Summer Savings: What I'm Doing

Summer is awesome as it usually means nicer weather and more travel. Of course that also means more spending if you are not careful. But summer does not have to equal spending. In fact, there are ways to do that normal summer fun stuff while saving!

For me, I like to travel. A lot. Seriously. That is how I got into so much debt. An easy way to cure that travel itch and save at the same time is what a lot of people are calling a "staycation."

Sure, there are a lot of things where you live that you can probably do. And you do not have to worry about hotel costs.

Luckily for me, I live within about 3 hours of 2 major cities as well as living in a major city myself. And my parents live 6 hours away in Nashville, which is 4 hours from Atlanta and other cities. Basically, I am saving money this summer by doing travel that involves zero hotel stays because hotels are expensive.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the zoo here in my city on a day that they offer half price admission to residents of this county. My local zoo allows you to bring in food and drinks. Total cost was $5 to park and $5 admission. And that was a whole day of fun!

My parents have a pool table in their home and I happen to find that fun. So, an upcoming weekend trip will be to their home. The only cost will be gas, which will total around $60 for the entire 3-day weekend.

Festivals are also a great way to have a good time close to home for little or no expenditure. Sometimes you have to pay a small fee to go in or park, but a lot of times you can find fee festivals.

So, for me, summer saving is just redefining the activities that define summer into things that are a bit easier on the wallet.


This post for the Summer Savings series for the Money Life Network