Summer expenses to start budgeting for now
Summer is just around the corner, and while we're all mentally planning beach trips and patio drinks, our bank accounts are quietly dreading what's coming.
In this episode, we break down those sneaky seasonal expenses that somehow surprise us every single year. From al fresco dinners out to wedding travel costs, we're getting real about our own summer spending habits. Spoiler: We both spend more this time of year!
Not only do we help you plan for what’s coming, we also cover practical strategies to enjoy summer for less.
Episode Highlights:
[00:02:00] Why Emily's fun money mysteriously vanishes during patio season
[00:03:00] Cassidy's YNAB revelation: May/June = most expensive month for 3 years straight
[00:05:00] "Summer Slippers" – those little expenses silently draining your account
[00:08:00] Travel, weddings, and the pet-sitting costs we always forget to budget for
[00:12:00] The real cost of keeping kids entertained all summer long
[00:13:00] Freelancer alert: preparing for the summer income slump
[00:18:00] Napkin math and creative budget-trimming for summer splurges
[00:21:00] How to score summer gear without the sticker shock
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Transcript
Emily: Are you drowning in money questions but too embarrassed to ask? Tired of scrolling endlessly through conflicting financial advice that leaves you more confused than when you started? Welcome to the Finance Girlies podcast, your cozy corner for all things finance. I'm your host, Emily.
Cassidy: And I'm your host, Cassidy. We're both finance writers for brands like Forbes Advisor, USA Today Blueprint, and Yahoo Finance. Throughout our careers and personal lives, we have come to one realization. When we keep our money worries to ourselves, we end up feeling alone.
That's why each episode, we tackle those burning questions you've been afraid to ask with no judgment, no jargon, just real talk about real money. Ready to finally get answers? Let's dive in.
Okay, girlies. Welcome back to episode 21 of the Finance Girlies podcast. Today we are [00:01:00] talking about sneaky summer expenses to start budgeting for now from beach trips to babysitters. Here's what might be hitting your wallet this summer, because if you're like us, you love a good seasonal money check-in, and with summer just around the corner, we're already seeing a lot of these little expenses start to pop up in our own lives.
Emily: So today we're talking about all the summer costs you might want to prep for now, whether it's day trips, weddings, unpaid time off, or that, “how is my power bill this high?” moment.
Cassidy: We are also sharing some of the things we've forgotten to plan for in past summers, so you don't have to learn the hard way. But first, Emily, I wanted to ask, do you think that you spend more in the summer? Like if you had to gut check it?
Emily: I do think we spend more in the summer, especially when it comes to like our fun money. For example, we definitely eat out more in the summer. Just 'cause it's, like, nice to go hang out on patios and take advantage of the nice weather. Another thing we spend more on in the summer is [00:02:00] probably travel, like going on weekend trips and like, gas too. Driving to the beach, things like that.
And then we also just, I think because of where we live, we tend to have a lot of guests in the summer. So spending on like, fun things, when we have people visiting. Yeah, I would say just like trying to take advantage of the beautiful summer and like, knowing it's not gonna last very long is like a reason that we spend a little more. But there are also categories where I feel like spending is the same, like no real change. Like I don't really think we spend more on groceries in the summer or clothes or gifts or anything like that. I think that probably evens out. But yeah, definitely, like, the eating out and travel. Those categories get a little bigger in the summer.
What about you?
Cassidy: Yeah, I was just looking at my YNAB because I honestly wasn't sure, like my gut would be to say, yeah, I think we do spend more in the summer, but I really didn't know. Anyway, I [00:03:00] looked back at YNAB and the answer is yes. Actually, for the past three years, it looks like May or June has been our most expensive month, spending-wise, of the whole year.
And I think that's been for a few reasons. So first, like for the past three summers, we have taken, like, a bigger international trip somewhere. So of course like, paying for that adds up. But then last summer, we also moved to a new place, which I feel like a lot of people, especially if you rent, do tend to move in the summer-ish months. It's not always the case, but, we do rent. So we ended up moving and we had to pay like, a new security deposit, new like first month's rent, and then we had to pay for movers, and then we moved into a bigger place and replaced some of our older furniture. So like, just furnishing the place and getting it up to order was also a little more expensive.
