15 Ways to Save Money in Summer 2015



During the summer I feel like I'm always overwhelmed on every form of social media with other people doing way more exciting things than I am. Summer is the season of FOMO. And it leads to me wanting to go do more exciting things myself, but "exciting" usually means "expensive". Like the paddle boarding class on the Columbia River that costs $50 for an hour. Or fancy restaurants with blended drinks on the patio. Or tropical vacations (okay so these are a little further out of reach...).

Anyway, I know it can be a struggle for everyone to be frugal, especially during the summer. So I came up with 15 easy ways to save money this summer.

15. Treat yourself once a week - but only once a week.

Whether it's an iced latte from your favorite coffee shop or sushi with your best friend, it's important to treat yourself so that you feel like you still get to do fun things and it will severely lessen the FOMO. But limiting yourself to once a week will save you a lot of money and give you something to look forward to.

14. Cut your own hair.

I feel like everyone gets a haircut in the summer and shows off their new locks all over the internet. But haircuts have gotten ridiculously expensive. A few years ago I bought a decent pair of hair cutting scissors from a beauty supply store and I've been cutting my hair ever since. I suggest watching some youtube videos on how to do it so that you don't totally butcher your head, but it's a great way to get the look you want (and to make sure the people at the salon don't take too much off!)

13. Make summer treats at home.

Iced coffee takes only a few minutes if you remember to brew the coffee the night before and put it in the fridge. The possibilities for fruity ice pops are virtually limitless. If you have these on hand at home you won't be as tempted to go out and buy them.

12. Make your own mixers.

Alcohol is expensive enough, and when you start adding in the cost of mixers, drinks in the backyard can get a little expensive. Making mixers at home is super easy and inexpensive, and you can personalize them. Teddy and I make homemade simple syrup and sours mix for our drinks and we prefer them to store-bought kinds. Teddy even made lemongrass simple syrup once which made the most delicious mojitos!

11. Eat lots of fruits and veggies!

Fruit and vegetables are super cheap in the summer while they're in season. Take advantage of it while it lasts and eat more veggies and less meat. You'll end up saving a lot of money, and doing your body a lot of good!

10. Make chores into social activities.

Need to go to the grocery store? Hit up the farmers market with a friend instead. You may not be able to get everything but you'll find plenty of produce and other goodies and it becomes a fun activity as well.

9. Go to your local library.

Tons of free books, DVD's, and sometimes even video games. Libraries are the best way to save money and so many people don't take advantage of them!

8. Clean out your cabinets.

Go through your kitchen cabinets and clean out all of the expired food. While you're going through everything you'll be sure to find some things that you didn't even remember were in there, so use them! You'd be shocked how many half-opened boxes of pasta you probably have, and it can save you from buying more during your next grocery trip.



7. Go outside!

Play frisbee, go hiking, or just take your dog for a walk. The outdoors is totally free and summer is the perfect time to take advantage of it. Plus, you'll feel better after soaking up some vitamin D! (Not to mention the amazing photos you can take to make all your friends jealous of your adventures!!)

6. Start a new show on Netflix or Hulu.

While it's not necessarily the most productive use of your time, if you already subscribe to Netflix or Hulu, starting a new show is a great way to occupy yourself for free. Curl up in bed or laying out in a hammock, you can spend hours watching

5. Find a body of water!

So, maybe this is a little easier for people in certain parts of the country, but I promise it can be done. Go to the beach, a river, a lake, or just show up at the house of a friend who has a pool with some snacks and ask if you can go for a swim. Getting out of the heat and into the water is a great way to spend the day.

4. Picnic.

I constantly want to go on a date with Teddy, but I know neither of us can afford it. So instead, once a week we lay out our tapestry in the grass, grab some beers, and have our dinner outside. It's nice to pull yourself away from all of the distractions once in a while and have a nice dinner with your s/o. It forces actual conversation unlike the normal "Can you pass the remote" which is all that seems to really happen when we eat dinner inside the apartment.

3. Try new recipes.

Since I'm not going out to eat much this summer, I've been trying lots of new recipes to keep eating at home interesting. Plus, cooking can be a great hobby if it's something that interests you! I made a portabello burger for the first time today and it was delicious!

2. Give your skin a break from makeup. 

Makeup can be an extremely expensive hobby, and can cost a decent penny to just buy your every day "essentials". The best way to cut back? Take a break from wearing makeup. Summer is the perfect time to let your skin breathe, since sweat and makeup can clog your pores and cause acne. Plus, with a little sun, your skin will look healthy and vibrant on its own!

1. Start a blog!

Whether you have millions of readers, or are just writing for yourself, a blog is a wonderful, free way to occupy your summer. Not only are you starting a fantastic hobby, but you will also cultivate your writing skills! You can even make some amazing friends in the blogger community, and eventually make money off of your blog. The only thing better than saving money? Making more off of something you love!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Unknown

My name is Liz and I'm a 22 year old with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation. I love beer and fashion and exploring the outdoors, and am currently figuring out how to do all of the above on a post-grad budget.

32 comments:

  1. I love this post! I am on a post-grad budget too so these tips are awesome! I've been wearing make up a lot less & I've even been considering cutting my own hair, but I'm SO scared I'm going to butch it. Maybe I should look up some of those videos you're talking about because your hair is beautiful! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Cutting your hair is definitely scary at first, but as long as you only take off a little bit at a time it's not so bad. And definitely watch the videos!! I even cut my mom and sisters hair now too since they saw how good I got at it. (I did try to cut my brothers once and kind of mess it up though... so be careful haha). Checking our your blog now! It's great to find another post-grad in the blogging community!

