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I don’t know what it is about the warmer weather peaking through, but I am officially calling the Summer of 2023- Financially Responsible Girl (FRG) Summer! I want to break the narrative that summer automatically has to be expensive every year. And to break the narrative that all of our money goals just go out the window as soon as the sun comes out!
This is not the summer for all of that! Money is tight for a lot of us and we are not trying to dig a deeper hole of debt and money problems for us to deal with in the Fall!
A list of things you need for Financially Responsible Girl Summer
DISCLAIMER: Some of these are items to purchase or look for and some of them are not. I want to point out the irony in making a list of things that you “NEED” because you definitely do not need to purchase these items just because I said to. They are items that can be gathered over time, borrowed, or find a way to use something you already have at home. They are just little things that I think would make the summer easier and more enjoyable. Okay- on with the list.
Money goals that make you excited
This is the number one thing that will make or break your FRG summer! Set a goal that gets you excited. Pick something that you truly deep down WANT! For me, my summer will hopefully end with me being debt free or extremely close to it! But that is financial goal that I want more than anything! Too often we set money goals based on what we “should do” and not what we actually want. Maybe your goal is to save up cash for a vacation you really want. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge financial move. But it does have to get you excited enough that on the hard days where you just wanna blow the budget, you will remember your goal.
Pick something small enough that you think you can achieve it, but big enough that it will take some intentionality!
A budget to help you hit them!
The second thing is a budget. If you do not currently have a written budget and you are not tracking your spending, that is the place to start after setting your financial goals. Having a written budget and financial plan is really the key to hitting your money goals! A budget is simply figuring out where all of your money is going every month!
If you haven’t ever set a budget before, I created The Savvy Budget Workbook to help you start from scratch. It walks you through where your finances are right now, where you want them to go, and a lot of the steps to get there!
A list of free things to do- (A Plan)
If we wanna have anything close to a hot girl summer, we are not staying home every day. So the KEY to having both is having a plan of how we can have a TON of fun for free. I have a list of 37 Free Things to Do. The biggest key to not spending money is to have a plan BEFORE the day. Doing free things is often not a “winging it” activity and requires just a little bit of planning in advance! Along with this, our brains usually don’t go straight to free things, so it may take some muscle memory before you have ideas of what to do!
Truly, one of my biggest tips for the month is to sit down and look online at all the community calendars for free things to do! There are SO many free things in my community every month that we would totally miss.
I created my No Spend Month Guide so I could make a list of ALL of the mindset tips and tricks for a No Spend Month! It really focuses in on the mindset around not spending money and impulse purchases.
Free Starbucks Giftcards
It wouldn’t be a great summer without a little Starbies! I always brag about how I have paid for my Starbucks out of pocket less than a handful of times over the last few years! I wrote a whole blog post about how I get free coffee gift cards for my afternoon pick me up (or morning pick me up!) But I have been hoarding the gift cards for a month or so to make sure that this summer is still filled with a little treat! You can earn free Starbucks Giftcards from a bunch of different apps!
Library Card
Whether you have kids or you are a full adults, a local library card is a MUST have! There are so many treats at your local library! If you have kids, make sure you grab their summer calendar because there are so many activity days. Checking out the summer reading list instead of buying books on Amazon supports your local city, saves you money, and creates less clutter in your home! It is also just a great (usually well air conditioned) place to spend a hot summer afternoon!
Picnic Equipment
This one is totally optional, but highly recommended. I find that one of the biggest budget breakers usually isn’t activities themselves, but the food that surrounds the activities. Adding easy picnic meals to your grocery list for the summer can decrease the costs of summer dramatically! There are tons of lunch ideas on Pinterest and TikTok for picnic foods!
A few of my favorite picnic essentials are a great picnic blanket and a cooler!
State Park Sticker
Every US state seems to be a little bit different with how they do things with State Parks, but Nebraska’s State park sticker is $31 for the entire year and it gets you into all of the state parks. Our parks around here have lots of hiking, trails, and fun things to do! There are some things in each park that you have to pay for, but lots of free options as well! My favorite is the lake that is a few miles from my house! It even has a small swimming beach
Backyard Pool/ Apartment Pool/ Pool Pass
If you are not a lake swimmer, you are going to need somewhere to stay cool for the summer! This is how we are going to do it on a budget. If you have a yard, a plastic kiddie pool or sprinkler is a GREAT way to cool off without breaking the bank! Some of the bigger backyard pools can get expensive, but the smaller ones are pretty cheap! If you have friends or live in an apartment, we are going to TAKE ADVANTAGE of that apartment pool as much as possible! If neither of these options are possible, check out your area for a season pass for the pool. They are often priced relatively fair. Many of them often have half off or cheaper nights for families or kids swim free!
Youtube
Financially Responsible Girls are taking some time this summer to learn something new! But that doesn’t mean it needs to cost you money. Pick a topic and dive into some YouTube content about it!
There are so many things you can learn about whether it is a helpful tip like how to fix some things, or just a topic you are interested in! Spending time learning something new can help you potentially earn more money, start a side hustle, or just occupy some time. I am setting a goal to focus on learning 2-3 times a week!
Kindle
This one might be controversial, but I will not survive without my Kindle Fire this summer! I HATE having to pack 4-5 books on a trip because I don’t know what I will be in the mood for. The weight in my bag, the space it takes up. I love my lightweight kindle. I do currently have Kindle Unlimited for $10 a month, but if you have a library card like mentioned above you can sync your kindle with the Libby, Overdrive, or Hoopla apps and your library card to check out e-books from your local library!
This device has saved me so much and has actually caused me to read a lot more than I was before because I always have the Kindle app available on my phone as well!
Friends who support your goals
This, to me is the absolute number one thing. Finding a circle of friends who are crazy supportive enough to have a Financially Responsible Girl Summer! When you make free plans, they are down for the adventure. When you suggest spending money, they ask if that is REALLY what you want to do. Your friend group can make or break your money goals sometimes, so I recommend telling your close friends about what you are working on and ask them to join you!
This summer bucket list
If you have kids, this is the best “I am bored” summer bucket list! I have this list printed out and hanging by my No Spend board to make sure we always have a list of things to do this summer! I am ready to make so many memories this summer with my son without sacrificing our budget completely!
Are you ready for Financially Responsible Girl Summer?!
Are you ready to hit your money goals? Stick to your budget? Not impulse buy everything you see on Tiktok?!
ME TOO! We are working towards the best summer of memories and money!
