Just like the holiday season, summer brings a spike in spending!
Between vacations, activities like BBQs and baseball games, and back-to-school prep in August, it's easy to spend a lot without thinking about it much.
This is a good week to sit down and look at your calendar — and your budget! While some events may be spontaneous, you should be able to budget for a fun summer without burning through all of your savings.
Here are 5 tips to building a holiday budget and saving money that's easy on your wallet but still a lot of fun!
1. Take a look back! You might have some parties or beach weekends on your calendar already, but you should go back and look at your summer calendar from last year, too. It's a good way to remind yourself that your boss hosts a mid-summer pool party and you can't arrive empty-handed. You should also pull up your bank statements and credit card statements from last summer to remind yourself about expenses you incurred.
2. Adjust for inflation and gas prices. Inflation is still higher than the Federal Reserve's target of 2%, and gas prices have gone way, way up. Just about every item on your budget, including food and travel costs, will need to be higher this year, or you'll need to cut back.
3. Check for coupons and download the apps. The amusement park tradition that you started with your kids a few years ago is a lot of fun, but it's really expensive. Before you buy tickets this year (to that amusement park or to a baseball game, water park, minigolf or other activity), check for coupons through the organization's website, the local visitor's center and elsewhere on the web. There may be days of the week that are less expensive to attend, or you might stumble across discounts for being a veteran, AAA member, senior citizen or something else.
Also, you may already have cash-back websites like Upside, Ibotta or Rakuten on your phone, but a lot of stores offer additional coupons for downloading their app. Before you shop or go out to a restaurant this summer, check for discounts, loyalty rewards programs and more.
4. Share and share alike! If you're hosting a BBQ or other summer soiree, make it a potluck and ask people to bring specific items to help out. If you don't want to have people contribute, talk to neighbors or friends who also host summer events and see if you can split the cost of buying certain things in bulk for both events, like paper plates or food items. This is a good time to take advantage of memberships at BJs, Costco or another bulk purchase outlet.
5. Keep track of it! When you're out having fun, it's easy to whip out your debit or credit card, or pay on your phone. But when you get home at the end of the day, make sure you've kept track of your spending. Set aside time every week to review your spending and compare it to your budget, so you can make adjustments as needed if you're spending more than you had planned.
If you do spend more than you had planned, there are lots of ways to get back on track. The best way is to get back into those good habits you started the year with, like bringing your lunch to work and bringing food to your weekend outings, making your iced coffee at home and making sure your savings account and emergency fund remain fully funded.
We hope you have a fun-filled summer that doesn't break the bank! Remember, if you go through your budget and find things you want to talk to a financial adviser about, we're here for you! Just give us a call, stop by a branch or send us a message through online banking and we'll set up a meeting to discuss budgeting, saving, investing, retirement, your credit score or whatever you need to talk about.
Schedule a Consultation with a Certified Financial Counselor
