How to Afford Summer Camps and Activities Without Going Broke: Plan a Fun Summer on Budget | 564

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0:32No shame, no finance bro nonsense, just your next right step. Grab your spot at budgetbesties.com forward slash debt workshop. Okay, we're talking about summer again, because guess what? It's here. We're in it, y 'all. Our kids are about to be out of school in two days and we are so excited. And as we go through these conversations with our clients dealing with the same thing and trying to set them up for success, so we come into, oh we probably should do a podcast on this topic of summer camps and planning your summer yeah a lot of what we talk about on the podcast comes from what we're talking about with our clients day to day and which seems normal yeah so if we're talking about it with them then you're dealing with the same things probably in your budget so we're here to talk all about so one thing i said to the client the other day is like sometimes you or you we always budget for back to school right you got to get the supplies the clothes whatever it's like we need a back to summer budget because like goodness gracious there's all of a sudden nobody's swimsuit fits all of a sudden there's all these activities that people want to be a part of and all this so we're here to talk all about summer budgets camps activities schedules everything about it and hopefully help you out do you make good money but have nothing to show for it are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck do you have big dreams for your financial future do you want to get debt free but you don't want to live on beans and rice.

1:55Or you don't want to give up those pumpkin spice lattes. If you don't already know how to budget or if you're using credit cards to get through the month. If you want to seem like you have your finances all together or you're not on the same page with your spouse when it comes to finances. We know what you're doing probably isn't working but guess what you're in the right place. We're Shana and Vanessa. We're best friends, business partners and master financial coaches trained by Dave Ramsey. We've been in business since 2019 helping hundreds of amazing people like you create budgets, get out of debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, and know exactly what to do with their money.

2:29In this podcast, we'll share with you everything we know plus everything we're working on with our clients so that you have the best chance at reaching your financial goals. We want to help you take the guesswork out of your budget, improve your marriages, and even bring your kids in on the conversation. We can help you no matter where you're at, whether you're the single mom who's never had$500 in her savings account or the millionaire who's paid off four real estate mortgages. And we're not going to shy away from the tough love. We'll tell you what you need to hear and encourage you at the same time.

2:56This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. And as you say that, I think we try to tell our clients to budget for Christmas for 12 months, right? So that way you feel it less throughout the year and be done. I try to have my clients done by November 1st so they can freely spend November, December and feel good about it. Then I'm like, people actually start booking summer camps oh yeah during spring break right probably january would be a really good time to start incorporating let's start budgeting how much summer is going to cost for just summer camps and things like that yeah i'm getting getting ahead of the game so next january will remind you but right now we just want that in your calendar what we want to do is take this time to be intentional because you don't want this the your budget to get wrecked just because it's summer so we're going to go through some stuff to help you out with that and we don't want you making in the moment decisions.

3:44You want to have a whole plan and then you're going to have a wonderful summer. It's going to be great. It's like shopping when you're hungry. Yeah. No, we're not doing that. Or when you, or so this is exactly equivalent. Your kids are all at home staring at you and you're like, what are we doing? What can I do to make this stop right now? So we're going to help you come up with a plan so you're not feeling rushed or broke, right? Either way, but you're very secure that you're having a great summer. Right. So if you plan for a great summer, you'll have a great summer. And if you fly by the seat of your pants, like we just said, that's going to make you feel rushed and you'll be broke and it's just not going to feel good overall.

4:17And the stress and anxiety that you feel is going to roll over to the kids 100%. You're going to display that and push that off on them. And then it just makes for this yucky home environment. So we just want to not do that. And we say all the time, we usually say spring breaks, but we only have so many summers left with the kids while they're young and they're sweet little babies. And so we want to make the most of it. And that's what we're going to do today. We're going to talk about doing that. Yeah. So one of the reasons that this came up is I was just had a session with a client this week and summer just attacked her and it was really hard for her because she's a, she's a nurse.

4:50So she works night shift, her husband deployed and she has six kids. Okay. So all of a sudden things, the kids are at home and she's just been trying to, to get, so they went to the amusement park and they did this and that and they went off budget and I'm like, that's okay. And so we were talking about, okay, now that we did the fun thing, That's great. All done with summers. No, I'm just kidding. But what can we, how can we make it summer more intentional going forward? What can we do for free? What do we want it to feel like? What do we want? What are the memories I want to have with my kids and what do they want to have at the end of the summer?

