The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Summer Finances
Summer is for slowing down, not stressing about money. In this episode, we're sharing our favorite chill money moves that you can do while lounging poolside, waiting in line at the farmer's market, or taking a sunset stroll. We're talking about financial progress that doesn't require spreadsheets, complicated budgets, or giving up everything that makes summer fun. These are small, meaningful steps you can take without disrupting your hammock time or beach day plans.
If you're not trying to do a full financial overhaul in July but still want to feel more in control without sacrificing what makes summer special, this one's for you, girlies.
Episode Timestamps:
[01:00] Why Emily's summer mindset inspired this whole episode
[02:00] Quick awareness wins you can do anywhere
[05:00] Impulse control tactics that actually work
[07:00] Temperature-based savings game
[08:00] Cassidy's Facebook Marketplace empire (and what people actually buy!)
[11:00] Fun that won't break the bank: creative summer ideas
[12:00] That amazing beach birthday party story
[15:00] Set-it-and-forget-it growth moves
[17:00] Creating your "Someday" list for financial tasks
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Transcript
Emily: [00:00:00] Are you drowning in money questions, but too embarrassed to ask? Tired of scrolling endlessly through conflicting financial advice that leaves you more confused than when you started. Welcome to the Finance Girlies Podcast, your cozy corner for all things finance. I'm your host Emily.
Cassidy: And I'm your host Cassidy.
We're both finance writers for brands like Forbes Advisor, USA Today Blueprint, and Yahoo Finance. Throughout our cruise and personal lives, we have come to one realization when we keep our money worries to ourselves. We end up feeling alone. That's why each episode we tackle those burning questions you've been afraid to ask.
With no judgment, no jargon, just real talk about real money. Ready to finally get answers. Let's dive in.
Cassidy: Hello, hello and welcome back to episode 31 of the Finance Girlies Podcast. Today, we [00:01:00] are calling this episode Our Lazy Girl’s Guide to Summer Finances. But really this one is inspired by our very own Emily Batdorf.
Emily: I’m honored. Um, but it's true. I love summer, and I really take advantage of it because I live in Michigan, where winter lasts forever. and so once it is sunny in the summer, I like to slow down a lot.
Cassidy: And honestly, Emily's energy about summer has rubbed off on me over the years. I've been trying to take my own foot off the gas in the summer too. Especially in terms of work because I really admire how Emily like, will intentionally scale back on her workload just a little bit in the summer, we’re both freelance writers and she'll intentionally scale back so she has more time in her schedule to really just enjoy the state that she lives in.
And so we started asking ourselves, how can we bring that same slow, intentional summer mindset into our finances [00:02:00] too?
Emily: Yeah, because if you're like us, you're not trying to do a full financial overhaul in July. You just wanna feel a little bit more in control without sacrificing the stuff that makes summer so special.
Cassidy: Yeah, so today we are sharing our favorite chill money moves, and these are things that you can do while you're laying in a hammock, waiting in line at the farmer's market, or hiding in the shade at your friend's backyard barbecue.
Okay, so we've broken these up into categories and we are gonna start with like, some really quick things that you can do just to become a little more aware of your spending right now. And so the very first thing is to do a three-minute subscription check while you're waiting in line somewhere. This can be the coffee shop, the grocery store, anywhere.
So you can pull up your bank account app or your credit card and just be like, what am I paying for but I'm not actually using? Is there a shopping app that I can delete from my phone? Maybe you use Amazon a lot. Maybe it's DoorDash, maybe it's the Target Circle app. Whatever your like, scrolling weakness is when you're just, like looking for [00:03:00] things to buy.
Maybe just delete that app while you're in line somewhere. And you can always redownload it later if you need to.
Emily: Yeah, and instead of getting notifications from your favorite shopping platform, try instead signing up for your spending notifications from your bank — not to guilt yourself, but just to stay aware of where your money's going without constantly needing to log into your account.
And so you can think of this like a gentle tap on the shoulder, not a financial alarm system.
Cassidy: Yeah, I have spending notifications turned on for my credit cards 'cause I use those more than my debit card. And it is really nice just to be like, and it helps you kind of prevent fraud and stuff too. Cause you can look at it and be like, yeah, this is a transaction that I made. And it just keeps your transactions kind of in your face so you don't forget about them.
