Your Budget Matters!

May 27, 2011

Categories: Free Articles

by Kevin Silva

Trading cards for cards gets boring all the time, you wanna know something? Besides trading? Traveling to a YCS and keeping a balanced budget! I wanted to solely introduce the budget factor in this article. Here is what the incomes and outcomes are.

Incomes:

Everything you make is an income, so add it all up and see how much you make to decide what you budget is going to be. Your job, the cards you sell, and whatever else you may do. Seeing how much income you make really decides what your going to do about your budget for cards, travel money which includes hotel, airfare, and gas money. When you sell your cards don't sell them to unknown companies that might keep your cards, not reply to any of your emails, or don't pay you for 2 months. Instead sell your cards to Alter Reality, they pay within 24hours when they receive the cards.

Outcomes:

Now that you know what you make or what you made, you can finally decide on what to spend they money on. Most people do not like to trave just to play a card game, but if you think your good enough you can easily do. Of course, there’s more to it then just showing up to a YCS, you must play it out, every single last move till their life points hit 0 of each round.

To many people in the world traveling is a luxury that only rich people can do. Well depending how you look at it that's true but, most of the time as long as you have a balanced budget you can do anything you want whenever you want. After all it is America we're living in. Give it a month or two to decide if your going to travel outside of your state because you have to be organized as a traveler and a player.

With the slow economy it’s hard to find money to travel to events, let alone at a decent cost. Jobs are scarce, money is tight, and bills pile up quick. Going to a YCS to have fun or do well is the general reason for going to events like this, but doing this comes as a cost. And in order to do it one has to make the money appear to make it happen. Traveling can add up real quick. First thought is just the cost to go to an event; $200, $300, or more. Eating out, traveling around by cab, hotel, it all adds up. What about new costs for decks; different synchros, Pot of Duality's, even cards from the newest set. Budgeting costs for things like these are important.

Granted going on trips like are great fun but they do come at a price. There are a ton of costs implemented into any trip to an event. Be it the next city or the other side of the country, a budget has to be set for these things. It’s nice to stay at an expensive hotel and eat at nice restaurants, but that’s how money disappears quickly.

When traveling, the first thing that should be looked for is a hotel that meets the persons/groups budget. Many times it’s cheaper to stay at a hotel a mile or two away and just take a cab back and forth, or even walk the mile. If it costs $100 a night to stay at or by the convention center and $50 a night to stay a mile away, that’s a 50% budget cut in hotel costs. Even if you spend $10 or $15 a cab ride back and forth to the convention center, it’s a 20-30% cut in price. And those hotels are more likely to have a free continental breakfast and/or free wi-fi. To cut food costs there are a few simple things.

First, try to avoid eating on site as it tends to be much more expensive. Try to eat some place a short walk away or even bring a snack to eat in the middle of the day. Buy water from a convenience store, as well as some other food to eat or snack on while at the hotel. Doing this tends to make a huge cut in food costs. This can turn a $20 meal into a $5 meal very quickly. Also, try to eat a more filling breakfast with more fiber to avoid mid day hunger. Cutting costs in the method of travel can be difficult. If it’s a shorter distance try renting a car or taking a train. Trains can be very cheap if tickets are purchase early enough and could save you quite a bit of money. Renting a car is a great option as well, because it avoids costly wear and tear on the owner's vehicle. If a parent with a free weekend is available, the cost of renting can be cheaper since rental costs are cheapest when the renter is 25 years or older. If flying is needed, check multiple airlines and make sure to book early. The earlier a ticket is purchased, the cheaper it is, up to a certain point. A few days could increase the cost anywhere from 0 to a few hundred dollars. One of the biggest money savers is staying or traveling with a group of people. A hotel, cab, rental car, pizza, and other things are much cheaper when split between several people than paid for by yourself.

Make sure it’s people you get along with or the results could be disastrous. Having to pay more because you need to be in a different hotel room, or have to take your own cab, or even a new way home can be costly. So make sure you know what you are doing ahead of time. There are other costs too, getting the cards for whichever deck option you choose. The biggest part of going to an even is deciding what deck to play. Try to decide as early as possible to avoid having to pay last minute prices. This also allows the player to find more expensive cards or find suitable replacements. Maybe you can’t afford the $30, $40, or even $100 cards. Try to find cheaper substitutes if you can. Sometimes it just takes a well thought out strategy or different idea to win or do very well. If you aren’t sure what cards you should have, try to get several different options, being prepared can save money. Try to get these cards as far in advance as possible; last minute cards cost more than cards picked up when they are cheap.

Sometimes changing to a different deck all together is a great option. Using a deck that only takes $200 or $300 can still win or do well at an event. Decks like frog monarchs don’t use cards like Pot of Duality or Solemn Warning generally. Gravekeepers or Hero Beat can do well by using a few substitutes for those cards. Replacing Pot of Duality with Upstart Goblin is generally not a good idea, but putting in something like Smashing Ground or some other card that flows in your deck can help you win many games. Solemn Warning can be replaced with Bottomless Trap Hole, Compulsory Evacuation Device, or any number of other cards. It is much easier to replace a card like that than it is to replace a card like XX-Saber Darksoul or Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En.

There is much to do when preparing to travel to an event, and generally money has to be saved up to do so. “Mom, can I have $500 to travel across the country?” This will not work for most people. Save hard through allowance or work to travel to an event so that you have enough money to do so and aren’t scavenging to pay for it last minute. Eating out less or ordering off the dollar menu can save a ton as far as going to events. Little things like that can save the money that is needed for traveling and it can add up very quickly.

Lastly, I can explain that when you go out to a YCS try your best to know your surroundings. It's always good to know family members in that state or country. I'm only trying to be helpful because some people need to be reminded of that. But joining or creating a team would help you tremendously. With that note, I'm going to take my leave and hope you learned a lot from this! thanks and remember,

Play hard or Go Home!

Alter reality Games Writer

Kevin Silva