5:21And like also, but what are there to do? What is there to do out around wherever you are from? There's something cool that other people come to your place to do. So let's focus on doing that and making the most of those things. And so it just came up with that with one my clients and then i know you had a fun conversation too i did i have a client who just moved to a new town and they have three little kids and so she was feeling like she had to keep them busy yeah she had to do something every day to keep them busy keep them out of the house to keep them so that way when they come home they're exhausted and tired they want to go to sleep and so i was just trying to explain to her it doesn't have to be like that again you can you can actually do free stuff it doesn't have to be paid stuff you actually have downtime at home and schedule this.

6:02And if you make it, if you have a plan for it, it's going to feel better. And you're not going to make those in the moment decisions where you're like fed up because the kids are yelling or we're just going to go do something. And then you're paying for stuff that you don't actually want to pay for. You're just trying to, again, keep the kids busy. So we're just trying to really lay this out for you guys in a better way. So you have a better plan for your summer. And maybe if you do make those in the moment decisions quickly, like your client did, how can we recoup? How can we fix it? And moving forward, what will July look like?

6:31Okay. So what's the first step to do this, to do this summer? So that's what we're trying to do. We're having, we're trying to have a great summer on purpose. The first thing we need to do is cast a vision. So this is really important because, you know, I was just telling you, Vanessa, last summer felt really busy to me. And that to me is not what summer is supposed to feel. It's obviously supposed to be these fun moments and you want to have, make these memories, but it should also feel like summer. It should feel distinctly different than the rush of the school year to me. And it wasn't. So we need to reevaluate.

7:03What do I want summer to be? Do I want it to be busy? Do I want it to be laid back? Do I want it to be whatever? And so you have to decide that. And then obviously you're going to talk to your kids about it, but that's the first step. Yeah. And don't compare what you want your summer schedule to look like to your friends. If they want it one way, that's fine. And maybe they realized that was a terrible way to do it and they want to do it differently. And you've already learned that lesson. And so you're trying to do it differently yourself this year. So don't compare. I think that's a, it's a really good plan.

7:29So the next thing is, what do you want your kids to look like? And their answers may shock. Yeah. Like what, ask the kids, get them involved. What do they want? They may literally just say, I just want to hang out at home. I just know what they're going to say is I just want to see my friends. That's true. I bet. But like with every question that you ask your kids, if you let them answer for themselves and you just stop talking, their answers, no leading questions. Yeah. Yeah. they just usually they shock you a lot and between the two between everybody there's going to be some mix of everybody wanting to have some fun family time to have time with their friends to go to camp or maybe learn a new skill or definitely some downtime because they haven't had any electronics ever before so they're going to want some downtime to just relax read in their room or play some video games or whatever they may be hey maybe play with that christmas toy that you got them like six months ago that they haven't touched since in their yeah bottom door and so whatever it is There's going to be a mix of all of the everybody wants to make sure their summer is including.

8:24And so we just want to cast that vision and see what do we actually want. Maybe your kids have zero interest in doing things that you think that they're going to want to do. You're trying to plan for them and they're pushing on them. And they're like, mom, I'd rather just stay home with you. And you'd be like, what did you just say with your words? But anyway, so that's the thing that you want to do first is you want to make sure that your summer aligns with who you are and not with, oh, right now there's this thing. not last minute decisions, not emotional decisions. That's what we were talking about as we were thinking about this is in how, have you heard that saying your mouth writes a check that you're something can't cash.

8:59You know what I mean? Something like you write a check that you can't cash. So in the beginning of the summer, you see this three months of free time or two months or however many people get. And you're like, I want to do all of these things. And you think you have to fill it. Yeah. And then by the end of, of the, of your summer, you're like, I just want to do nothing because school's right. Going to happen. I just want. And so those are like what emotional decisions you might make at the beginning of the summer. And you want to make sure let's be real. By the end of the summer, when I'm about, when I'm thinking about going back to school, getting up every day, is this really going to want to have cast the vision for it?

9:31You'll have to find out for sure. Yeah. And I know planning your summer may be the last thing on your mind because you've planned all year, you've done things all year strategically with sports and school and everything, homework. But if you take a minute, just a minute, plan it out, have a conversation, get pen and paper out, get the whole family involved, write it all down, figure out what that looks like for you. It may actually make the process a little easier, a little simpler, a little cheaper. Yeah, for sure. And it's going to be intentional. I said, you want to make sure that it aligns with who you are, your family values, your goals, and what means the most to you.