So all of that added up. But then in general, too, I think I was someone who grew up in Georgia, lived in Georgia for a while, where really it's just like hot most of the year. So I don't really think I looked forward to summers the way that I [00:04:00] do here living in the Pacific Northwest, where it's like, you go through such a like dreary, damp winter and all of that stuff. So when summer rolls around, you are of the mindset of I'm gonna soak in every single moment of the sunshine and these longer daylight hours and all of this stuff. So since living here, I do find myself spending more in summer in that regard. ‘Cause I'm like, I wanna take more day trips. I wanna go eat out on more patios. I wanna go like, get more iced coffees. And like you really do just wanna be outside soaking in the weather. I'm gonna take more trips to the ice cream shop so I can like, walk home while eating my ice cream and like, feel the sun on my face. All of those things. So I think that does add up, but there are also things as we'll get into where I don't really feel like we spend more on.
Like, if I was living in Georgia, for example, I would say 100% our electricity bill would be sky high during the summer because it's just so hot. But in the Pacific Northwest, we actually don't have air conditioning, but we do have central heating. So like, our heating [00:05:00] is actually a lot more in the winter.
And then in summer you don't have air conditioning, so you're just like, opening up the windows more. So it's actually less so, I don't know that, that's like my initial gut
Emily: Yeah. I also live somewhere with a lot of summer tourism and so this is probably the case other places too, but there's just like so much going on in the summer, like events and festivals and concerts, and fun runs, and like, all sorts of things. So I feel like every weekend there is an opportunity to spend money and a lot of times it's really, it's like a really fun thing.
So, that is the challenge, I don't know if that's the right word, but the challenge we're talking about today.
Cassidy: Yeah.
Emily: Okay. So. For the first segment of our episode today, we're calling this the summer slippers, which are expenses that slip through the cracks because they feel small or unexpected.
So some examples of these might be Cassidy, like you said, more iced coffee stops, outdoor happy hours, impromptu [00:06:00] patio dinners, or farmer's market hauls. That's a big one. Extra gas for spontaneous day trips, weekend getaways and Airbnb rentals, parking fees, entry fees for parks, beaches, etc. And then there are also like those seasonal shifts.
So like we're talking about, maybe if you live somewhere hot, you're paying higher utility bills for air conditioning. Maybe you need some new summer clothes like outdoor gear, camping gear, swimsuits, sandals, etc. Then if you have, like, a garden or a lawn, you might be paying for lawn care or gardening supplies, or landscaping, things like that.
Cassidy: Yeah, I feel like the summer clothes one specifically might be a big one if you have kids that are just like wearing out of things very quickly, but also just changing sizes very quickly. You might roll around to summer and be like, I bought new swimsuits and sandals and all of that stuff last year, but now we need new sizes.
So just thinking through all of that.
Emily: Mm-hmm.
Cassidy: So those are like a bunch of small expenses. [00:07:00] I also love the idea of a, like summer slippers, like little expenses that are just slipping through the cracks, because the flip side of that is money leaks, which I talked about a good bit, and I think we've talked about too. Where like a money leak is this reoccurring expense that's kind of like draining your budget, but you don't realize it because you're not really using it. Like maybe it's a subscription that you don't really use. So it's just like quietly leaking a little bit of money outta your budget and you don't notice.
But I love the idea of a slipper being like, this is an expense that just slipped right through those cracks, and I didn't even see it coming. It's just, it's so funny to me. I want that to be part of my, like personal finance vocabulary. Like what, what, slippers are coming up?
Emily: I know.
Cassidy: Yeah. But in addition to summer slippers, they're also just bigger summer expenses and these things feel very obvious, but still maybe need some planning, because they can derail your budget fast.
