Summer is a time that begs for relaxation, but unfortunately, it's also the time of year when our wallets can melt faster than ice cream on a hot day. That's why today I have an episode for you about how to plan your summer pleasantly and financially wisely, so you can enjoy it to the fullest and guilt-free, while also avoiding entering autumn empty-handed.

Let’s look at the traps that lurk in our finances during summer, because summer is a specific time, a time of increased social gatherings, trips, and all sorts of things we associate with pleasure and relaxation. While this certainly has many advantages, it also comes with its own unique traps. The first trap is the Yolo effect and summer FOMO.

Both effects are really related to the fact that, in the case of the Yolo effect, we assume that you only live once, meaning that if I feel like spending money, why should I deny myself that? After all, life is short. Very often, during the summer, we have this attitude that we're finally entitled to something because we've been working hard all year. And now we finally want to not have to deny ourselves anything. And the second thing is the FOMO effect, or the fear of missing out. The fear of missing out on something in life, that this vacation will fly by, that other people are doing all these fantastic things, so we don't want to save either, since we see others having such a great time in the summer and enjoying life. So, both of these effects usually lead to more impulsive purchases.

It's not worth denying ourselves pleasures that enhance our quality of life, that give us a lot of joy, a lot of satisfaction, a sense of fulfillment. But at the same time, it's not worth spending money impulsively on things we might quickly regret later. Unfortunately, these impulsive expenses often leave us with a hangover, a financial hangover, or the feeling that we simply spent too much money and that it wasn't really worth it. So, it's worth watching out for this trap: the belief that we're entitled to it, that others are doing cool things, so we should too.

The second trap that often lurks in our finances, especially in the summer, is all the costs of small pleasures. And here, too, if you've been listening to me for a while, you know my take on the late effect. The late effect says that daily takeout coffees, despite being small expenses, ultimately add up to large sums and drain our finances. Well, it might be about iced coffee during our trip, but often it's about daily ice cream, daily trips to restaurants, sometimes for lunch and dinner, or breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So it's definitely worth being careful not to blow our budget on completely random things we don't even care about. On a randomly purchased coffee, even though we had coffee for breakfast at our hotel an hour ago, and so on. Let's treat ourselves, but let's not spend that money so carelessly. Especially since these small things are often expensive in various resorts and typical vacation spots, and these amounts can add up to a considerable sum. You might want to consider buying a local souvenir instead, which might be more expensive, but will bring you long-lasting joy.

Another trap, which also often happens during vacation, is the illusion of cheap travel. We usually have a substantial budget allocated for this purpose and are aware that many things may be more expensive than in our usual place of residence, or simply that these various expenses can multiply and pile up. However, sometimes we take a staycation, say, in a large city where we live every day for the summer. We don't take a long vacation, but we still want to enjoy the summer, and we take many such small trips. Maybe weekend trips or day trips to a specific city. And sometimes we think these short trips are cheap, but then a lot of things start to add up.

Of course, when we're going somewhere, we want to eat. When we're spending the night in a place, hotel prices, especially on weekends, can be much higher. Sometimes we don't factor in travel costs and, for example, slightly more expensive fuel. Sometimes we don't account for the fact that tickets to a place are expensive, especially if we buy them at the last minute and so on. It might seem like we're not going anywhere, we're not doing anything special, but suddenly it turns out there's a big hole in our budget because those one-day or weekend trips have ruined it. It’s better to have a specific budget for summer trips.

We also need to mention this trap: all the additional vacation costs that we often don't think about or don't consider early enough. These could include, for example, travel insurance costs. Many people, especially when traveling alone, simply don't budget for this in advance. For example, buying insurance when traveling somewhere, especially abroad, or when we want to participate in some sporting activity. This expense is worth the cost. Of course, these can also include things like roaming charges and all kinds of currency exchange, especially if we don't usually have a multi-currency card, for example, or if we don't prepare in advance to have the right tariff with our carrier, and so on. It's always worth planning this extra budget for summer trips so that we don't get surprised by categories we hadn't thought of before.

