Summer Savings

With vacations, lessons, camps, and school shopping, it can be easy to break the bank during the summer. Here are a few tips for saving money in some areas so you can splurge in other areas that really are fun!

Vacations:

Vacations can be very inexpensive or very expensive. Not surprisingly, the kids won’t really care where you go or how much you spend, they most enjoy the quality time with you. With that in mind:

Try house-swapping. For a small fee you can look into a database of other people who are willing to swap with you. If you have kids, make sure the other people do too. It can save you tons of money on hotel bills and allow you to use a full kitchen to make meals that you can buy at a grocery store instead of eating out all the time.

Try taking a tour of your own town. If you had guests coming from a foreign country, where would you be sure to take them? Has your family even been to all those places?

Plan at least a couple of icebox meals every day. As kids we loved eating out of the cooler on trips. Our mom would always pack soda and snacks that we didn’t normally keep around the house and it made it even more fun. Grocery shopping in another place is always a fun experience too.

Go camping. You can save a bundle if you enjoy camping and you can almost always find a nice place to camp near major attractions like theme parks. Even if you have to buy all the gear, it usually costs less than a couple nights at a hotel.

Don’t buy extra insurance on the rental car. If you pay with a Mastercard or Visa, they usually cover the exact same incidents as the extra expensive insurance the rental car company will try to sell you. Check with your card company to be sure though.

School Clothes:

Although it is tempting to outfit your children with as many clothes as possible, it is better to only buy a few sets of clothes. Not only does it save you money on the clothes themselves, but it saves time and money on laundry later. Not only that, but it is very likely that your younger children will grow out of their clothes and shoes at least once before the year is up.

If you have a good thrift store near your home, you should check it out for at least the kids’ clothes. Often, children’s clothing shows very little wear and is fairly new compared to adult clothing.

If you have close friends or relatives with a child just a little older than yours, you can ask them to have their kids’ clothes after they are done with them. Most people are very understanding about the expense of clothes and would rather give them to you than to a thrift store anyway.

Buy with your child’s activities in mind. If you have a very active child (like most), avoid colors and fabrics that will stain or tear very easily. There is nothing more expensive than replacing clothing just a few days after only a couple of wears.

Don’t buy just for labels. If your older child just has to have the latest label, insist that he/she pay the difference between what you would normally buy and the cost of their must-have item. On the other hand, there are certain brands that hold up better than others, sometimes it is worth a couple of extra dollars to buy a shirt that won’t come apart at the seams after a few washes. Generally speaking, you can still easily find good bargains on quality made clothing if you look for them.

Utilities:

Get a programmable thermostat and set it to allow the house to get a little hotter during the day if no one is home.

Water plants and lawns at night so the water will have a chance to soak into the ground before the sun evaporates it.

Don’t over-water your lawn. Watering too frequently not only raises your water bill, but it makes it so the grass roots don’t go down as deep, making them susceptible to disease and drought.

Wash your dishes in the dishwasher, not by hand and fill it up before starting a load. Surprisingly, most newer dishwashers use less water than hand-washing.

Fix leaking fixtures and running toilets.