Vacations Don't Last Forever

It's summertime and that usually means it's time to relax, take a break, and hopefully take a vacation. We relax our wardrobe to shorts and flip flops. We go on vacation and relax our minds and bodies. Unfortunately, we also tend to relax our watchful eye on our money. When we do that, we can easily get off track.  And 3 months without budgeting becomes a problem!

No matter what time of year, it's still important that you stay on track. I get it, though. I'm right there with you. It's hard. If I let a whole week go by, there is a 100% chance that I will veer away from my money plan and overspend. So, you might be saying, if Ericka has trouble, what am I supposed to do?

First of all, don't feel like you can't enjoy yourself and take a little bit of a break. You can. You just need to plan for it.

Planning for it can take many forms. You can say "this month, we're not going to pay anything extra towards our debt."  Just make sure it's only a month and then you get right back to your plan. You see, that's not getting off track. That is a planned pause at the station before continuing on your journey.  In addition, this keeps you from using a credit card to fund your summer fun.

Lastly, when you decide to take a break, don't let yourself feel guilty. You've planned for it. I've given you permission (if that's what you need to take a break).  There must be no guilt. Enjoy the break. If you don't, then you will have a much harder time getting back on track or worse, you'll get burned out with staying on the plan and end up quitting all together.

The key here, as always, is to plan. Keep in mind that this is a break and not a stop and you'll be just fine. So go enjoy the lazy days of summer but don't let yourself get too lazy when it comes to the budget. Think of this as your summertime refresh.  Now go enjoy, stay on plan, and stay the course!