4 Important Summer Money Management Tips You Need to Know

1. Have “the” talk

To start I’m going to have “the talk” with my husband about what his expectations are for the summer. I’ll ask him what he thinks sounds fun and what kinds of trips he wants to go on. The answers can help us manage those expectations and how to fit them into our budget.

I have a few expectations, too, such as house projects. I’d love to finish replacing the doors in our house this summer and do a lot of painting and I know that we will have to budget for that. I’m also dreaming about a family photo shoot and that can get a little pricey, too.

But if we start planning for it now, we could be ready for it by the end of the summer. Once we talk, we’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t work in our budget.

2. What can I subtract from the budget?

My summer budget starts in June because that’s when school ends and it gets kind of wild. So we have three months to budget for in the summer: June, July, and August. So I can at least subtract my preschool payments.

Maybe you can subtract other kinds of kids’ activities, such as sports or dance that don’t happen during the summer. The power bill will also be lower until we start paying for air conditioning. But we’re not using heat in the summer, so that helps.

3. What do I need to add to the budget?

This includes our travel expectations and kids’ summer activities such as day or overnight camps. For example, I’m hoping to build into the budget some swim lessons for my kids.

Travel

For travel, we also normally visit my parents, so I need to budget for the gas for that trip. We also need to think about reservations for camping trips we plan to take as a family or Airbnb reservations for other trips. You’ll also want to think about how much time off work will you lose and how will taking days off affect your budget.

Food

I also want to prepare our budget to allow for some extra fun food during our trips so I’m not tense about blowing our food budget. I’ll have to add to smaller special events, like backyard barbecues. So I’m going to leave some extra wiggle room for some food that might need to be purchased for these fun get-togethers.

4. Put your dreams together with your budget

You’re writing out your budget, editing it, and then finalizing it. If you have last year’s budget, see if you can find any unexpected things that you accidentally spent money on and think about whether that will happen this year.

Ask yourself where you went over budget and why and then how you can be more prepared this season.

5. Use a circle chart

I use a circle chart so I’m not blindsided by my expenses. I can see what's coming up because I have them all written in the chart. I can see holidays, too. I write down travel plans there. I write down doctor’s appointments that we’ll try to do during the summer.

Summer money management

I hope these summer money tips were helpful to budget for your own fun in the sun. What activities and dreams are you hoping to achieve this summer? Let me know in the comments if there are other tips that help you budget during the summer.