Tournament Savvy

The Savvy Life philosophy is to save on the things that aren’t important to you so you can spend on the things that are important to you.  An example of this philosophy was put into action by our family just yesterday.My husband Paul competed in a grappling tournament in San Jose, about 30 minutes from our home in Redwood City.  For anyone who has ever participated in a tournament or watched their kids compete, you know it’s a long, long, long day and at best, the food available for sale is going to taste terrible, be unhealthy and grossly overpriced.With that in mind, before heading out the door, I made sandwiches, packed fruit, almonds and a few treats for Dante.  Although he’s the most patient kid in the world, I knew the tournament would be pushing it for him, so I wanted to have a few items on hand that would be considered treats.Before we left, I also filled our water bottles.At some point during the day, I should have taken a picture of the line of 20+ people waiting to purchase nachos, chicken strips and other deep fried items.  Not only were they spending an average of $10, those competing were filling up on food not conducive to the best athletic performance.On top of all the other negatives, they also exchanged a good 15 minutes of their time just waiting in line.One of the things I didn’t think about until yesterday, is that because we brought our own food, we also got to eat what we wanted, when we wanted.  No line required.Eight hours later, we put the second half of The Savvy Life Philosophy into play, by going to one of Paul’s favorite Mexican restaurants for a celebratory dinner.  Interestingly, our bill at Sancho’s Taqueria was just 2/3 of what we would have spent at the tournament if we bought food there.By the way, before you congratulate me on how terribly organized I am in this one area, please know that it came by a long hard education.  Before Savvy (or as I like to call BS) I was one of the many, standing in line.