As the perfect season for picnics and parties, summer can be a time when it’s very easy for us to go over budget. 

Everyone’s feeling happier, everyone’s outside living their best life and being social, and we’re all feeling a bit envious seeing everyone else go off on holiday.

We definitely want to be out making the most of the beautiful summer days, but we also don’t want one season to derail our best laid budgeting plans. 

After all, we still have money goals that we want to smash. 

So how can we have a fun summer and still stay on target?

6 top tips 

1. Set up a separate ‘holiday’ savings pot and send some money to it every month. Whether it’s £5 or £50, it will build up over time and you’ll be able to use it for your future holidays without touching the money in your other accounts. Your emergency fund is for emergencies, not for holidays! (No matter how good the deal you’re getting is!) 
2. If you find it difficult to stay motivated with saving, think of it this way – every lunch you take to work is one more meal you can buy on your holiday. Every cute outfit or latest tech device you don’t buy is one more experience you can enjoy on your holiday .
3. Be mindful and intentional with your spending and your time. We all get FOMO and feel like we’re missing out sometimes. And it’s so much fun to be social. But could you pick one social activity to opt out of each month and embrace JOMO (the joy of missing out)? You can use this time to catch up on your favourite TV show, read that book you’ve been meaning to since January 1st or watch that movie that everyone is shocked you’ve never seen before! 
4. Use Google and social media to your advantage and look for free things to do. There are loads of special offers to be had during the school holidays. 
5. If your friends are heading out for lunch and you’re keeping on top of your finances, then suggesting a picnic in the park is a good way to still hold the date but spend less. You could get a meal deal from a local place or bring food from home. (Don’t forget the blankets!)
6. If you’re really struggling with overspending because it’s easy on a card, you don’t have to do anything as drastic as Becky Bloomwood freezing her credit card in a block of ice in Confessions of a Shopaholic. Try going old school and getting cash each day or transferring a certain amount to a debit card and only having that on you will force you to stick to your budget as you cannot access any other money.