Seasonal Budgeting

Tina and Brad

07.15.09 10:53pm

This is something I have thought about a lot. Back in May, I addressed the issue of summer budget pitfalls in one of our blog posts. For us, the summer months are our trickiest time of the year, and here is my reasoning. We know exactly what we need money for in winter--the holidays are the same time every year and as of this year, we save a bit out of each paycheck for our Christmas fund. It won't be a huge amount of money, but it will be more than sufficient (our kids truly do not need anything, anyway--they are blessed with more than they know what to do with from the rest of our family!)

As for summer--I think the biggest thing for us is the feeling of celebration that comes when the weather is warm! In the past, I have pretty much thrown caution to the wind as far as a budget--everything from dinner out, trips to the fair, weekends away, waterslides...you name it! I used to believe we had to take advantage of what can be done when the sun is out, whether we've budgeted for it or not. And nearly all of the time we "had not". I would say that this attitude is pretty strongly ingrained in me, so it's been a real adjustment for me to rein in the spending this summer.

So...where is our middle ground? I think we are stopping to appreciate the simple things (and a slower pace) much more. The local fountain/spray park is free--we pack a picnic but bring money for the ice cream truck. Yes, we'll go on a camping adventure--but probably just once instead of two or three trips. We still leave some room to be spontaneous for family or friend get-togethers, but if it's an activity that's too much money to fit in our game plan, we either don't do it or it gets postponed until we can fit it in.

The best part is, though--is that making choices is empowering, as opposed to depressing! To really pick and choose what activities are important to us as a family DOES mean some sacrifices, but it has been a really valuable process for us to go through.

Tina