How to Make and Save More for Summer

The end of the year and the start of a new one isn't far away. It also happens to be the time of year that is more expensive for most families due to increased electricity bills, celebrations, time off work, school holidays and all the back to school expenses happening within a few weeks of each other.

Now is a great time to look at ways you can make and save money. Check out all the tips and links to different articles in the article How To Save Money In Summer.

Avoid using credit or debt if at all possible and instead look at how you can get things for free. I have a huge list of freebies that we update here.

This time of year, people get busier and tend to need more help at home from babysitting to cleaning and gardens. This means you can pick up extra work along those lines for the next few months and not be committed to doing it long-term. Check out more articles with ways to make money here.

Making and selling Christmas items is an option for this time of year. You can list them on Facebook Marketplace, Etsy or consider doing markets.

If you have any purchases this time of year, make sure you use cash-back promotions and programs. Sign up for cash-back programs now if you haven't already. They can save you thousands. My favourites are here.

If you have to travel this time of year, look at ways to save money on travel now and plan accordingly.

Think about family fun too. How can you make sure you're still creating great memories for your kids, connecting and having fun? We are a close family but most of what we do is free or cheap. Check out 37 frugal family activities.

Since the electricity bills can go up a lot, be sure to read through and apply these 17 tips to reduce the cost of electricity and these 19 tips to keep cool in summer.

As for making extra money, Airtasker can be great this time of year as people need more help than normal. Read how to make money with Airtasker for my experience and tips.

Do what you can to make and save money now if you know things are going to be tight.

Make It Easier

If you aren't working as much over summer or want to get your finances in order for the upcoming year, one thing you can do is aim to clear debt.

Do everything you can for the rest of this year to clear any debt you have and the feeling of relief and freedom once it's gone will be a fantastic way to bring in the new year.

Read 6 tips to easily reduce debt.

Get Your Freebies

This time of year can get busy so make sure you put aside a little time to check you have access to every discount and freebie that is available to you to help this time of year.

Check out our list of state by state help here.

​Read through the list of discounts for those with health care cards, pension cards and similar.

​Sign up for birthday freebies now so you can access them when it is your birthday. Most need you to be a member for at least a month before your birthday to be eligible.

​Check out the huge list of freebies and sign up bonuses as we have updated it again for this time of year with some new offers.

Our Meal Plan

We fly to Tonga tomorrow for 2 weeks then have 3 weeks in Vanuatu which means we are not meal planning. We will eat local and enjoy whatever is in season.

My older kids are Tongan/Maori and my younger kids are Ni-Vanuatu so we are used to island cuisine. We will share what we have, some of our favourites and tips to reduce the cost of groceries on our social media.

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