10:03Yeah, I think that's so important. You're not going to get anything on accident. If you just taking the time to plan, we always say that embrace your inner planner nerd. It's fine. It's just going to set you up. It's going to be the first domino for what you actually want. otherwise you're gonna who knows what you're gonna end up with yeah all right so the second point is we're gonna talk about free things versus paid things okay so we want you to consider the first thing is one of the things i told my client with her kids was you don't have to pay for everything that your kids do consider all of the free things that you have around town to do so i'm gonna list them out then i'm gonna give you an example so we're talking about vbs library days free movie days and there's those are like places right and then event like other things are parks and maybe you live near a beach and there's trails maybe splash pads friend dates things like that things that they really want to do and an example is when shayda and i when our kids were four that's when we met we were like what are all of the church's schedules for bbs and are they all on different weeks and our kids can go every week for like six weeks and they really did they went they church shopped to all the VBSs.

11:10They loved it. They were with their friends. We got all their friends to go and join. And it was just a couple of hours where her and I could go to the beach or go home and have a minute. But the kids were having fun. And again, VBS isn't all day. It's just a couple of hours. So it just had that time away from them. But that's how we took it, babe. And then obviously we live near the beach. So I think we were there every day. Yeah. Yeah. And the free movies too here. And then it just depends on where you're at. There are so many programs, so many people that it wants festivities yeah and we were just in those days we were very frugal i didn't i don't even think i paid for a summer camp until maybe a year or two because it was just like we're we're going to the summer camp of grandparents yeah first we're going to the summer camp of what is your church doing today we're going to the summer camp when we were in virginia that they had such a great library program like so good mr the real life version mr rogers was there and we just like So we just, all the things, all the free things are good.

12:06And they were happy. They love it. Especially if you can be like, hey, so this is the hack. Just get a friend. Bring a friend over or say, do you want to go do this library reading challenge with your friend? And they'll be like, of course I do. Now that you've dangled my friend time. So that, and I think that was the other key for us when our kids were little. It was, we always had their friends with them. So they felt like whatever they were doing was fun. because it could have just been a backyard pleading. Yeah, you'll find that mom. That's, hey, let's do this together and we'll tag team and we can carpool and do all the things.

12:39I want to specifically talk about friend dates really quick. Yeah. How beneficial are those? That is all the babysitting busyness that you ever need in your life. It's like a lifeline. And you don't even have to do anything. You have to feed them. But we'll talk about that in a minute. But you just bring a human into your home and you have done summer camp. You release them to the backyard. Yeah. And then you're all done. And I think that is, that has been the number one quote unquote hack. Yeah. I, as a mom, I don't, if I can get more kids, I don't have to do anything. I know my, someone was like, do you have so many kids over?

13:09And I'm like, yeah, but just, if you just keep adding them, it's like herding cattle and they just all go together. They just kind of stay. And then they're happy. They're good. And you didn't have to spend any money except for to feed them. And that I'm saying that because the older they get, the more that's a thing. Your son can eat a whole pizza. Oh, he can eat more than one. If you need him, if you need him to, he'll be. Chase last night, he was at the, both the boys were at my house last night and I was asking them, okay, if you could have anything for dinner, what do you want it to be? And so they picked their dinner, but Chase goes, okay, if we want pizza, we're going to have to order one extra just for Zach.

13:40It's just so funny. It's true. He's, but he's, he told me he chose what he chose because he's trying to, what do you say? Bury his diet from pizza. I'm like, okay, that's, that's progress. Anyway, it's fine. So anyway, the point is there's so many free things to do. Yeah. And if you shut, if you schedule these things like we, and even if they're not necessarily like an event, but we were like, okay, every Wednesday we're going to the library so that we can recharge our book supply. And like, that's all it is. It's not a big deal. It's not, it doesn't, but it's just something we do every Wednesday so that we know that we have new stuff to do.

14:10So just. And didn't it work out that way? Like every Wednesday or whatever day is when the library had something and then the movies were once a week on this day or whatever. And it just already fit into the schedule that way. It was kind of, maybe it was supposed to be. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So then let's talk about the paid stuff for sure. There's going to be some of that. So some, well, there's, okay. There's opportunity for so much paid things. Yes. And we want to be choosy on this, but so we're not going to spend a lot of time, but you know what they are. There's summer camps. There's the day, like one day activities.

