Will players be able to budget during lockout?

MARCO ISLAND, Fla. (AP) - Don't buy that car. Shorten that vacation. Eat at home.

Whatever they do, NFL players have been warned for years about the need to save and the importance of budgeting their money in case of a work stoppage.

Well, the lockout is here. As Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita says, “We've been hammering the point home for two years that you have to be careful and you have to be prepared,” and that players tell him they have made concessions.

One of those, Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Willie Colon, passed on buying his brother a new car, and is cooking more for himself than ever. Another, Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith, says players are forced too look more closely at their finances now.