Emily: Yeah.
Cassidy: Another thing is, you can do a little sticky note hack where you just write down like your top three intentions for summer, and these can be financial things like, I'm gonna stick to a fun money cap of $150 a month, [00:04:00] or, I'm gonna sell three things from my closet this summer and sell the cash, or I'm gonna stop shopping on Amazon for the summer.
Or they could be reminders of other things that you want to accomplish this summer. Like for example, I'm constantly having to remind myself not to overbook myself with work because I wanna have enough blank space on my calendar to get outside and enjoy summers.
Like one of the things on my sticky notes is don't take on more than 20 articles a month in the summer, or something like that, so I have more space. It could also be like, go on walks in the evening, take a half day Friday at least once a month. Try one new farmer's market per month.
But you could just write down like three things that you absolutely wanna make sure that you do this summer, so you can stay intentional with them. And then put it on your mirror or your laptop or somewhere where you can see it daily.
Emily: The next category is a little bit of impulse control to cool down your spending this summer. So the first tactic is called the 24-hour cool down rule.
So anytime you add something to your cart, [00:05:00] just leave it there, walk away, give it 24 hours, and then reassess tomorrow whether you still want or need that thing, this is perfect for when you're feeling impulsive and you decide that a retail therapy is the thing you need to feel a little better, and you're just kind of mindlessly adding things to your cart. Just give it a pause and see if you actually still want that thing the next day.
Cassidy: Totally. Another thing that you can do is an unsubscribe challenge where you try to unsubscribe from like one marketing email per day, for example. Therefore, you, so you have less temptation in your inbox and you're less, um, tempted to impulse spend, and you can even make it a game to see like, how many marketing emails can you unsubscribe from in a week.
And so for example, this is one of my favorite things to do, truthfully, like every single day I am looking for an email that I can unsubscribe from because I'm usually like an inbox zero or like inbox 20, kind of girly. So literally every time I get a [00:06:00] marketing email from a company, if I get the urge to market as read without opening it, that is always a sign to myself that you just need to go ahead and unsubscribe because you really don't care about this company's emails anymore. And so that's why I usually do, yeah.
Emily: if it's out of sight, it's outta mind. If you don't know the deal that's going on or the new product that's out, you're probably not gonna seek it out. So I like that one too.
Cassidy: Yeah, and I think, um, in episode 29 we interviewed Ariel Nathanson and she mentioned that, you know, one thing she will ask her clients who are kind of struggling with like, shopping and like impulse spending, and she'll be like, do you wanna be reactive because you've gotten this email or you've gotten this text message that's like, look, you know, 50% off this thing or act now, there's a steal going on.
Or would you rather be active about what you're spending money and have the control and like, buy something because you're seeking it out, not because some company is pushing this thing in your face [00:07:00] and being like, here's what you need to buy next. Um, and that kind of stuck with me from that episode.
Yeah.
Emily: Me too. I was just thinking about that the other day. I think that's so smart.
Cassidy: Mm-hmm.
Emily: Okay. The next tip is a little bit of a summer savings challenge. So this can vary a little bit depending on where you live, but pick a temperature that feels reasonable in your area, and turn the heat into motivation instead of just sweating through it. So what we mean by this is, say I pick 85 degrees every time the thermometer hits [00:08:00] 85 degrees, I'm gonna save $20. And you can adjust both the temperature and the amount of money to better suit your financial situation. but it's just one easy way to kind of automate your savings a little bit this summer.
Cassidy: Another thing that you can do is try to shop used first. So, shop garage sales. There are so many of them that typically go on during the summer. You can do Facebook Marketplace before you buy something new. Um, while you're at it, this can also be a good time to take inventory of seasonal items that you have, that you no longer use and have a garage sale or Facebook marketplace sale of your own. And this is actually what I'm in the middle of doing. I've been doing this for the past, like, week and a half, and I'm gonna continue to do it over the course of next week. I have been selling so much stuff on Facebook Marketplace and I, I'm about to have my second yard sale in the same week span, just trying to sell things in the house that I no longer use or need and it has been so [00:09:00] freeing to get rid of some things, and I've honestly been really, really shocked at what people are willing to buy. Like there have been some things where I'm like, I'm gonna list this and see if anyone wants it. And if they don't, I'll donate it to Goodwill or consider throwing it away.
