Three Ways Spring Costs You More Than You Think

There is a certain magic in the air during spring (and fall, to be quite honest). The air is warm and beautiful, but the evenings are still cool and enjoyable. There is nothing I, personally, enjoy more than spending evenings outside while the kids run and play and I can sit on the deck and enjoy a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc and the company of my husband after a busy and hectic day. What’s amazing about spring, too, is how much we seem to think that it’s the time of year when we can finally save some money. It’s boat days and outside play days and fun in the sun without having to spend a dime, right? You can open the windows and turn off the heat/air, and we can just have a good time. Except, that’s not entirely true. Spring can actually cost us a bit more than we thought.

It’s the perfect time of year to stay home and do things around the house, and it often means we spend more than we think. Here is where we usually blow the budget during the spring. Now that you know, you can plan ahead and hopefully keep the budget on track.

Spring Break

You might not think you want to go anywhere during this overly busy time of year with the kids, but you’re going to keep them busy and it’s going to cost you. Staying home might be less expensive than vacation, but those ice cream dates and those pick-up-lunch and head to the park dates are going to add up after a bit.

Gardening

Every single year we want to do something new to our home in the spring. Just this weekend we had $990 worth of new mulch delivered so we can re-mulch around our house, our flower beds and do some more landscaping. Now we have to go out and pick new flowers and plants, and we’ve been thinking that an outdoor sectional would look good on our deck. That’s not cheap.

Party Planning

I know that in our house, entertaining is key. We have a house made for entertaining and we love every second of it. However, that often means that while we think we’re saving money staying in on the weekends, we are actually not. It’s a lot of wine to make sangria, a lot of beer, a lot of filets, a lot of fresh seafood and a lot of money spent on entertainment. It’s expensive, and sometimes I think having everyone bring a dish would be far better.

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