Most expensive season

blondie42107 · August 2015

With summer coming to an end, we are getting ready for our oldest to return to school and getting the back to school stuff purchased. This got me thinking about which season is most expensive.

What's your most expensive season (or time of year)?

hoffse · August 2015

It used to be fall because of preparation for the holidays. Most of our family members also have fall birthdays. Now it's summer for two reasons: 1) vacation and 2) A/C.

I would say that the fall is still second most expensive. Most of the big fundraisers H and I attend happen in September and October. That usually necessitates clothes or shoes or something for me, even if it's just a rental. And of course, the holidays are expensive with food, gifts, etc.

We've gotten pretty good the last couple of years about buying holiday gifts when we're shopping on vacation. I give us a pretty generous budget for shopping anyway, and we've found that we save money by buying a souvenir from wherever. The novelty of something purchased in France or wherever means we don't feel the need to spend as much.

We are saving our Christmas shopping for the German markets this year, and I imagine that we'll be bringing back lots of ornaments or other holiday items for people. Those shouldn't be very expensive, and we should be able to keep it within our overall budget for the trip.

simplyelise · August 2015

Definitely August-November for us. Only 1 of our 7 the nieces/nephews has a bday outside of that range. We have lot's of gifts to buy early for christmas and we have our anniversary. Also, August is always our hottest month with the highest electric bill, and we pay the august bill in September. And my extended family does it's get together the first weekend in October, so we have to travel and possibly stay in a hotel for that.

blondie42107 · August 2015

With the school year comes tuition for our oldest, school fundraisers, the holidays, and majority of our family members birthdays. Although we see a little decrease in daycare costs. Also heating expenses seem to be higher than cooling. We travel more in the summer.

csuave · August 2015

Winters have been very cold here the last couple of years, so lots of heat needed. We also have to travel by plane to see the in laws for either Christmas or Thanksgiving, pay for airport parking and board the dog.

dragonstarjk · August 2015

I would say probably fall. I have four family birthdays in October and November, as well as getting ready for the holidays. Also, H is majorly into archery hunting so September can be spendy.

Summer is probably a close second with vacation and all of the fun things we like to do.

als1982 · August 2015

We did have lots of birthdays that fell in August, but otherwise I guess I'd just say Christmas. H and I don't buy each other gifts, and on my side I only have my mom and brother to buy for, but H's family buys for everyone, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, everyone. It's so annoying and expensive. I wish they would stop doing it, but they're pretty stuff-centric people so I don't see it happening. They even do the same thing for birthdays, but at least those are spread out over the year!

SmrBrd2012 · August 2015

Winter for sure. Heating costs a lot and then the holidays. Also, it's not as easy to just go for a walk or go to the park during the winter so if we do activities they end up costing $. On the other hand, cold weather turns me into a hermit, so sometimes I save money that way...

simplyelise · August 2015

als1982 said:

We did have lots of birthdays that fell in August, but otherwise I guess I'd just say Christmas. H and I don't buy each other gifts, and on my side I only have my mom and brother to buy for, but H's family buys for everyone, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, everyone. It's so annoying and expensive. I wish they would stop doing it, but they're pretty stuff-centric people so I don't see it happening. They even do the same thing for birthdays, but at least those are spread out over the year!

That is ridiculous! I've got 10 aunts and uncles and DH has 12 I think, so this would be just completely impossible for us. Oh gosh, cousins too? I don't even know how many first cousins we have together, but definitely over 30.

We do cards and phone calls for parents and siblings birthdays (7 siblings including spouses and 3 sets of parents). Right now we do $10 for each niece/nephew bday (7 kids). We do a christmas gift for each set of parents and each kid. Then on DHs side we do a white elephant exchange and on my side we do a modest drawn names exchange. We don't do any gifts for grandparents or aunts/uncles or cousins.

als1982 · August 2015

simplyelise said:

als1982 said:

We did have lots of birthdays that fell in August, but otherwise I guess I'd just say Christmas. H and I don't buy each other gifts, and on my side I only have my mom and brother to buy for, but H's family buys for everyone, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, everyone. It's so annoying and expensive. I wish they would stop doing it, but they're pretty stuff-centric people so I don't see it happening. They even do the same thing for birthdays, but at least those are spread out over the year!

