Money date No. 25: Summertime

And the livin’s easy…

Does heading into summer give you Big Money Feelings? I sort of forget this cycle until it hits every year; my relationship with money changes quite a bit in the summer.

I first noticed it when I was in college: Student loan refunds during the school year put extra money in my pocket, and focusing on school gave me fewer opportunities to spend money. Then summer would hit — no refund and tons of opportunities for extra spending. Family events, road trips, parties, patio drinks with friends. Money always felt tight in the summer, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about my finances. The pattern continued as I moved into adulthood working a combination of hourly service jobs and freelance gigs — busy summers always meant less time to work and less money coming in, coupled with more opportunities to spend.

I’ve mostly broken out of that boom-bust pattern these days, even when I’m freelancing. But the carefree feeling of summer is still there, especially in Wisconsin, where our warm, sunny days are so fleeting. The last thing anyone wants to do is crunch numbers. My money date this week felt like a little bit of a slog (the numbers part, not the writing to you all part!), and I expect that feeling will stick for a couple of months. I don’t mind it; I’m really not afraid to be less worried about money for a little while! It’s probably a good thing that this season rolls around every year, drags me outside and forces me to think less about all the things that get me down over the winter.

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💡 Inspired by a Healthy Rich contributor, a money date is an exercise I crafted for You Don’t Need a Budget. Subscribers can follow along in a private space after the paywall, and I encourage you to steal my questions to guide your own reflections!

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What’s the most joyful thing you did with money this week?