So. If you're someone like Emily and I who are traveling more in the summer, this might [00:08:00] be things like flights, road trip gas, hotels, but also if you have pets, you may need to hire a pet sitter or board your pet while you're going on these trips. And then also just like extra meals and snacks for the road. And then vacation, fun money 'cause of course you're gonna be spending money while you're on vacation.
Do you see any of these coming up that you typically plan for, like for the summer?
Emily: Yes. So last summer we ended up traveling for three different weddings, and none of them were local to us. So two of them were road trips and one of them was a flight that we actually turned into a vacation since we were heading across the country anyway. But those were things we were budgeting for, you know, probably early in the year to be ready to pay for them in, you know, June and July.
Luckily, like, one of those weddings, we were able to stay with family and keep costs down, but we did have to like, plan ahead and book some hotels, and expenses for some of [00:09:00] those weddings really did add up.
Cassidy: Yeah, for any of them, did you end up spending more for the wedding than you thought you would?
Emily: Probably…
Cassidy: Yeah.
Emily: For the wedding, maybe not. I think we did a pretty good job budgeting for the weddings, but that one that we did kind of turn into a bit of a, a vacation, we might have spent a little more than we planned, but I think for the most part we have a decent system down for budgeting for those vacations.
But yeah, it was interesting like, to plan a vacation slash wedding — financially plan for that because, do the flights go into our travel budget or are we considering this like a gift? 'Cause we're traveling for a wedding? So anyways, it just got a little complicated with like, how are we categorizing these things?
But the important thing definitely was just the fact that we were planning ahead and calculating, you know, how much we're gonna need in total for this entire trip.
Cassidy: Yeah. I'll also say something that I have not budgeted for travel-wise for a while now that I have to [00:10:00] start budgeting for again, is pet sitting. Because before we moved last year, we had lived in the same place for five and a half years. And from the beginning we just traded off cat sitting with our neighbor.
We have two cats. She had two cats. So we would just watch each other's cats whenever we needed. And it was free. And maybe we would get each other like a little gift if we had gone on vacation somewhere. Just as a thank you. And that resulted in like a lot of savings. And then we moved here and have hired a pet sitter a few times, who is absolutely lovely, love her to death. But it is just like an added expense that I'm like, oh yeah, even if we go somewhere for, I don't know, three, four days, like it might end up costing at least another a hundred dollars or something, to, to get someone to stop and check on the pets. So that is. One for me that I'm just like, I used to not have to budget for you, but now I do.
Emily: Mm. Yeah. We recently have like traded pet sitting with family members and that is a huge money saver.[00:11:00]
Cassidy: Mm-hmm.
Emily: But it's hard on—
Cassidy: Especially around the holidays, like if you're hiring a pet sitter for the holidays, like then they have holiday rates, which let me be clear, like they, they deserve to get paid extra on the holidays because they are taking time away from their time with family or whoever to watch your pets. But still, I'm like, it just, you know, an $5 or $10 a day for a holiday rate adds up.
Emily: Yeah, and I will say it's hard to find pet sitters, especially in the summer. It just seems like everyone's traveling or everyone has other things going on. So that's an added challenge.
Cassidy: Yeah, for sure. So yeah, travel is one big summer expense. And then as you alluded to with your… the fact that you went to three out of town weddings last summer. Weddings and just other events in general are such a big one because not only do a lot of them involve travel, which feeds into the last one, but also, a lot of times you're buying gifts. You might be needing an outfit, there might be bachelorette or bachelor parties tied to these things.
And then also if you're in the wedding, or even if you're not, [00:12:00] you know, you may need to get like your hair done, your nails done, new shoes, all of that stuff. So those expenses can add up as well.
And then if you have children all of those expenses add up. Like your kids may be going to summer camp. You may be having to hire like babysitters or nannies. There may just be like, extra daytime meals and snacks if your kids are home from school, and then also other activities, like maybe you wanna sign your kid up for like an art class, or they're taking a sport in the summer, or they just need things to do at home to prevent them from being bored.
All of those expenses add up. I would, I would argue that even if you're just like hiring the teenager next door to, to watch your kid for a few hours, like those are still expenses that you're probably not accounting for as much while they're in school.
Emily: Yeah, definitely.
Another consideration for summer budgeting is thinking about how your work and income might change over the season. So this might be especially relevant for freelancers, teachers who have summers off [00:13:00] and just anyone with a regular or seasonal income.
So some things you might wanna consider are, will you take time off in the summer, and will that time off be paid? Does your client work slow down? And are you prepared for that financially? And then if you want to take more time off in the summer and maybe like design your work schedule around that, what do you have to do now in order to make that happen?
Cassidy: Yeah, I can chime in with a story here. I have been freelance riding full time since March, 2019. And for the first few years, like, I did not even consider, like, seasonal shifts in work. And I think that's partly because, my spouse has a W2 job that, you know, looks the same week-to-week. And also I don't have any kids who are being out for summer or anything like that.
So for the first few years I was like, I kind of not forgot that summer existed, but it just didn't factor into how much I worked in May, June, July, August at [00:14:00] all. And then over the years I would see people who were doing more stuff in the summer. And I would be like, man, it would be so nice to like, have that break in the summer that looks so fun. Like look at all these people able to do all of this stuff because they're not working so much in the summer.
But I still didn't like give myself permission as my own boss to like, build that in for myself as a freelancer. And it wasn't until I met one of our dear friends, Katie, who takes like every single summer off from freelancing to be with her kids and like, she and her spouse and her kids just like, go on these cool road trips in the summer and, you know, read by the pool and just do all of this fun stuff.
So she like, built into her freelance business from the very beginning that she was gonna take every single summer off. And then she like, prepares for that financially during the year.
And then also I met you and I feel like you were so intentional just about scaling back during the summer so you could focus on everything else that you wanted to do, like your passions and your hobbies, and [00:15:00] just getting outside more and really soaking up everything summer has to offer.
It wasn't until you two came into my life that I was like, oh, maybe I can be more intentional and change my work schedule a little bit and prepare for slower months in the summer by choice so I can like, have more fun too. And last summer was the first year that I really did that. I intentionally scaled back and it was so relaxing and it felt so good to give myself permission to like, spend more time on my hobbies to crochet more, to go on more walks, to read more books, to do whatever.
Yeah, and I have you two to thank for that. But it also feels really nice to be able to like, plan for that sort of thing by having like a bigger, maybe like, cash cushion in my business checking account so I can continue to pay myself the same amount and things like that.
But do you wanna share your experience with like, your income changing in the [00:16:00] summer as someone who is my inspiration for this?
Emily: Well, I wanna point out that I wonder if it's a coincidence that you like, called out me and Katie because we both live in cold northern climates and probably both have the same attitude towards summer, which is like, ya gotta enjoy it 'cause it's so brief.
But yeah, I, my kind of philosophy is like, I'm going to work through the summer, but trim down so I'm just doing like the bare minimum of what needs to happen. And I like to have my days end earlier. I think this summer for the first time, I'm gonna try to take Fridays off throughout the summer because my husband will be working four-day work weeks in the summer, and I want us to be able to have those long weekends together.
But yeah, I wouldn't say I have like a huge strategy or anything. It's more like I'm not seeking new clients, I'm not taking on any extra work, and so far that's worked for me. I haven't been like so busy ever going into the summer. I find that it naturally [00:17:00] slows down too. Which is helpful. But yeah, I love being able to like, be done earlier in the day and head to the beach. Like that is such a motivation for me to, to back off work.
And I think historically, like I have earned a less in the summer and I'm okay with that. But it is good to plan for it. Like once I kind of noticed that was the natural rhythm for both clients and myself of like what worked for me and what I wanted. Yeah, it just became something to plan for. Like you said, maybe that means saving a little extra heading into summer or planning, how you're gonna ramp up in the fall when summer ends to take on more work.
Obviously this is gonna look different for people like, for example, teachers, who I think some teachers actually don't get paid in the summer.