That is ridiculous! I've got 10 aunts and uncles and DH has 12 I think, so this would be just completely impossible for us. Oh gosh, cousins too? I don't even know how many first cousins we have together, but definitely over 30.

We do cards and phone calls for parents and siblings birthdays (7 siblings including spouses and 3 sets of parents). Right now we do $10 for each niece/nephew bday (7 kids). We do a christmas gift for each set of parents and each kid. Then on DHs side we do a white elephant exchange and on my side we do a modest drawn names exchange. We don't do any gifts for grandparents or aunts/uncles or cousins.

Tell me about it - it's crazy! We're essentially expected to spend no less than $50 on his grandma for her birthday (and more for Christmas!), who usually sends H a link to whatever top or jewelry piece she's been eyeing at Macy's. It's a huge contrast to my family, who are the total opposite.

jessica490 · August 2015

Definitely winter just because of all the bills and it's Christmas time. We just became home owners so maybe that will change for us.

formerlyGDaisy09 · August 2015

winter, for sure. I'd say things start to ramp-up in october and by the time valentines day rolls around I'm practically begging H to just stay home and have spaghetti and meatballs.

Erikan73 · August 2015

We don't have a more expensive season. For gifts we figure out how much we are going to spend for everyone for the year. Then add a little cushion for unexpected things like a wedding or wanting to send a get well gift. Then I just divide that up over 12 months and put the money away until it's needed.

For gifts, I am starting to cut back. Like for my adult nieces & one nephew in law, they just get cards for their birthdays. Also for Christmas, my niece that is married with two kids, I get them family gifts instead of individual gifts. Like last year for christmas I got them a receipe book & molds to make their own popsicle sticks. My niece likes to go natural when possible but to buy things already made like that can be expensive. And her kids are at an age they love to help. Another year I got them a gift card for Redbox and a local grocery store so they could go & get snacks they like and do family movie nights. If it was more in my price range (and they had them closer to them) I would get them a family membership to the zoo or museums.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

For us I would say summer because of vacations and all the outdoor activities we do as a family.

cbee817 · August 2015

Based on all of our yearly expenses spreadsheets, it looks like summer is the worst for us. I think the main reason is that DH never had the option to spread his paychecks out for the full year so he always got 20 instead of 26. With his new school district, he can elect 26 so I'm hoping that will help smooth out the year a little more. We also tend to work on house projects then too because DH is home and it's our chance to get exterior work done before the snow comes.

short+sassy · August 2015

Ummm...all of them? lol. But seriously, I think they are all pretty evened out, just with money spent slightly differently.

For example, summer is expensive because cooling is more and I also ramp up my e-fund in case of an evacuation for an approaching hurricane. And a year when that does happen? Oh goodness, that is not cheap. Even a short 3-4 day evacuation will run over $1,000 for hotel, gas, and extra food.

In fall, we often get housing projects completed. We also go out more because it is the best time of year, weather-wise.

Winter and spring is when we tend to travel the most. Then there are gifts for Christmas, but we don't go crazy with that and probably only spend a few hundred total...and that includes the amount I spend for good deals during after-Christmas sales.

brij2006 · August 2015

Summer for us. We put insurance back on the toy car, and are gone a lot. It's also when we do a lot of house projects before snow starts flying again.

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

Summer, with all the things to do and weekends away. Much of it is discretionary spending, though.

blondie42107 · August 2015

short+sassy said:
Ummm...all of them? lol. But seriously, I think they are all pretty evened out, just with money spent slightly differently.
For example, summer is expensive because cooling is more and I also ramp up my e-fund in case of an evacuation for an approaching hurricane. And a year when that does happen? Oh goodness, that is not cheap. Even a short 3-4 day evacuation will run over $1,000 for hotel, gas, and extra food.
In fall, we often get housing projects completed. We also go out more because it is the best time of year, weather-wise.
Winter and spring is when we tend to travel the most. Then there are gifts for Christmas, but we don't go crazy with that and probably only spend a few hundred total...and that includes the amount I spend for good deals during after-Christmas sales.