      Delete
  2. LOVE IT!!! Shopping in your own pantry is a must for me, too. Decluttering AND saving money. For me, only eating out once a week has been a life saver this summer. Also, we stopped going out for drinks so much. My husband and I are very social creatures so it's hard for us to say no when someone asks if we want to go grab drinks, which always turns into food, which always turns into more drinks...which translates to an empty bank account! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely know how that is, my boyfriend and I just went to the bar last night with some coworkers and got beers and dinner and I was terrified to see the bill! But thankfully my grandparents had sent me a card with some cash since they missed me so the tab was on them haha!

      Delete
  3. Great post! This is the first time reading your blog, and I love it! I'm actually hitting up the Farmer's market next week. Yay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I haven't made it to the farmers market yet this summer, but I definitely need to do so ASAP!

      Delete
  4. Great tips! I guess I have a pretty good start, I very seldom drink Alcohol, coffee or a soda, like my ice tea and water, only makeup I wear is eye makeup. I need to find a farmers market close to us though. One think I won't do is to cut my own hair, I don't go very often and I paid about $20 which I hate but $20 every few months I will do. If I could take my head off and sit it in front of me I would give it a try (-; Thanks for the great tips!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cutting other peoples hair is definitely easier haha! Thank you!

      Delete
  5. Enjoyed this list. We started Bones on Netflix and have turned our grocery shopping trips into fun visits to the Farmers Market. So much more enjoyable =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely need to check out Bones! My boyfriend and I are trying to find a new series to get into.

      Delete
  6. I love going to our local library. My daughter loves it too and they have an awesome kids section!! We don't have cable so I love watching shows on Netflix and Hulu! Thanks for the other ideas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The library was one of my favorite places as a kid! Ours has tons of board games and train sets and tea party sets for the kids to play with in case they don't want to read it the whole time. It was so much fun!

      Delete
  7. These were really helpful ideas! :) Sometimes it can be hard to save money in the summer.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a great list! We are trying to save up to buy our own house and I'm finding the summer is the hardest time to save. So much is going on! I am a big coffee drinker so this is probably my biggest struggle but I am going to try to make my iced coffees at home!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can brew it the night before and put it in the fridge or cold brew it, but cold brewing takes a lot more effort and I don't think it tastes that much better so I stick to just hot brewing the night before! Also "splurge"(they're like $3 haha) on some nice flavored creamers if you like flavored coffees so you'll be less tempted to go out!

      Delete
  9. I love so many of these!!! I'm especially a fan of cleaning out my cupboards for food (it also allows me to use up the "Extras" that always seem to be in there and only restock with what I like)

    Treating myself once a week is my coffee and breakfast sandwich on my way to work on Friday - Otherwise, home cooked breakfast lunch and dinner for me!

    Thanks for the great tips, must pin this!
    xxox
    Laura @ Cook, Wine and Thinker!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I grew up in a family where we always had homecooked meals every day for every meal so I never understood why people eat out all the time! But I definitely used to have an addiction to Dunkin Donuts iced coffees and veggie flatbread sandwich in college! So worth the little bit of money once a week!

      Delete
  10. Great tips! I love #1. Summer is hard for me because there are a lot of free activities but then there are also a lot of tempting wineries, food festivals, outdoor concerns, and other activities that I want to do but are $$$. I love a good trip to the farmers market.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree! There are hydroplane races in my town next week that I really want to go to but tickets are $80!! It's killing me.

      Delete
  11. I absolutely love going to the library for movies and books. It's just so expensive to buy DVDs nowadays and what better way to watch a movie than if it's free? Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mom still goes to the library once a week to rent DVD's. It's so much better than redbox and they get them in as soon as they come out!

      Delete
  12. I used to cut my own hair! I stopped doing it when I decided to cut several inches off at once and now I only go about once a year for a trim. I just recently got a library card for the city I moved to two years ago. I had no idea they allow e-book rentals now. So much less expensive. This is a great list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would definitely go to a salon too if I wanted to cut off a lot of hair. I was even thinking that maybe at the end of the year I'll go get my hair cut professionally just since it's been over 4 years! but for inbetween trips I prefer to cut it myself!

      Delete
  13. Money saving posts like this are great! I have been trying to save my money lately and these tips are perfect. I rarely like eating out much anyway, but knowing that I save so much more when I cook at home, it makes me not want to eat out even more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I'm the same way! I feel so guilty when I eat out that it makes it less fun anyway!

      Delete
  14. Love this post, Liz! Luckily for me, my mother-in-law is a hairdresser and I get a trim every time I see her. I'm so with you on drinking at home only! Way cheaper!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah you're so lucky! & as much as I love going out, unless there are specials there's no way I'm paying the alcohol prices! If it's more than like $4 for a beer, I'm out haha

      Delete
  15. YES to binge watching Netflix/Hulu. I love putting on a cooking show while I blog/clean/do laundry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I need to find a new show to start! My boyfriend and I don't have anything to watch right now, so I'm trying to convince him that we should watch Firefly!

      Delete
  16. Liz:
    These are some awesome, unique ideas. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete