This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #SummerIsForSavings #CollectiveBias #WFM2
You all know I am right in the midst of a serious overturn of my finances. I wrote all about the beginning of budgeting and my grocery budget here. What about making room in the budget to have fun with your spouse or family? I think it’s important to make room for these things, and the best way is to find other bills or areas to cut back!
Here are 5 Ways to Budget in Summer Fun! If you can think of more, please be sure to leave them as a comment below!
- Cut the things you can live without.
- Negotiate the bills you can.
- Switch providers for a better deal.
- Reevaluate your budget for other things.
- Keep track of your spending closely.
Cut the things you can live without.
For me, it was beauty subscription boxes and cable. They just got the boot! I was purging money at the end of the day, and I didn’t even realize it until I put it all on paper! We traded cable for a few subscriptions we like for television and music, and it’s only $20 per month instead of the $50+ we would pay with cable!
As for beauty subscriptions, I thought they were so fun at first, but after years of having them, I realized that I was just accumulating a bunch of junk I didn’t need or use. I would rather buy a few products a year to try than continue to purchase things just to try! You can always go get samples at beauty stores, and they are FREE! No joke, there was once a time when I was spending every bit of $45 per MONTH on these boxes. They add up! Just say no, and put the money saved into an account for summer fun!
Negotiate the bills you can.
There is no shame in calling up companies to negotiate the prices you are paying. Sometimes, they will have updated rates that work in your benefit, and sometimes they will be willing to accommodate your requests to retain a long-time customer.
Whenever I tell my friends or family to do this, they always ask what to say. My advice is to just be honest. Here’s an example of what I’ve said when I call in:
“Hi, this is Brittney, and I am working on my budget currently. I’m realizing that I am over budget when it comes to (cable, phone payment, etc.) and I would like to see if there are other options in regard to getting my payment down.”
Most of the time, the honesty has worked, but if they are stubborn or insist there isn’t anything they can do, usually saying you are considering switching because ABC company offers a better deal will work! I like to use that as a second option, but it’s usually a sure-fire way to get them to negotiate.
Switch providers for a better deal.
This really goes along with the bill negotiation, but if you just can’t get the price to where you need it to be, SWITCH! For me, my cell phone bill is one I am always trying to lower.
Reevaluate your budget for other things.
Admittedly, it’s hard to stop spending on things you’ve been so used to spending on. We recently drastically reduced our Restaurant budget from $250+ per month to only $40! This allows us one decent meal or a few quick meals. We don’t get alcohol when we go out on our budget, because it’s costly! We have been sticking to a $50/week budget for groceries, found a way to negotiate with friends and family to agree on small budget for gifts or no gifts at all!
All the money we are saving on unnecessary or tangible THINGS, we will be able to put toward a vacation for the future, summer home improvement, or putting into our FUN money account to have a bit of summer good times!
Keep track of your spending closely.
I am the first to admit that I like to go rogue and spend frivolously, thinking little of the consequences. I would spend and spend and not look at my accounts, because if I didn’t look, nothing was wrong, right?! Wrong. It all adds up. Now, I’ve got a spreadsheet that tracks every penny going in, coming out, being saved, etc. It’s been tremendously helpful to check and update daily, and I promise you, it will help save money too!
I made my spreadsheet for free using Google Sheets, which is super easy to use. Let me know if you’d like a sample of my budget and I can share it with you!
This was seriously so helpful, great post!
Thanks! I hope you had a good take-away!
I’m doing this right now, well for the past couple of weeks. Been trying to think of ways to budget not only in the summer but all year long. However, short term goals lead to long term goals so it’s best to do seasonal. Thanks for this post.
You’re right, it’s important to budget throughout the year for whatever you need. I have another post coming up soon that shows my big, excel budgeting sheet and how I save for things throughout the year to get me through birthdays, holidays, seasonal, etc. Good luck with your budgeting!
I struggle with 3 so much. Once I’m committed, its hard to let go. Thanks for these tips!
Oh, I know! It’s so hard, but you’ve got to do what’s best for your wallet! Weigh the pros and cons of switching and you’ll easily know what’s best for you!
These are really helpful tips! I definitely have to look at my subscriptions, too. It can be so easy to not realize what they add up to every single month. Switching providers is another great one. I love your advice for what to say to the companies to get a better deal #client