I'm glad you mentioned planning for evacuations. That's not something I think of because I live in the north.

short+sassy · August 2015

blondie42107 said:

Ummm...all of them? lol. But seriously, I think they are all pretty evened out, just with money spent slightly differently.
For example, summer is expensive because cooling is more and I also ramp up my e-fund in case of an evacuation for an approaching hurricane. And a year when that does happen? Oh goodness, that is not cheap. Even a short 3-4 day evacuation will run over $1,000 for hotel, gas, and extra food.
In fall, we often get housing projects completed. We also go out more because it is the best time of year, weather-wise.
Winter and spring is when we tend to travel the most. Then there are gifts for Christmas, but we don't go crazy with that and probably only spend a few hundred total...and that includes the amount I spend for good deals during after-Christmas sales.
I'm glad you mentioned planning for evacuations. That's not something I think of because I live in the north.

I never thought of it either until I moved to NOLA from CA 15 years ago! And it's really random. My very first two years here, there was a mandatory evacuation each of those years. But now it has been 7-8 years since we have had one.

Typically, evacuations last 3-5 days. But then Katrina was a game changer that no one could have prepared for. My H and I had one suitcase between us...thinking we wouldn't be gone for more than a few days. We didn't come back for three months! Crazy times.

BlueBirdMB · September 2015

I think it evens out. Summer is pretty inexpensive for us cost wise. We live where people vacation in the summer, so we spend most free days hanging at nearby lakes. We take our vacation in either the spring or fall. If we don't vacation in fall (or spring), we do home improvements. And then winter, there's Christmas.

vlagrl29 · September 2015

short+sassy said:

blondie42107 said:

Ummm...all of them? lol. But seriously, I think they are all pretty evened out, just with money spent slightly differently.
For example, summer is expensive because cooling is more and I also ramp up my e-fund in case of an evacuation for an approaching hurricane. And a year when that does happen? Oh goodness, that is not cheap. Even a short 3-4 day evacuation will run over $1,000 for hotel, gas, and extra food.
In fall, we often get housing projects completed. We also go out more because it is the best time of year, weather-wise.
Winter and spring is when we tend to travel the most. Then there are gifts for Christmas, but we don't go crazy with that and probably only spend a few hundred total...and that includes the amount I spend for good deals during after-Christmas sales.
I'm glad you mentioned planning for evacuations. That's not something I think of because I live in the north.

I never thought of it either until I moved to NOLA from CA 15 years ago! And it's really random. My very first two years here, there was a mandatory evacuation each of those years. But now it has been 7-8 years since we have had one.
Typically, evacuations last 3-5 days. But then Katrina was a game changer that no one could have prepared for. My H and I had one suitcase between us...thinking we wouldn't be gone for more than a few days. We didn't come back for three months! Crazy times.

Wow you live in NOLA? I don't think I could live in a place like that which is technically under sea level right? DH and I spent part of our vacation there back in 2010. The architecture there is really neat.

short+sassy · September 2015

@vlagrl29, yep, I live in NOLA. We are under sea level which, unfortunately, does have its challenges. Water has to be pumped out of the city when it rains hard instead of it just flowing naturally out. But, like anywhere else, there are good and bad aspects and you just learn to live/deal with the bad. For example, in the case of hurricanes/flooding...we carry good, albeit expensive, property and flood insurance. But it does have its unique challenges and certainly isn't for everyone.

I've never lived where it snowed and, although I'm sure I'd learn to manage/drive in snow, I would have to have an exceedingly good reason to move to a colder climate because it is just not what I am used to.

Despite the area always being prone to flooding, NOLA is one of the oldest cities on the continent because of our importance as a port city. Even in the present day, we have the second largest port in the country for volume...2nd only to NYC. If your item or raw material came from South America, you can bet dollars for doughnuts it entered the US in NOLA .

"Off the beaten path" tourist tip: Wander into the Marigny area (next to the Quarter) on a weekday early in the morning (6-7AM). The air is alive with the smell of coffee! Most coffee beans come through the Port of NOLA and there are two coffee processing factories in that area.

For my personal goals of being a real estate investor, NOLA is a great place to be. Houses prices vs. rental rates are very advantageous.

Okay, I'll stop bragging on my city now .

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