I don’t know about you, but in some months, expenses have a tendency to creep up and cause me to overspend. Maybe it’s the event I have known about but haven’t allocated funds for. Or the spur of the moment girls’ night out that I wasn’t planning.
I overspend when I don’t have a budget and a plan to allocate dollars to accommodate the known (and unknown) expenses for the month.
Each month there is “always going to be something” so budgeting for both the known and unknown will help keep you on track with your savings goals. Creating a budget helps to create visibility into upcoming expenses so not only are they not a surprise, but you have money allocated to use for it.
June Expenses to Budget For
As June approaches, I wanted to share with you some expenses that may creep up, to remind you to put them in your budget for June:
Graduation gifts
Who do you know is graduating? Whether from high school or college these gifts can really stack up especially if you’re not prepared for them. Make a list of all gifts you still need to purchase and put a max dollar amount next to each. Be strict with yourself and divide the total you have to spend on gifts by the number of recipients. It’s truly the thought that counts so get creative with gifts so you don’t break the bank. Click here for great ideas.
Father’s Day
The date comes around every year. Yet somehow it seems to sneak up on you. Are you buying a gift for your father? Your father-in-law? Grandfather? Father of your child? Other father figures?
Even buying cards at the grocery store for $4-$5.00 each can be expensive – let alone a gift! Shop Dollar Tree for $.50 cards and be realistic about gifts.
Do the fathers’ in your life need a gift? Or do they truly just want to spend more time with you than anything else?
As I get older, and my father gets older, I realize he doesn’t need anything. And that visiting home to have dinner or spend time on the patio while his granddaughter plays in the yard is better than any purchased gift.
June expenses to budget for
Vacations
Better late than never. If you know you are taking a vacation in June, or later this summer, start planning to pinch money away here and there to offset the cost of travel, food, gas, etc. Maybe you are a cash-only person and plan to stash every $5.00 bill you obtain away until your vacation in August.
Maybe you’re going for a weekend getaway in a week or two and haven’t had a chance to save yet. What other line items in your budget could you trim to find the money to vacation stress-free? Do you really need a new bathing suit? I know you WANT one, but do you really need it?
Sometimes the amount of money you spend on a wardrobe and items “needed” for the trip cost more than the trip itself. Get honest with yourself about what you actually need to spend before you go. You may surprise yourself to find you can have just as good of a time with last year’s bathing suit and sundresses, and an at-home pedicure.
Lawn Maintenance/Care
Our flower and vegetable garden.
I don’t know about you but our grass has been out of control with this rainy, then sunny weather! My husband does most (okay all) of the mowing and lawn care, and I’m usually unappreciative of how much it costs to maintain.
Between the cost of products used to keep the lawn looking nice, and equipment such as the mower, yard tools, it’s insane. And then there’s the value of my husband’s time. We have a 1.25-acre lot. He’s mowing every 5 days or so taking him probably an hour and a half to two hours each time between the actual mow, the trim, the clean-up, etc.
It is expensive! But budgeting not only money but also budgeting your time. Do you magically have more time in the day to get more yard work done? What scheduling changes will you have to make for the summer to accommodate more time spent in the yard?
For my husband, he manages by working from home more often. It saves the commute time (and gas money) and allows him to start on the yard at the time he would have started his commute home or allows him to mow over his lunch break.
Garden Expenses
My husband has a green thumb and loves to “farm.” That includes growing flowers and vegetables. The garden itself requires seeds, plants, fertilizer, sprinklers, tomato cages, gloves, etc. it can get expensive!
Having a line item in your budget for gardening if that’s a hobby of yours helps you not only understand how much the garden is costing you but help you to not spend more than you planned in the month.
Festivals/Outdoor events
It’s so easy to get out of the house and head down the street to a local festival. The rides, delicious food, bands, beer, you name it! But between a cover charge to get in and all the goodies associated with festivals, it can get expensive!
Are you planning a family outing? Have you thought about how much you think it will cost? How do you plan to pay for it? Are you willing to forego the dinner out on Friday night to save money for the festival on Saturday?
Weddings
The summer is a popular time to get married. My sister got married a few years ago in Key West in June. It was ahhhmazing, but also pretty pricey. Knowing in advance it was coming and having a plan for how to pay for not only the travel but the activities and food/beverage once we arrived allowed us to enjoy the wedding (vacation) and not stress about how to pay for it.
Again, don’t put pressure on yourself to have to purchase an expensive gift. Sometimes the most thoughtful gifts don’t cost much. I have a friend who, as a cost-effective wedding gift, would take a picture of the bride and groom during the ceremony or right after. She would then quickly upload the image to Walgreens, pick it up, place it in a nice frame and put it in a bag as a gift for the couple.
It’s such a cost-effective gift and so special and meaningful for the bride and groom the next day to already have a framed picture of their big day! Such a great idea!
Conclusion
Juen is the kick off to summer. The last thing you want is to be in debt or overspend on something you knew was coming. Take a few moments to create a budget for these items. You’ll be glad you did! Not sure where to start? Why not try a zero-based budget.
How do you keep track of your monthly expenses so you don’t overspend?
Take one small step today – to help your finances tomorrow,
Steph
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