Like they're, contract dates end when the school year ends or when the semester ends. So in the case of like, not earning money throughout the summer, obviously that's gonna take a little bit more planning.
Cassidy: Especially on an [00:18:00] already probably stretched salary, you know?
Emily: Mm-hmm.
Cassidy: Okay, so next we wanted to go through just some summer budgeting strategies, kind of like some quick -fire tips or hacks if you're listening to this and you know that you have extra expenses coming up and you just want some help or tips for how to plan for those expenses. And I'll say that first and foremost, all of the expenses that you already know you're gonna have, my advice would be to like, run the numbers and do some napkin math to figure out just kind of like how much you're gonna be looking at, right?
So this could be, for example, say I was like, I know I have one like weekend trip coming up and I know that I have this cousin who's graduating college and I wanna get them a gift, and I know that my electricity bill is gonna probably be double what it was in winter, and I [00:19:00] know that my kid is gonna wanna go to the summer camp that costs a $1,000, whatever it is, kind of brain dump, all the expenses that you know that you're gonna have this summer and do some napkin math to figure out if you're on track to have everything covered or if you need to beef up any categories in your budget to cover those expenses.
So for example, maybe you need to start saving a little bit more in your utilities category to cover a higher electricity bill. Or you need to start adding a little bit more to your gift category to cover like upcoming graduation gifts or wedding gifts or baby shower gifts, or even Father's day gifts 'cause that happens in June.
Maybe you wanna start adding a little more to your vacation fund to cover weekend getaways for like 4th of July or Memorial Day, or any other weekend trips you have coming up. And then also if you have children maybe you'll wanna, like, if you have any categories in your budget for like clothing or activities or what have you, maybe you'll wanna beef those up a little bit more as well.
Emily: So [00:20:00] if you do the napkin math and find that your summer budget is a little bit higher than you want it to be and maybe is more than you have access to or think you'll be able to save, you might need to get creative with your budget and think about which categories you can slim down for the summer so you can reallocate that money to some of these more common summer expenses.
So, Cassidy, what ideas do you have?
Cassidy: The first thing that comes to mind, and this actually is spurred from a previous episode where you mentioned that after football season you and your husband will cancel the subscription that you have that gives you access to all of the like sports channels to save on that money. So my first thought is if you do have any subscriptions, like maybe you're watching less TV because you're out of the house more, or maybe you're exercising more out of the house so you can cancel your gym membership temporarily.
If there are any subscriptions or any just like discretionary funds that you can cut back on because you're doing [00:21:00] all of these other activities, that would probably be the easiest win. Is there anything that comes to mind for you?
Emily: Those were of the big ones for me. I also think it can be possible to spend less on groceries if you get creative. So I think naturally we tend to like, buy less meat in the summer and eat more like, veggie-heavy meals, and like really take advantage of seasonal produce. And I think if you do that in a smart way, there's room to trim your grocery bill, especially if you're willing to maybe eat vegetarian more nights a week. That's an area that comes to mind for me.
And then I think, kind of like you were saying. the easiest expense to cut down on just in general, I would say in the summer for me is like entertainment because there is so much, depending on where you live, there is so much to do outside and so many ways to like, enjoy the summer without spending money where I feel like that's a little bit trickier in the winter.
Another way, and I don't know if this would appeal to everybody, but [00:22:00] this is kind of the strategy that my husband and I take is like we'd rather spend money more often by like going out for a drink and like lingering on a patio and not necessarily buying dinner, but just like spreading out that budget a little bit more by like, maybe getting an appetizer and, having dinner at home or, or something like that. So that's another thing that we do. Or like even going out for lunch on a day trip instead of dinner is a bit cheaper. Things like that.
Cassidy: Mm-hmm. The other thought that I had was to get creative about some of the expenses you do have. For example, my brain is going to children, because you and I just talked about this the other day, where it's like instead of buying your kid books, for example, you could get books for free from the library, if your neighborhood has free little libraries, like you could go get books from those. But then also just in terms of like summer camps and summer activities, like you mentioned that a lot of parents, sign their kids up for the YMCA summer program because it's like the most affordable summer program in your [00:23:00] area. I don't know.
