With a huge tuition bill looming for my sophomore year at Simpson and high gas prices burning a much larger hole in my pocket than ever before, I’m being extremely frugal with my money this summer. I’m trying to stash away as much as I can for this upcoming school year, both for tuition and for spending money. I’m also trying to build up my emergency fund and all my other savings accounts as well, so I’m diverting money each week to ING for that. After setting aside money each week for these purposes, there’s not a ton left, meaning my summer is frugal by necessity.

Recreation: I’m utilizing free or extremely cheap recreation as much as possible. I play tennis, shoot hoops in the driveway, and go golfing on our local course. Total cost = $0. I already had all of the equipment, and we have a family membership to the country club. I also work out at the high school, which thankfully allows grads to use the facilities free of charge. The alternative would be a $40+ a month gym in town, which I’m not too fond of anyway.

Entertainment: I rent from Redbox for $1 instead of going to the movies (although I did splurge on Kung Fu Panda the other night- well worth it!) I also make use of movies we already own or that are on TV. Speaking of TV, a night of Discovery or Nat Geo channel makes for some awesome and totally free (for me anyway) entertainment. I also hang out with my friends a good deal, and a night of frozen pizzas, ping pong, and just goofing off is a cheap yet fun way to spend my time.

Now I do have some upcoming events that aren’t exactly frugal material, namely our proposed trip to Wrigley Field to see a Cubs game. This is something that I really want to do, although it’s going to get pricey in a hurry. What I’ve been doing is taking my allocated fun/rec money each week and putting some away specifically for this purpose. Say I give myself $50 a week for spending money. I’ll put $20 in my Chicago fund and get by on the $30 that’s left for that week. By the time late July rolls around, I’ll have plenty saved up to enjoy my trip guilt free. It’s also a big motivator to live cheaply right now, as I know I’m saving for something really awesome.

With my limited summer income, I think I’ve nailed down a good way to use my money. It’s tough when a lot of my peers blow absolutely every penny that they make from work. They seemingly have a lot more money to throw around than I do, but only because they have no money smarts at all. I get offers constantly to go to Des Moines, to a movie, or something else that I really don’t want to spend money on. Most of the time I just have to politely turn them down. It sucks sometimes, but it’s still worth it. I love the satisfaction I get from budgeting properly.