's original hierarchy) should always come first, with other items following in order of importance. Some might debate me for putting supplements at the bottom of the budget when they're what we're trying to afford. However, in accordance with our priorities, you should only purchase supplements if you can afford all the more important stuff first. Therefore, by leaving the supplement piece of our budget until the end, we'll see how much we can allocate to supplement purchases. If we aren't happy with this amount, we reexamine the previous expenses in our budget in hopes of reducing them and, in turn, free up more cash for supplements. This prioritization also includes buying supplements that correspond to your goals (e.g. thermogenics for cutting if that's your bag).
2) Live and budget within your means - Obviously, it would be unreasonable for someone flipping burgers from nine to five to budget like Bill Gates. Set up a budget in light of your recognized financial limitations, and you'll be golden, even if you work for the golden arches. On a related note, do not ignore the importance of saving for the future. Personally, I would rather be able to afford to eat once I have retired than live the high life while immediately spending every penny of every paycheck to support my present bodybuilding habit.
3) Take it month by month - As you get more experienced with budgeting, you'll probably be able to plan out several months in advance. For now, though, just see how accurately you can plan things for the upcoming month. Semi-yearly or one-time expenses should be considered as part of the months in which they occur and placed in the budget according to the prioritization principle. In other words, figure your Christmas shopping expenses into the months in which you buy the gifts. It might mean that you have to cut back on luxuries (like the really tasty milk protein isolate blend vs. the plain old whey concentrate) when your expenses go up for other items in order to continue with your supplementation plans.
4) Leave some wiggle room - Budgets are a plan, and we all know that nothing ever goes exactly as planned. In other words, don't allocate every penny you have to the month ahead of you. This way, if something unexpected that requires a cash payment comes up, you'll be able to accommodate the expense without throwing off your entire lifestyle.
5) Always evaluate a budget's accuracy - Near the end of the month, look to see how well you were able to adhere to your budget. Make adjustments as needed for the following month.
6) Keep it simple and neat - Chances are that if it looks too complex, it probably is. Budgets are useless if you can't interpret them usefully.
7) Anticipate - Remember that although you won't have to buy every supplement every month, it definitely helps to know when certain supplements will run out so that you can plan ahead. A good way to avoid having to deal with this often is to buy three or four at a time.
Use Microsoft Excel or a comparable program (Quicken or Lotus Notes) to design your budget - If you're familiar with this program, you know how much time it can save you. Excel will save time in adding up numbers. Perhaps more importantly, you can easily and neatly (no erasers needed) make changes and, provided you reference the correct cells throughout, see how these changes affect the numbers at the end of the budget with which you are the most concerned. Plus, Excel allows you to copy and paste your budget into a new spreadsheet each month and make modifications without having to rewrite everything. Excel is even great for tracking your gym progress too.
9) Adapt - No matter how many sources of cash payments I list, I'll never be able to cover every possible situation that may arise. As such, you need to make judgment calls on where in your budget certain unique expenses fall in your overall prioritization scheme.
Okay, now let's get down to business. Here are the components in order of appearance in the actual budget:
1) Cash Receipts - The bulk of this section is the dollar amount on your paycheck (after deductions for taxes, social security, Medicare, retirement, etc.). It also includes any amount that you are willing to make available from your savings, although this scenario is certainly not ideal.
2) Cash Payments - When you need to prioritize a certain muscle group, you know to put it at the beginning of your split so that you can train it when it's fresh. Likewise, you should put your most important payments at the beginning of your budget where your wallet is fresh. We'll subdivide this section into several categories based on our priorities:
If I told you that being a bodybuilder is a lot like running a business, you'd probably think that I've been mixing some Drain-O into my oatmeal, wouldn't you?
How can I draw such an analogy? Well, for starters, businesses need to generate revenue in order to grow and succeed; and so do bodybuilders. Businesses must allocate those sources of revenue in the most efficient ways to maximize their gain per unit cost. So must bodybuilders. Business owners have to invest both time and capital into their company; and so must bodybuilders. Of course, while the particular needs of the corporate world may be different from your needs in the iron game, very similar principles can be employed to evaluate and hopefully meet these needs.
With all that being said, it's very easy to liken bodybuilding success to a company's success; each requires hard work and capital: two needs that can easily serve as limiting factors to ultimate success. Aspiring bodybuilders can have the will to train diligently, intensely, and intelligently, but if they can't afford to eat or pay for a gym membership, they're destined for failure. Likewise, there are lots of companies out there with hard working employees, but these companies may never be a "cut above" due to financial shortcomings. As my fifth grade teacher often said, "Money makes the world go round." (Although I think she said that with a tinge of bitterness since the salary of a fifth grad teacher is barely enough to make a 1978 Gremlin go round, let alone the world).
At the other end of the spectrum are those with seemingly bottomless pockets who still manage to fail because they simply don't work hard. In a bodybuilding context, these are the folks with the fancy gym bag, clothing, and every supplement imaginable. Meanwhile, they're doing twenty sets on the hip adductor five times a week, staying out all night, eating junk, and wondering why they aren't huge yet. Similarly, a business may have all the money in the world, but if its employees spend all their time at work chatting by the water cooler about how great Tribex has made their sex lives, that business will flop like a newbie trying to rock bottom squat 800 pounds!