And I've been amazed at the things that people are, are like, willing to buy, like what what, based on what they need. I'm also, I'm, so I'm in the middle of the, of a move, which we'll do a future episode on that for sure. So likewise, I'm in the middle of furnishing a new apartment and I've been deep in the Facebook Marketplace trenches for that too, just buying things so, I've scored like a really cute TV stand, a cute bench for a balcony, dining room table and chairs, an entryway table, like all super solid high quality pieces. That would've been probably like six times the price had I bought them brand new versus just finding like, a gently used or practically brand new version on Facebook marketplace that someone is selling.
Um, and it's felt really good to find things that I absolutely love that will fit my new space and also, fit my budget as well. So it's been [00:10:00] good.
Emily: That's awesome. As I was saying the other day, you are a Facebook Marketplace tycoon. You are rolling in that cash.
Cassidy: I feel like that, I just tallied up over the past, I think nine days, I've seen almost 30 people on Facebook marketplace and I've had a five hour yard sale, so..
Emily: Wow. Killing it.
Cassidy: Nonstop.
Emily: And I will say, I've also scored some great stuff on Facebook Marketplace this summer, actually. And garage sales. We did a bit of a garage sale, tour the other day and yeah, I was in the market for a new bike, got that on Facebook Marketplace and then, a bike rack for the car. So yeah, the amount of money I would've spent on those things new is crazy.
So it's nice to be able to, find things much, much, much cheaper that are still good quality.
Cassidy: Mm-hmm. For sure. You can find some gems on there.
Emily: Okay, the next category [00:11:00] is, fun that won't break the bank. So, our idea is to build a summer budget bucket list for activities that are less expensive or totally free, so you're not feeling the urge to spend your money all the time, all summer. So one idea, instead of going to an expensive brunch, you could host a backyard picnic potluck where everyone brings something to share.
Similar to this, one of my favorite ways to save money in the summer, 'cause I love eating outside in the summertime, is to bring a picnic dinner to the beach instead of like, going and eating out on a restaurant patio. Um, it's always, it's such a little thing, but it always is so much more fun and special than I think it's gonna be.
Cassidy: Yeah. Okay. I was going to mention this in a second, but I'll go ahead and mention it now. A few weeks ago, I went to a friend's birthday party and the invite just [00:12:00] said like, we're gonna meet at this beach, bring your own snacks, bring a picnic blanket. Like if you have enough snacks to share, we can all share them, but like, we're just gonna hang out.
And this was like her birthday party essentially. And it ended up being so low cost and so fun. There were probably like 15 of us. We, you know, lined all of our picnic blankets up into like this gigantic picnic blanket and all sat and we had our snacks spread out and someone brought a Bluetooth speaker so we could play some music and it ended up being so fun.
And I did buy snacks specifically for the birthday party 'cause, the girl whose birthday it was, she's gluten-free, so I was like, I wanna make sure that I have some gluten-free snacks that she can also eat if she wants. But I mean, I very easily could have dug through my pantry and been like, these are things that are good enough for me.
Like I'm gonna take these and eat it. And it would've been so low cost and like, just as fun.
Emily: Yeah, that's a great idea. Another idea would be instead of a weekend getaway planning a staycation adventure. So this could [00:13:00] be trying a new restaurant in your town, doing a new-to-you hike, or getting a day pass to a local pool or a hotel that offers, a day pass.
Cassidy: Okay. I've got a few more ideas to add to your ideas. Um, the first one is a library crawl. So you could visit like two to three different library branches in your area and check out books or DVDs from each and so you get. The same feeling is like hitting up a bunch of stores or kind of like scavenging or going thrifting or whatever.
But you get to then check out all of these things for free, which is like the ultimate flex. Um, you could also do like the zero spend friend hangout, similar to the beach idea where everyone brings something they already have, whether it's snacks, board games, clothes to swap, whatever, and you just make an event of it.
And then similar to your staycation adventure idea, you could also do, like, a one tank trip kind of thing where you see how far you can go and get back on one tank of gas in your area and then plan [00:14:00] your adventure within that range, which sounds kind of fun.
