Money-Smart Mom Says These Five Things Will Save Your Summer Budget
It doesn't have to cost $100 every time you leave the house.
Summer is rapidly approaching! This means carnivals, ice cream trucks and trips to the zoo are imminent — not to mention dining out four times a week because it’s just nice out and we don’t want to cook!
Suddenly, it’s mid-July, and we’re way over budget. It happens! The magic of summer takes over!
One mom on TikTok wants to help all of us moms who tend to get a little carried away with the summer fun (that also happens to cost a pretty penny) with five easy things parents can do to save money this summer.
Money mentor Elyse explains that with just a few changes, summer doesn’t have to be so...spendy.
“If you're a mom, and you are already dreading summer because you know that you're just going to like, spend money over and over and over again, and it's going to be so expensive. I got you because we're not blowing the budget this summer. We're hitting our big financial goal still,” she begins.
“So here's five things we're going to do this summer to save money. Number one, we are packing a lunch, snacks, drinks everywhere we go. Get a cooler, find one at a thrift store, get that cooler and pack it every single day. We are taking the, ‘We have food at home’ to ‘We have food in the car.’ The major exception. of course, being: I will always have money in the budget for ice cream. We can get ice cream on the way home.”
Second, Elyse is all about the park, whether a national parks or the one down the street.
“I live in Nebraska, and we have a lot of state parks available within driving range of where I live, but I think it's like $34 to get a state park sticker for the entire year in Nebraska ... it gives you access to so many other resources and so many places to go, but also just regular parks in general. We're going to the park. It's 8 a.m. Parks are always open, at least most of them,” she said.
Next up, Elyse wants you to put on your hostess hat.
She continued, “Number three: we are inviting friends over for meals. We're not going out for dinner. It's expensive. We don't need it. We are exercising our hospitality muscle this summer. Invite them over for coffee or tea or a meal or snack.”
“Number four: We are wearing last summer's clothes, or we're finding secondhand. We are done consuming just to consume. Maybe this means I'm getting old but I am not following the summer's trend just because last summer's trend was slightly different. I'm not spending money on new clothes if the ones from last year already fit,” she said before listing her last money-saving tip.
“Number five” a hose and a sprinkler or splash pads are the way to go. I see so much pressure on social media, especially for moms to buy the big bounce house or the big pool or all the things. My kid's three and he played in a puddle for 45 minutes yesterday. Some of my best memories are with a hose and a sprinkler.”
This list is totally reasonable and doable, especially the last one! My daughter will play for hours in her little splash pad I got at Aldi, or if we’re feeling adventurous, there are three or four free splash pads in our town.
After Elyse’s video went viral, several other parents commented with their own summer money-saving hacks.
“Our go-to is uncrustables, take it out of freezer and good by lunch time 😌 the library is also a great place to go! Rain or shine. Ours has events, play areas, and storytime,” one mom wrote.
Another said, “Nj here I got a zoo pass for my family (it’s a year and equal to 2 visits) and a beach badge will be doing that and sprinkler parks all summer”
Others suggested joining their town’s local “Buy Nothing” group which are typically on Facebook. This is a platform where people living near each other can offer up clothes, toys, and other items, for free!
Summer doesn’t have to break the bank or derail any sort of savings plan. There is plenty to do for free all summer, but remember, there’s always budget for ice cream!