Alright, now I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you, as loyal Berardi followers, are far less likely than the general population to have trouble training intensely or intelligently. In other words, I'll assume that the money issue is far more of a concern for you. As you all well know, the bodybuilding lifestyle can get expensive. However, that's not to say that you cannot afford it.
Think about the last time that you heard someone say, "I can't afford to eat more protein" or "supplements are too expensive." While often these are just cop-outs that allow weak minded individuals to have a ready-made excuse for failure, sometimes the money issue is the limiting factor. When this is the case, one of two things might happen. The person will decide to just go on being fat and lazy like much of the world because making excuses is easier than actually solving problems and working hard. Or they may mindlessly search for shortcuts in the wrong places. As a result, they wind up with a nice set of man-breasts from gyno caused by the generic andro they bought or the soy protein they pulled down from mommy's medicine cabinet. Lame complaints and feeble attempts to cut corners could all be avoided if these individuals had known how to budget properly. This article is designed to cut through the bull and show you how you can budget properly so that you wont have an excuse for not succeeding.
Like any well-organized company, a bodybuilder who budgets appropriately will be taking the steps to ensure that the resources necessary for success will always be present thanks to adequate cash flow. I'm willing to bet that you've probably never considered how terrible a bodybuilder you would be if you did not have money to provide you with the wherewithal to eat, sleep comfortably under a roof, train, and supplement. These factors are a bodybuilder's lifeblood, but cash is the lifeblood of the factors themselves. Furthermore, I'm willing to bet that you'd all like to know how you could afford this sometimes-costly lifestyle.
With that in mind, let's cover a few broad guidelines that must be considered in creating our Bodybuilding Budget:
1) Prioritize - If you haven't read Dawg School - Basic Training for Beginners: The Bodybuilder's Hierarchy of Needs by Testosterone Magazine's Chris Shugart, I strongly urge you to check it out now. Basically, physiological needs (the foundation of Maslow's original hierarchy) should always come first, with other items following in order of importance. Some might debate me for putting supplements at the bottom of the budget when they're what we're trying to afford. However, in accordance with our priorities, you should only purchase supplements if you can afford all the more important stuff first. Therefore, by leaving the supplement piece of our budget until the end, we'll see how much we can allocate to supplement purchases. If we aren't happy with this amount, we reexamine the previous expenses in our budget in hopes of reducing them and, in turn, free up more cash for supplements. This prioritization also includes buying supplements that correspond to your goals (e.g. thermogenics for cutting if that's your bag).
2) Live and budget within your means - Obviously, it would be unreasonable for someone flipping burgers from nine to five to budget like Bill Gates. Set up a budget in light of your recognized financial limitations, and you'll be golden, even if you work for the golden arches. On a related note, do not ignore the importance of saving for the future. Personally, I would rather be able to afford to eat once I have retired than live the high life while immediately spending every penny of every paycheck to support my present bodybuilding habit.
3) Take it month by month - As you get more experienced with budgeting, you'll probably be able to plan out several months in advance. For now, though, just see how accurately you can plan things for the upcoming month. Semi-yearly or one-time expenses should be considered as part of the months in which they occur and placed in the budget according to the prioritization principle. In other words, figure your Christmas shopping expenses into the months in which you buy the gifts. It might mean that you have to cut back on luxuries (like the really tasty milk protein isolate blend vs. the plain old whey concentrate) when your expenses go up for other items in order to continue with your supplementation plans.
4) Leave some wiggle room - Budgets are a plan, and we all know that nothing ever goes exactly as planned. In other words, don't allocate every penny you have to the month ahead of you. This way, if something unexpected that requires a cash payment comes up, you'll be able to accommodate the expense without throwing off your entire lifestyle.
5) Always evaluate a budget's accuracy - Near the end of the month, look to see how well you were able to adhere to your budget. Make adjustments as needed for the following month.
6) Keep it simple and neat - Chances are that if it looks too complex, it probably is. Budgets are useless if you can't interpret them usefully.
7) Anticipate - Remember that although you won't have to buy every supplement every month, it definitely helps to know when certain supplements will run out so that you can plan ahead. A good way to avoid having to deal with this often is to buy three or four at a time.
Use Microsoft Excel or a comparable program (Quicken or Lotus Notes) to design your budget - If you're familiar with this program, you know how much time it can save you. Excel will save time in adding up numbers. Perhaps more importantly, you can easily and neatly (no erasers needed) make changes and, provided you reference the correct cells throughout, see how these changes affect the numbers at the end of the budget with which you are the most concerned. Plus, Excel allows you to copy and paste your budget into a new spreadsheet each month and make modifications without having to rewrite everything. Excel is even great for tracking your gym progress too.
9) Adapt - No matter how many sources of cash payments I list, I'll never be able to cover every possible situation that may arise. As such, you need to make judgment calls on where in your budget certain unique expenses fall in your overall prioritization scheme.
Okay, now let's get down to business. Here are the components in order of appearance in the actual budget:
1) Cash Receipts - The bulk of this section is the dollar amount on your paycheck (after deductions for taxes, social security, Medicare, retirement, etc.). It also includes any amount that you are willing to make available from your savings, although this scenario is certainly not ideal.
2) Cash Payments - When you need to prioritize a certain muscle group, you know to put it at the beginning of your split so that you can train it when it's fresh. Likewise, you should put your most important payments at the beginning of your budget where your wallet is fresh. We'll subdivide this section into several categories based on our priorities: