Here Comes the Summer (Big Spending List)

Summer of our Discontented Spending

Yes, Mrs. C8j suggested that I do a post about the upcoming summer and ask, “Are you ready for the summer?”, and when I ask it of course is asking, “Have you figured out how not to bankrupt yourself this coming summer?” ( Yes I realize it is supposed to be the Winter of our Discontent, I am taking poetic license)

What could be so expensive for the summer? If you don’t have kids, not as much, but some of this list still might fit into things that you might want to start thinking about now:

1. How are you going to pay for camp this summer? If your kids are in Daycare then you are already half way there, but what if your kid wants to go to a sleepover camp? We are talking some large amounts of cash, for your kid to have an all expenses paid trip to the woods. I checked and one camp my kids went to, it’s about $700 per week at the camp. Not cheap, is it?
2. What about around the house? Does your deck look like it’s about to fall over, or you are about to fall through that? How is that going to get paid for? How about the roof? If it’s older than 10 years old, better go check it, because you don’t want to wait too long for that. A roof could cost between $3000 and $12000 depending on your house size and who you hire (and whether you want it to last more than 2 years). Those windows that are allowing snow to blow into rooms might need replacing too.
3. Hey, don’t just send the kids on vacation, let’s do a family vacation. How much is that all going to cost? Depends, but given that gas is now $1.20 a liter in Ottawa, don’t think driving somewhere is going to be that cheap. I have no guess on this one, any commenters wishing to chime in, feel free.
4. How about the family car? Does it need new tires? How about a new transmission? Maybe a head gasket job? Maybe it’s time to retire the money pit and get a new one? Yes, that one is not going to be cheap.
5. Maybe your kids are returning from University, and will descend upon you like a swarm of locusts, treating your house like a bed and breakfast (and complaining there is not enough food in it) (pure conjecture on my part). That is going to start costing you in food, electricity, Internet Fees, water and gas in your car.
6. Planning on running your Air Conditioning this summer? Can you afford it now, especially in Ontario where rates vary by time of day (so running a power hog like your a/c during the day might be even more expensive than last year).
7. You will need some more summer clothing for the kids (because most municipalities frown on your kids walking around in the nude), and maybe after packing on 15 pounds this winter, you might need some new clothes too?
8. You know a good place to get out of the heat in the summer is the mall, whoops, impulse shopping trips sound expen$ive!
9. You know there is nothing better than a bunch of cold beverages on the deck (hopefully after I fix it), but that stuff isn’t cheap either. Adding more beverages to your grocery bill can kick up your spending a surprising amount.

As you can see by no means is this an exhaustive list of the expenses that may come up this summer, however, if you don’t plan for them now, it could make for a nasty fall (paying off your summer).

Are there any Summer Expenses I have missed? This list is by no means any kind of reflection of where I might be spending money this summer (yeh… right!).