Summer Time Budget

We are just back from our family vacation – great weather and very relaxing, thanks for asking – and it got me to thinking about how summer time can bust your budget. During the summer, your routine is tossed aside. You find yourself going out to eat more, catching more movies, buying more souvenirs than you need, signing up for multiple weeks of expensive camps, taking more spur of the moment day trips, and in general splurging on extras just because “it’s summer”!

However with some pre-planning you can turn summer into a great financial lesson for your kids and teens.

Teens can look into getting a summer job. Babysitting, camp counselors, life guarding at the local pool – are all great first jobs. Talk to your teen about how they will divide their paycheck into the 3 categories: spend, save and share. If taxes are being taken out of the paycheck, this is the perfect time to explain Uncle Sam’s cut. If they don’t already have a savings account, it’s a great time to set one up. If they already have a savings account, they might be ready for a high school checking account especially if you will be expecting them to use some of their summer earnings during the school year.

Summer camps can be expensive. And if your kids are like mine, they want to sign up for ALL the camps. A good rule is to decide up-front on your camp budget and then talk with your child about choosing which camp or two will fit the budget. If they really want to go to the extra camp then tell them that they will have to pay for it from their budget. Another idea is you can split the cost of a camp with them. You will find out quickly which camps they REALLY want to attend if they have to spend their own money!

Once on vacation, we all tend to overspend on souvenirs. BEFORE you leave on vacation, have your kids and teens decide on how much they want to spend on gifts and mementos. Have them bring their own money on vacation. When my kids were younger, I had them save part of their weekly allowance to take on vacation and then I matched their saved amount. It was amazing to see them save up and then decide not to spend it once on vacation. The plastic souvenirs didn’t hold their charm against their hard earned savings!

Most importantly – relax and have a great summer with your family – make lots of memories!