Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

To the three dedicated readers I have out there, I apologize. I got bored with my updates and assumed you were in the same boat. So I enjoyed my summer instead.

This is a wrap up of our Summer Spending Challenge. We kicked off our challenge at the beginning of July to bring our summer Entertainment expenses down to $1000. This represents a reduction of 70% of our normal summer spending. 

Results from 9 weeks

We didn’t do great, but we did okay. We hit our goal… and then bought a bike for our 8 year old.

  • Goal: $111/week ($1000/9 weeks)
  • All Weeks: $1389
  • Difference: The cost of a shiny new bike
Summer Spending Challenge Week 9 Chart

Summer Spending Challenge Week 9 Chart

I have to admit, it was so close I could taste it! But when our daughter got used to a properly sized bike and started using beginner features at the bike park, I stopped bitching. We searched for a good quality used bike, but couldn’t find anything that wasn’t either trashed or >$800 (for one that cost $2500 new!). So we found last years model at MEC for $425. She’s happy and I’m content that our challenge brought our spending down ~50%.  

Highlights of the summer

Looking back, there are several highlights:

  • Painting rocks and hiding them in the forest for other kids to find
  • Hanging out with friends while our kids dig holes in dirt piles, for hours and hours…
  • Making handcrafted soap, we now have 200+ bars and will attempt to sell them for the Christmas season
  • Powering through the last 4 seasons of Game of Thrones, enjoyable except for the train wreck that was season 8, obviously

It was a great experience to monitor our spending so closely this summer, and I found myself feeling oddly accountable to each of you. Spending is such an emotional thing, and our Entertainment category is especially so. I might even be slightly more empathetic next time I hear “But, I just wanted it!”