14:42Like they, we have a Marine science station here, so they can go for a one day there or one afternoon thing. Sure. Obviously wherever you are, there might be different amusement parks. We were just talking about dropping our kids off at the escape room and see if they can make it out alive. Obviously your family is probably going to have some sort of vacation or even if that's just going to visit grandma or whatever. And then annual like memberships where you might have it to the zoo or parks or when we were in Virginia, they had the museum. I don't remember what it was called, but it was phenomenal.

15:10It was the best money my mother-in-law, I didn't buy it, but my mother-in-law ever spent because they had so many things there. It was different every time we went, the kids loved it. And so whatever it is, those, and those are great Christmas gifts. So make sure you ask for this for Christmas from grandparents to help you to get the thing that they're actually going to use. And then it's free for you. And then it's free for your summer. And you have, this is your hack. Okay. Anyway, so there's a balance between those. You can definitely pick and choose what's important when you have that conversation.

15:38What is actually important to you, kid, that you want to, that I'm going to spend my money on. And then we're going to fill everything else with free, hopefully, as much as we can. So you want to definitely make sure you have a balance. And, and here's the other thing. You don't have to spend money to have a great summer. Most of the things that you're, that you want to be laughing with your kids, to be getting some sunshine, whatever these things are, they're probably free. And here's the other thing. We love you. Your kids don't get everything they want all the time. They don't. Could you imagine if we as adults got everything we wanted every day, all the time?

16:11Like how would that affect our finances? How would that affect our emotions, our relationships, everything. You don't, you just don't. There's boundaries on everything. And we need to instill those with our kids. And it is okay to tell them, no, we're not going to do this because we're going to do this. Don't say we don't have money. We're broke. Well, don't use those negative words. Just say we are choosing to not do this because our goals are to do this thing over here. So however you want to plan out your summer, just make sure your vocabulary when you communicate with your kids is positive.

16:39Be sure to check back with us. We're going to publish part two of this episode and finish up the conversation about calendars and budget. It's fine. We don't talk too much. You don't think so? It's fine. So we're keeping, we try to keep it in bite-sized episodes. So that's why we're splitting this up into two different podcasts so that you can listen to both of them in their entirety because we really hope it's going to help you. All right, Budget Besties, it's time for some Real Talk. You don't need another budget. You need a budget system. Our simplified budget system is what you've been looking for.

17:10It's going to allow you to be bougie on a budget. You'll be able to easily set up a system that runs automatically and shows you exactly where your money is going. And it's going to give you permission to spend. Everybody loves that. It's straightforward, pretty, and packed with walkthrough videos that break down the exact methods we use with our clients to get out of debt, set up a bills account, separate spending, build savings buckets, and end the paycheck to paycheck feel. If you're new to budgeting, this is the perfect way to jump in. And if you're already a budget nerd like us, you're about to meet your new obsession.

17:43This is the upgrade to your finances that you need right now back to today's show. Now you have some concepts. So how are we going to put this into practice? That's what we want to know. There's going to be two tools that we're going to use. They're going to be great. One is the budget. And then one is the calendar, right? The first thing is your budget. So if you're on a budget, you should know what your discretionary, what your quote unquote extra money is that you can actually afford to spend on anything for the summer. And hopefully like you have your sinking funds and it's, you've talked about vacations before this moment.

18:13So maybe you have been budgeting for that or whatever. And we've talked about having a sinking fund for kids. And so you can choose to have your own summer sinking fund. You can choose to add this into the kids sinking fund, or you can choose to have a separate one just for summer, however you want to do that. But here's the other thing. Oh yeah. Your kids can help pay for their summer camp. That's brand new information. This is when we're talking about, they don't get everything they want. Here's an incentive. Like you can get as much as you're willing to work for. And obviously the older they are, the more this applies.

18:45And also, but the older they are, the more, the less, the younger they are, the less they need to do because they're younger. They don't need to do as much or none of them need to do it. I have an eight-year-old and she's not going to do as much as her brother and sister who are older than her. And that's fine because she's little. But last year she was seven and she still worked a lemonade stand, right? And our candy or food stand at the local ballpark to be able to get money to pay for her summer can. We can talk about age and how it's a big factor, but it actually probably doesn't apply as much.

19:12Shana said, the smaller they are, the younger they are. They're not going to, you're not going to be paying as much for them to do things and you really don't need to. So the equivalent of what they're going to attend, like the camp, the paid stuff that they're going to go to and the amount of money they can raise for that is equivalent for their age. Yeah. And it's such, it's equivalent. it's just the best life lesson. So if part of the whole conversation we have about children is that we want them to, we want a better financial future for them than what we had. We want them to start knowing more than what we started with.

