Better Financial Health in 15 Minutes (or less!)

Fun Funds: How to Enjoy Summer Without Breaking the Bank

• Stacey Hyde

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Summer should bring joy, not financial stress. Yet most Americans find themselves spending an extra $2,000 during these sunny months—not on planned vacations, but on the accumulation of small expenses that quickly snowball.

In this practical financial guide, we dive into the major "summer budget busters" that threaten your financial health: unexpected travel costs, children's activities while school's out, skyrocketing utility bills, and the constant stream of social events. Rather than avoiding summer fun altogether, I share actionable strategies to plan ahead and create what I call a "Fun Fund"—a dedicated savings approach that allows for spontaneity without the regret of post-summer credit card debt.

Discover creative alternatives that maximize enjoyment while minimizing costs. From community concerts and strategic potlucks (like my friend's brilliant paella party solution) to house-swapping and becoming a tourist in your own region, there are countless ways to create meaningful summer experiences without breaking the bank. I challenge listeners to try the "$100 weekend" competition with friends—who can create the most memorable experience on a limited budget?

The key takeaway isn't about spending less; it's about spending smarter. By planning ahead, focusing on value rather than cost, and being intentional with your summer dollars, you can create lasting memories without the financial hangover. Because your summer experiences will be much sweeter without a lingering credit card balance following you into fall. Ready to transform your approach to summer spending? Listen now and set yourself up for both fun and financial health this season.

Envision Financial Planning. 5100 Poplar Avenue, Suite 2428, Memphis, TN 38137. (901) 422-7526. This communication is strictly intended for individuals residing in the United States. Advisory Services offered through Envision Financial Planning, a Registered Investment Adviser.

Speaker 1:

Hi, stacey Hyde and I'm back with another episode of Better Financial Health in 15 minutes or less. And what I'd like to talk about today is the great summer budget busters and how you can beat them. Because did you know that the average American spends over $2,000 every summer? That's not like a big trip, that's just like extra stuff, summer activities. So what I want to talk about today is how you can enjoy your summer and maybe steer clear of some of these budget busters or, even better, plan for them.

Speaker 1:

So common culprits travel. Of course we know that airfare, hotels, eating out that sort of thing, kids are out of school, you've got camps, maybe babysitters going to the ice cream store all those types of things can go up also your utility bill, because you know where I live in Memphis it gets hot, so you know we run our AC all the time Social events, barbecues, weddings, general get togethers. Maybe you join your local like the Germantown Athletic Club in the summer, so you've got a membership for that. If you can go back and look at what you spent last year right now, as we're just getting started in summer, so you can sort of see what you spent and make sure you're prepared for that that's one way to kind of start planning ahead, see what you did before and then set up a seasonal budget. Budgeting is not just for Christmas or retirement, it's planning for these things and have a fun fund. That's kind of hard to say fast three times. What I mean by that is you know we always talk about an emergency fund, but let's have a fun fund. So put some money in there for concert tickets, a weekend getaway, whatever it is. Maybe it's something special you wanted to do with your kids or your parents. You know you can use an app for this or you can just kind of plan it out and use the old Dave Ramsey envelope system with cash.

Speaker 1:

So there's some alternatives you can do. You can look for free things. You know free outdoor concerts. The Overton Park Shell has a lot of free concerts that you can go to. There's festivals, there's things like that that you can do.

Speaker 1:

And instead of hosting a big event at your house, maybe do a potluck where everybody brings it, because providing burgers and hot dogs and all the sides and all the fruit and all that can get really expensive quickly. But if everybody kind of kicks in, it's not so expensive. For example, we have a friend who makes wonderful paella. Well, that's a really expensive item. Well, we're having a paella party and everybody's going to kick in at the cost of all the seafood. She's going to contribute her labor and then everybody else is bringing some desserts, some sides, their cocktail of choice, and it'll just be a fun event that is not very expensive for anybody but everybody's getting some fabulous food. So that's one way to do it.

Speaker 1:

The other thing is you can house swap. If you've got a friend who lives in another area and you want to visit there, maybe y'all can swap your houses or do something along those lines. Or you can keep an eye out for little weekend getaways. So instead of flying and doing a big event, you just maybe stay closer to home or even have a staycation where you become a tourist in your own town or your own area. That can be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1:

And I want to kind of talk about the difference between spending money and getting value. There's all kinds of ways that you can maximize your value and it really depends on what you enjoy. You don't need to necessarily have the big beach vacation, because going to the beach right now is pretty expensive and there's a ton of people there. So maybe what you really want to do is maybe go to a lake and sit there, because really all you want to do is be able to see water and read a book or something like that. But if the beach is your thing, that's fine, just make sure you plan for it. So here's hoping that your summer is super fun and also financially healthy and really do enjoy that fun fund, because I promise you your summer memories will be much better remembered if you also don't have a big credit card balance to get over come next May that you're still trying to pay off this year's vacation. So it really is just planning ahead and setting aside money to do what you want to do. And here's a challenge take a hundred dollars and challenge, uh, maybe, another family or friend to see who can do the most on a hundred dollars in a weekend, and I think you could have a lot of fun with that, like, okay, we spent. You know you set your ground rules, what's included, what's not included and see who gets to do the most things for that.

Speaker 1:

One other tip for those in the Memphis area a zoo membership can be a great value for a family, because going to the zoo one time and paying for everybody to go can be pretty expensive. You basically pay for your zoo membership in two visits and I can remember when my kids were little we went all the time and we'd go for like an hour or two. They didn't have to go for a long time because we had a membership and we'd get the kids out of there before they had a meltdown. So that was fun to go in the early morning. It was also fun to go kind of late in the day if we hadn't done much during the day. So there are some memberships that can really help you stretch your vacation dollars as well. Thanks for tuning in. This has been another episode of Better Financial Health in 15 Minutes or Less.