Now it's time for a few practical tips on how to avoid overspending. The first rule is to have a separate holiday account or a specific amount that you plan to spend on your entire vacation or the entire summer. Therefore, it's worth planning a specific budget, and ideally, at the beginning of your vacation or even just before it, transfer this budget to a separate account or a prepaid, multi-currency card. You can transfer your entire summer budget there, and that way you'll have control over how quickly it dwindles. For example, you transfer a specific budget for July and August, and when you see that 70% of it has suddenly been used up in July, you already feel that, firstly, you probably won't stick to the budget, or you need to tighten the budget significantly and see where all that money is going, why we didn't estimate these expenses earlier.

Generally, this principle of a vacation budget often works for people who struggle with discipline, especially on vacation. They are very spontaneous and even like it, but sometimes they feel that, especially when traveling, in a foreign city or country where we feel good, this spontaneity starts to get out of control. If you feel like you have a tendency to enjoy life without limits, to sometimes literally lose control of your spending, then a vacation budget is very sobering. It's a powerful discipline when we see how quickly our money dwindles. Controlling our spending during the holidays will help us avoid unpleasant disappointment in the fall, right after the holidays. Sooner or later, we'll have to face this challenge.

Another tip: if you want to buy something, wait 24 hours and then consider whether you still want to buy it. When I'm in a place I like, I often browse local shops; sometimes I'm tempted to buy a souvenir. And of course, it's fantastic to explore local shops, local brands, local producers, and artisans. But when I'm in a place longer, I apply the 24-hour rule even more, because I assume I can always return to a shop. This is a rule that works for me even better on vacation or when traveling than on everyday spending, but I apply it year-round, and I encourage you to try it if you haven't already. There are so many beautiful things available these days, so many beautiful souvenirs, that we're often tempted to spend money on vacation to enjoy life, to find something to enjoy later. I much more often buy something on vacation something I'll actually use. I buy shoes, a scarf or a hat, or a shirt or blouse, and when I wear them, they remind me of where I was, how I spent my time. So you can really buy things differently, in a way that's still practical, but also one that makes you happy, and avoid spending money on things that will later become a hassle.

And one more tip is the rule of looking for free or cheaper alternatives to spending your free time in an interesting way. As I mentioned earlier, when it comes to vacations, we often experience FOMO, and we often want to spend money because we assume we only live once. So if we feel like we can't really stick to our budget, or that we simply don't want to, let's consider how we can spend our time differently so that it doesn't involve major expenses and consumption, or simply letting the money slip through our fingers. Instead of going out to a restaurant or an expensive club, or some expensive and trendy place, we can have a picnic in the park, especially one where picnics are easy. You can go for a bike ride if you already have bikes, or rent one cheaply. And that will also be unforgettable memories. We can make ourselves a coffee or a cocktail in our own thermal mug and ride with it, or eat a sandwich in the forest or at some viewpoint we reach. Many cities organize fantastic events, including various city festivals and free concerts, and free summer cinemas. These can include free days or open days at museums. In general, when traveling to Western countries, you can often check if there's a day of the week or month when specific museums are free. These things happen frequently and are worth taking advantage of, especially if you're on a tight budget.

Remember that managing your finances in the summer isn't all that different from managing your finances at any other time of the year. In fact, there are a few additional traps, perhaps specific ones, related to spending money. We often encounter various summer promotions, spontaneous trips, and all sorts of expenses, but all of this often recurs at other times of the year, as such spontaneous spending can also arise when someone suddenly invites you to their birthday party and you know you need to buy a gift. Such temptations to spend heavily also appear during the pre-holiday period or during all those Black Weeks and Black Weekends, and so on.

However, in the summer, we often allow ourselves more leeway, and the most important thing is to ensure that this leeway doesn't end in a post-holiday financial hangover. Instead of returning refreshed and entering autumn with great energy, you find yourself with zero or almost zero in your account, having spent a lot, experiencing financial anxiety, or, heaven forbid, even unplanned debts, all for those few moments of feeling better. Remember, peace of mind matters most and that comes from feeling in control of your money, not restricted by it. Finances that leave room for spontaneity, but still have limits you actually stick to, are what let you relax and truly enjoy your vacation.