Key Takeaways
- The first step is simply to recognize WHY your increase in summer spending happens. Busier schedules, tossed-out routines, and the pressure to keep up with everyone’s social media might contribute. Once you start noticing where you’re saying “yes” automatically, you can more intentionally choose your next step!
- One little PAUSE can change everything. Before you say yes or click buy, just…wait. That small moment of breathing room is sometimes all it takes to start spending in a way that actually feels aligned.
Why Money Slips Through Our Fingers this Time of Year
It’s starting to feel a lot like summer! The days are getting longer, the activities more frequent and the invites more often!
This time of year, our schedules and routines can get a bit off track. We often spend more on travel and experience than we ever do–and we might feel some FOMO due to all the fun everyone seems to be having on social media.
What does all of this mean for your money? On average, summer is the 2nd most expensive spending-season of the year. Aside from the obvious that summer is just more expensive, why else might we experience our money slipping away?
1. It’s hard to say no because we really “want” to do it all, and we don’t want to disappoint anyone (example: weddings, parties, special occasions that all seem to fall within the warmer months).
2. We don’t want to miss out. (That afore mentioned FOMO from scrolling social media can leave us with the feeling of needing to keep up.)
3. Possibly most-impactful, we’re no longer prioritizing keeping track of anything. Summer vibes rarely align with planning, tracking, and intentional spending; we’re living in the moment.
A New Strategy to Curb Summer Spending that You Can Start Now
Take on the Summer Pause. Don’t say yes to anything right away.
This looks like intentionally adding some distance between their ask and your spend.
When an invite, ask, or financial request inevitably comes up, find the phrase that works best for you:
—“Let me get back to you.”
—“Sounds fun, let me marinate on that.”
—“Thank you for the invite, I will let you know.”
These phrases, in the short term, give you some space in order to see if that ask actually makes sense for you. It makes sense (by the way) when it feels good in your body and aligns with your values and goals.
In the long term, that small pause adds up to more time, energy and resources, that you get to keep for you.
Extra Flex –> try employing “the pause” where you tend to spend money the quickest. This might look like adding items to your cart online, and then keeping them there for a least 24hrs. When you come back to your cart, ask yourself if you still “need” that purchase. Even something as little as 24hrs to contemplate can make a big difference when impulse purchases have been adding up.
If you’ve ever read about habit-building, the power of pause works because it reduces convenience. The power of convenience can be crazy-strong. In Better Than Before, habit-expert Gretchen Rubin explains what she calls the “Strategy of Convenience” as one of the most powerful and straightforward ways to change habits. “We are significantly more likely to do things if they are convenient, and far less likely if they require extra time, effort, or decision-making”.
You can apply this same logic to your spending. If you’re looking to spend less, make the purchase less convenient.
What would it feel like to have a go-to response in place that creates a little space between you and that impulse to please or spend? How might that change things for you?
FAQ’s
- As a solopreneur, summer feels especially hard–clients are slower, but expenses aren’t. How do I apply this when my income is inconsistent?
The pause is actually your best friend when revenue is unpredictable–it buys you time to check in with your cash flow before committing to anything. Before saying yes to a business expense or even a personal splurge, ask yourself: does this make sense for me and my business needs right now? When might be a better time to make this purchase?
- I know I overspend in summer, but I can never seem to stop myself in the moment. Where do I even start?
Start by just noticing your patterns. Where is your money going specifically? Is it the weekend invites or the online shopping? Awareness alone starts to slow things down. Give yourself a break, and then pick ONE place to try the pause and see what happens.
Could you use little more intentionality in your spending? Schedule your free 30-minute consultation with me now!
Unlocking Abundance 