Save Up for Summer Spending Freeze Challenge

Save Up for Summer Spending Freeze Challenge

In June, I’m starting a full spending freeze.

A spending freeze means zero spending for the entire month, outside of things that you need to live (things that might be important… like your mortgage or electric bill).

Everything that is not essential to life gets cut: fun money, groceries, clothes, trips, toys, going out, anything that costs money at all… cut it all out on May 31st at 11:59 p.m.

Why do a spending freeze in June?

Well, I don’t know about you but summer is expensive! Between traveling, barbecues, vacations, fun things to do with kids, and everything else… summer is always expensive for my family!

In an effort to not touch any of my savings accounts the summer, I have decided to start a spending freeze on June 1st! If you are like me and find yourself at the beginning of the summer with a packed schedule, full weekends, and those fun things you want to do with the family and friends are all lining up… and so are the expenses, join me in a spending freeze! 

Related Post: 8 Ways to Stop Spending Money

It’s absolutely something that you can do.

Set a goal and go for it!

My goal is that by the end of this month I will have $500 saved up. Yes, I know I’m crazy! But that’s my goal. And it’s completely realistic too! If I don’t spend any money going out or on groceries, there’s that $500 right there! See? How easy was that! I know you can do it too!

This is also a great time to find some great side hustles that can bring in extra income to help you meet your goal for the month! My side hustles pay for my grocery bill each month (now, they’re paying for the electric bill, phone bill, and “fun” money also)!

Some ground rules.

Before you start the spending four years, and no going out and stocking up your refrigerator!

That right there is one of the things that I can’t stand about spending freezes! It’s completely counter-intuitive if you go out and buy double your budget in order to stock up for the month! I am positive that you have enough in your pantry and freezer to live off of!

Wait a second… I thought you said you were a “saver!”  

I am! And I’m also human!

The summer is really hard. We’re constantly doing things, we’re out later, and there’s so much fun to be had that a lot of times, the idea about having fun is more important than the idea of trying to stay on budget.

Planning and organizing is a lot more difficult in the summer. A lot of times, plans change because of the weather, or sometimes it’s a better day to go to the aquarium then it will be to go to a farm. It’s not impossible to plan and to stay on budget in the summer, but I like to have an extra amount of “fun money” in the summer.

The bottom line here is that in the summer I need to have a time where I don’t spend money and consciously try to build up any spending money that I will need over the summer.

What happens if I need to buy something?

If for some reason you need to buy something that isn’t a necessity (think: going to the grocery store, seeing friends, or seeing something that you really wanted for a long time go on sale), you need to find some way to pay for it and, no, I don’t mean with money from your bank account.

I mean with cash that you earn outside of your normal income. If you haven’t tried out any side hustles, now is a great time to try them out! I typically fund groceries for my family of 5, all “fun money,” date nights, and some of our bills, just with money from my side hustles!

I’m taking June as a time to refocus and recharge my budgeting skills. Do this together with me!

The point this month is to concentrate on your spending and on your savings and to know that you can do this. If you slip up it’s totally ok! Feel free to email me and we can talk about it and try to get you back on track!

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Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to see what I’m doing every day to have a great time without spending money!

Use the hashtag #saveupforsummer to see what everyone else is doing to save money! This is a community effort! The more fun and creative you get the better!