19:40Right. And so this is part of that. This gives them a learning curve, a learning process. And to learn, I directly control at least part of my destiny. If I do A, then I get B. And this is such a good lesson for them to learn. So there's different ways to do it. We have friends that the kids have to pay for half of the summer camp or maybe they have to pay for anything over if I'm going to pay for one and you have to pay for anything else you want or whatever there's different ways maybe mom and dad say okay I'm putting two hundred dollars I'm allowing you to have two hundred dollars for summer camp anything over that is what you have right for you have or net money for so I think that's a really good yeah and of course that's summer camps it could be all of it like you said you have okay so you want to go to the amusement park with your friends and you want your friends then you need to earn some money or whatever or your friends can pay or your friends yeah that's Okay, here, can we talk about that really quick?

20:28Just because you're inviting your friends, your kids' friends to go somewhere, the invitation is that they're coming. You don't feel obligated to have to pay. When my friend, one time in middle school, took me to Miami, I had to pay my way. It was just, they were being the parent that was guiding me and taking me with, right? So I still paid for my food and I did all of that. And let me tell you, we had a friend recently, remember when my son lost his, forgot his wallet, but anyway, she said, I'm taking the, I would love to take the boys out. please have them bring$15 for whatever it was that they were new.

20:59That's a normal, awesome request. So if you want to be the mom, you don't have to drive them. Yeah. And every other mom is please. Thank you. So please take my money and it's fine. So just don't be afraid to ask for that. If you want to be doing this doesn't mean you have to pay for it, right? But either way, there is a way that your kids can help pay for this stuff. And I, and it's going to teach them a good lesson. Plus it's just good. I remember Melanie, my middle, like trying of she had so many different things going on last year and so she's the amount of math and spreadsheeting she really had to do was such a good lesson in that as well not just how you have to earn it but just math and stuff my daughter had three jars so she had they my kids got a phone but it was only for babysitting and work purposes so my son was cutting grass and he had to call me when he was getting picked up and my daughter was babysitting and so that's the only reason why they got it last year for for work and so she had to pay me for it but i was like if you want this it stays.

21:52We have so many rules. But anyways, if you want this, you had to pay for it. And then here's your summer camp jar. And here is your saving jar. So she had three jars. So it was like phone camps and save spend. And it was just really cute to watch her like fill it up. She had the amount of money she had to save up for the phone, the amount of money she had to save up for camps. And she was so proud at the end of summer that she was able to make that plus sum to be able to put in the bank and then have some spending money. So it was just good. Yeah. But the budget, so between between what you can afford or what you're willing to, let's put it that way.

22:22Cause you can probably afford a lot, but you, that doesn't mean the other, all your other goals. And then what your kids want to help with. That's how you create this budget. And then like Vanessa said, they need to have a system. We had an envelope system. They had jars, like whatever it is, there needs to be a system how we can actually do make this thing happen. And then, and so then I just, I do want to go back to the kids activity. So that, and I still love that one of our clients specifically had the Chick-fil-A fund. Like it was not, there's no other activities. This is what we're doing as mom and kids, right?

22:50But if you have an envelope for each month and you're having your kids activity, okay, here's the money guys. This is what do you want to do with it? How far are we going to make this last? And I mentioned last, this is so funny. This conversation is evolving. So we did, we, we do a yes day every summer and I did a yes day and I told them it can't cost any money. And then I'm like, okay, this year we're going to, we'll take it to the next level. And so then I'm like, Oh, I was going to tell them they can have a hundred dollar budget for the yesterday or whatever and then ayla or zach is going to spend all of that on food and it is for five people to go anywhere you're gonna so so now we have a yes day budget and it's going to they're each going to get 50 i felt like that was fair for their yes day and then that's and then they so then i love the idea of the kids quote unquote being in charge it's hilarious to see what they want to do but i can't afford i can't afford all the things i know so the movie is super cute yeah however yeah and i didn't even know there was a movie and it's super cute girl and Jennifer or whatever.

23:46I didn't even know that it was a movie, but anyway, the point being, so they've got$50 and that is going to be their budget. But I was just saying, if you have a monthly budget and they can see, okay, if we, if I want to go skating, that's going to take half of this monthly. And I get one more thing that's not the, whatever, it's just going to be another way for them to learn budgeting. And for you to have a easy tool, because one of the things we were just talking about this, it's not easy. It's not easy for me to tell my kids now, but if I have like math. It's this is the math. You figure it out.