Budgeting is almost as hard as chess!

Going on sabbatical to play chess has its downsides - lack of income. Not only I have to train myself in chess like a nutter, but I also have to give up my lifestyle for the time being. No new clothes or shoes and no expensive entertainment. I'm sure you don't feel sorry for me as I probably have too much in my wardrobe anyway. But I love shoes! Budgeting sucks. I think the trick is not to go anywhere near Oxford Street. For a year!

All of a sudden I started buying cheaper products in my supermarket and use all discount vouchers I can get my hands on. I've never worried about going for colour & cut at my fairly upmarket hairdressers, but now that feels like spending an awful lot of money. I feel like the time has finally come to find out what Primark has to offer... 10 months is a long time to survive on savings, especially if I want to travel to international tournaments about once a month!

Well, my sabbatical doesn't start until 1st October and the real test of my budgeting skill will become apparent sometime in November. I think I will end up living on credit cards by the end of my sabbatical. It doesn't sound too scary though - I'll be in debt, just like most of this country!! Alright, I've already been offered coaching, so I can make some money if I'm really strapped for cash. I would probably choose to do some expensive business consultancy instead. But the point is that I'm taking this sabbatical to fully concentrate on improving my chess. There's no time to waste on trying to support my usual lifestyle as I think I have very little time to achieve my aim. So, I guess, I just have to remember how I survived on a budget in my student days. And those days were good fun... Perhaps, money doesn't matter after all!