Emily: That does sound fun, and I've never done it in terms of one tank of gas, but we do live in an area with a bunch of really cute little beach towns within an hour's drive. And so that's something we'll do is like, pick a little town and go spend the day there, go to the beach, visit the shops, maybe get a meal, swim, hang out.
And it feels like we were somewhere totally new, but it was just a little day trip.
Cassidy: Yeah. I love that.
Emily: And then the last idea for having fun that won't break the bank is to get involved in some more community activities. So maybe you're picking one free community event to attend each month, like a free outdoor concert, movie on the lawn, or like going to a free museum day. something I like to do here, I live in an area with lots of farming and so I really like to go fruit picking, picking a bunch of [00:15:00] berries or whatever it is where you live, and then sharing them with friends. Like last year I did this, and like, baked a bunch of food, froze a bunch of food, and still had a bunch leftover. So I delivered some freshly picked berries to friends. And not only is it like amazing produce, but it's just like a fun activity to do as well.
Cassidy: That sounds very fun. Okay, so the last kind of category of chill money moves that we have, these are called like, set-it-and-forget-it growth moves. So these are like little small things that you can do that can end up having a big long-term impact.
And the first thing is just, pick up a weekly money podcast habit, like you could pick one personal finance podcast to listen to during walks while you're running errands or beach lounging.
Obviously we're gonna recommend The Finance Girlies, wink, wink, but also some other podcasts that we love are Money with Katie, Debt Heads, Money for Couples, and Financial Feminist. And Emily, out of the two [00:16:00] of us, you listen to a ton of podcasts in comparison to me. So do you wanna speak to any of these or add any more to the list or just share how you like to enjoy podcasts in the summer?
Emily: Mm. Typically I listen to them on walks or, where I live, we have a lot more traffic in the summer 'cause it's tourist season, so driving anywhere tends to take forever or at least it feels like it, compared to the rest of the year. So I'll also, like if I'm driving to the grocery store or wherever, that tends to, to pass the time, pretty quickly for me.
So yeah, I love Money with Katie, Debt Heads I've just barely started listening to, but I've heard about it a lot recently. So it's definitely on my radar. Money for Couples and Financial Feminist are also ones I pretty commonly listen to. And then Her Money is another good one I'd recommend.
Cassidy: Mm-hmm.
Emily: And then the last tip is to create a “Someday” list, and this could just be a [00:17:00] note in your phone or it could be a physical list on a piece of paper, but basically it's a list of any money tasks that you know you should handle, but that you don't necessarily want to spend the time taking care of in the middle of summer.
So this could be like negotiating a bill, launching a side hustle, if you have a 401(k) you need to roll over, doing that, opening an HSA, checking your investment fees. This is actually something that's been on my list. But it should take the pressure off of you from doing these things now, but it'll be a nice reminder to reduce the mental load of all these things weighing on you and it sets you up for success later on.
Cassidy: Mm. Yeah, that's a really good one. Earlier when I was talking about writing things down on a sticky note that you wanna do this summer, I feel like some of those could also go onto your “Someday” list if you're like, this is an intention of mine for this year, but not this summer necessarily. Because life is busy [00:18:00] or I've got a lot of trips planned or whatever. Um, so that could also be something to think about.
But if one of these tips stood out, give it a try this week, give it a try this summer, and then go back to soaking up that sunshine. I think that's really the only homework here.
As a reminder, we will have a downloadable in the show notes below where you can get a little checklist of everything that we've talked about so you don't have to re-listen to the episode if you were like, there was this one tip that I really wanted to do and now I can't remember the details, you can click that and pick a, pick a tip on the list, pick a chill money, move and get to it, and then have a great summer.
Emily: Yeah, and if you know of a friend who wants to make some chill money moves this summer as well, go ahead and send this episode to them.
Cassidy: We will see you next week.
Emily: That's a wrap on another episode of the Finance Girlies podcast. Nothing in this episode is meant to be taken as financial advice.
Cassidy: Please do your own research and talk to a professional if you need advice. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, don't [00:19:00] forget to subscribe, rate and review. Love you. Bye.
