Priorities

 I ran across this article on how to fit your jiu-jitsu training into your budget. Pretty good article.

My thoughts:
Make your training a priority. Usually, when I hear the excuse that someone cannot afford training, it's really because something else is a higher priority.

Find deals on your rash guards. Wal Mart and Target sell them for under $20 per article.

A good gi should be $100 or less, unless your specific school requires a specific gi.
* Often, if your studio requires a specific gi, then they are also the highest priced studio in the area or pretty darn close. So, if you were budget - conscious in the beginning, you wouldn't have wound up there. 
* Ask your instructor about a lower quality gi that would cost less than $100. If they permit, you can certainly get a good judo gi online for less than $100.

Ask your instructor about payment plans... but do not ask about "doing stuff for the studio" in lieu of payments. Really. They are tired of hearing it. In fact, your instructor knows that if you even ask this, there's less than a 1% chance of you even being in the school in 90 days, regardless of price.
Why is this the case? How does the instructor know this? See my first point for the answer.


In the end;
if you have picked up all the side jobs you can,
if you've cut every last luxury from your life,
if you've done everything in that article, in addition to my above suggestions, and you still have trouble making the payment...

Martial arts may not be for you at this stage of your life.
Get your shit together. Fix what's troubling you. It may or may not be a failure on your part, but get your end together in either event. Happen to life - quit letting it happen to you.


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