Household Budget: Controlling Summer Spending
One of the things I have noticed over the years is how much more money I spend during the summer than at any other time of the year. Controlling summer spending is something that is hard to do, since there are so many things available to spend money on. Consider:
- Increased electric bill as the air conditioning is turned on.
- Family events and reunions lead to increased travel.
- Summer vacations.
- Activities for children who are out of school (day camp and the like).
- Eating out as the summer schedule messes up meal planning.
- Home improvement and yard projects.
There are some things that are a little cheaper. Fresh produce means less money spent on food, and the fact that our garden starts to yield its bounty is also helpful. But that savings doesn’t do much to offset the costs of summer spending.
One thing we have done is use personal finance software to take a look at our overall spending throughout the previous year. Then we average it out to a monthly amount. We set aside, in a high yield savings account, the “extra” money from our overall average. That helps reduce the impact of our increased summer spending.
Do you find you have to resort to budget tricks in order to offset summer spending?
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3 opinions for Household Budget: Controlling Summer Spending
Erica
Jul 8, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I save from not having air conditioning (and obviously not having very high heating bills in the summer). However, fresh produce costs a lot and, lacking a yard, I buy it at the grocery store. My dinners tend to be more elaborate, as I love to grill and get creative in the summer time.
Tips for saving? I love to spend the afternoon at the park with my son. It’s nice to be outdoors and best of all, its a free way to entertain yourself.
miranda
Jul 8, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Thanks for sharing! We like to grill as well during the summer. We do fish (sometimes we catch it ourselves!) along with chicken, beef and vegetables. Do you have a farmer’s market where the produce is cheaper?
We go to the park A LOT during the summer, and we have a nice little zoo nearby as well that doesn’t cost anything.
British Qualifications2 » Blog Archive » Lower Your Energy Costs: Alternatives to Air Conditioning
Jul 24, 2008 at 5:19 pm
[…] of the things I mentioned a few weeks ago was that summer is a time of increased expenses for many of us. One of the expenses we have is air conditioning. It gets hot, so you turn it on. However, in this […]
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