So like, if you're looking for something to do with your kids, for example, just trying to find those maybe cheaper alternatives that are still gonna create a space where they have a lot of fun and create a lot of good memories and all of that stuff.
Emily: Oh, something you said that made me think of an idea. My in-laws, so we have now three little nephews.
And so my in-laws go through like, you know, a lot of baby things and toys and things like that. And so they use, I think it's called Buy Nothing.
I've never used it, but it's almost like a Facebook Marketplace. But people just pass off things they're done with. I think everything is free to my knowledge. And so, they'll get essentially like hand, hand-me-downs from their neighbors of like, all kinds of outdoor toys and I don't know what else?
Cassidy: No, that's such a good point. Like the app Nextdoor.
Emily: Mm-hmm.
Cassidy: It's like a gold mine I think for people in your neighborhood who don't want stuff anymore, the Buy Nothing groups, but then also Facebook Marketplace, like if there's anything you're eyeing to buy this summer, don't pass up on Facebook Marketplace.
And Emily just used [00:24:00] Facebook Marketplace yesterday.
Emily: Got me a bike.
Cassidy: Yeah.
Emily: So that's my summer splurge.
Cassidy: Mm-hmm. And you ended up paying like 30% of what this bike would cost. Brand new.
Emily: Mm-hmm.
Cassidy: That’s like a crazy good deal.
Emily: That's a great uh, resource. I feel like people really you know, it's like the time of year where everyone's spring cleaning, garage sales are another idea, like same idea, but it's a great time of year to like get some second hand new toys for kids and new toys for you, new bikes you know, that kind of stuff.
Cassidy: Yeah. One of the like Facebook Marketplace finds that I'm most proud of is our dining room table, because I had spent so much time researching dining room tables and a lot of dining room tables are like, I don't know, $600 to a thousand dollars. Like they're all just so expensive. And I was like, there's no way I am gonna spend this much.
I ended up finding a dining room table for $20 on Facebook marketplace because the person was moving and needed it gone. Like I [00:25:00] picked it up the day she was moving and I did end up like restaining it and stuff. So maybe I spent like, I don't know, $30 in supplies to restain it, but. What a steal.
What a steal.
Emily: Yeah. If you're looking into any, like summer projects, Facebook marketplace is a good place for supplies too.
Cassidy: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So in that regard, I would almost brain dump everything onto a piece of paper that you like, wanna do, need to spend money on whatever. And then if it doesn't feel comfy, cozy, like you can do it. Try to think like, try to use some of these strategies to think outside the box, to be like, are there cheaper alternatives or is there a way for me to get the same thing that I want for less?
Emily: Yeah.
One more idea that I had. So we mentioned that like gifts can be a big part of your summer budget because of graduations and I dunno, a lot of people have anniversaries in the summer, Father's Day, weddings are a big one.
Gifts are also a good place where you can get creative with spending and maybe if you're crafty, creating some of these gifts [00:26:00] yourself if you are looking for ideas. We did an episode around the holidays about getting creative with gifts and how to keep them affordable. So if you need ideas, go give that episode a listen. But yeah.
Cassidy: Hey, I currently have three crochet projects going at the moment, and they're all gifts.
Emily: Nice.
Cassidy: So just to wrap up this, we hope it's got you thinking about some summer expenses that you may have forgotten about or may not have ever thought to, kind of like, plan for and budget ahead for. So whether you're soaking up every sunny day or just staying in with the AC cranked, we hope this episode helped you think about your summer budget and your summer expenses in a new way.
Emily: Yeah. And if you like this episode and think it could help out a friend, feel free to send them a link. And scroll through our other episodes. We have a few on budgeting, investing, and all kinds of money topics.
Cassidy: Yeah, and if you haven't subscribed yet, come hang out with us over on Substack. That's where every episode drops first. You can subscribe at [00:27:00] thefinancegirlies.substack.com. We'll see you next week.
