We've already been in full on warm-weather mode for a while now. We try to get to the beach whenever possible, Instagram more than our fair share of ice cream, and exclusively drink rosé. But the truth is, summer hasn't even officially started yet.
In fact, the summer of 2016 truly begins June 20 and ends September 21. (That's 94 more days.) What does this mean for us? Well, we get to start our favorite season all over again — a do-over, if you will. Which is probably a good thing, given we've already blown a lot of the cash we saved for trips, excursions, and other sunny-day activities.
In an effort to be more cost-effective and save up for some cool shit, we're tweaking our food-spending habits. Surprisingly, a few simple swaps can put hundreds, even thousands, of dollars back in our bank accounts. Ahead, see exactly how much you could save over the course of the summer. We did the math.
Try one, try them all, or just read through to see the shocking amount we spend on iced coffee each year. Summer, take two, here we come!
We've all fallen victim to the cold brew coffee trend. Yes, it's delicious, but it's also more costly than its regular iced counterpart. At Starbucks, a grande iced coffee is approximately £2.50 (depending where you are in the country). And if you hit up an artisanal coffee shop, one cup can be closer to £4.
Making your own coffee is way cheaper. Plus, you can easily make iced coffee at home. Just brew your cup the night before and stick it in the fridge. That way, you won't have to worry about icing it hot (which leads to watery java) or have to waste grounds by making it stronger as to compensate for ice dilution.
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
If you buy Starbucks coffee to make at home at about £8 per 500g (but you could go even cheaper!), it only costs around 50p per serving. So, that's a total of £47 over the course of summer (94 days) versus the whopping £235 we'd spent if we hit up Sbux for a cold brew every day.
*We left out milk and sugar, because they only add a few pennies per day. Plus we need and use them for other things, too.
A Plane Ticket
So, you won't be travelling across continents, but this is definitely enough for a getaway somewhere with a nice beach.
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
It's hard to pack a lunch when we know we can go out and grab something or even order Seamless straight to our desks. But the cost difference between bringing and buying is pretty shocking. Depending on your favourite method of purchased lunch, it can cost anywhere between £5-10 a day. (Even more if you're dealing with delivery minimums and fees.) However, packing is almost always much less expensive. In fact, you can easily bring a lunch for less than a fiver a day.
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
There are 66 weekdays this summer (not including the bank holiday). If you pack and aim for £4 a pop or less, you'll spend a maximum of £264 total. Whereas if you spending £5 or £10 a day, you'll end up blowing £330 or £660 on lunch, respectively.
Accomodation
Now, you've got the cash for an Airbnb or hotel to go with that plane ticket.
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
Every time we go out with friends and order round after round of cocktails, we spend way more money than we anticipate. Even if we're just ordering an £5 or £6 glass of wine, it adds up quickly. But that all changes dramatically if you pregame at home. Even if it's just limiting the amount of drinks you have out by having one before you leave, you'll still save some major cash. Plus, since summer is all about the rosé, it's not like we really even need a fancy mixologist to whip us up a £10 cocktail.
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
If you find a bottle of £7 rosé that you like, you'll be spending around £1.17 per glass, which is a huge difference from going to a restaurant or a bar. If you were planning on drinking, say, two glasses of rosé per summer weekend, that's £33 if you pregame at home, versus £200 for enjoying said vino elsewhere.
Vacation Extras
Sounds like food, extra transportation, and miscellaneous costs for that impromptu trip we've been planning are covered — and then some.
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
We're serial brunchers and we're not afraid to admit it, and while we we don't want to give up our favourite midday meal altogether, we can make more of an effort to make our own.
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
If you invite a few friends over, you can easily split the cost of ingredients and only spend around £5 each. There are nine weekends this summer, so if you do homemade brunch one day per weekend, you'll spend £45. That's instead of the £180 you would spend going out at £20 per meal.
A new bag (Or put the ££ towards one...) for the summer?
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
Cooking every weeknight during the summer isn't exactly enticing, especially as temperatures rise and the last thing we want to do is spend time in the kitchen. But getting a takeaway on the regular for £10 or more a night isn't exactly a great solution, either.
llustrated by Seeta Kanhai.
Our fix? Swap three meals that you would be spending £10 on normally for dinners at home where you can spend £5 or less. And you don't even have to turn on the heat. You could opt even for no-cook meals or throw together some smorgasbord-style supermarket eats. There are 13 full weeks of summer, so if you swap cooking in for £5 three days a week, and swap out a bigger £10 purchase, you'll spend £195 instead of £390.
A Really Fancy Resto Meal
At this point, we might be better off pocketing some of our cash in our savings accounts. But if you're still in full-on summertime-splurge mode or you're not doing all of the aforementioned food swaps, we love treating ourselves to a nice meal after eating in a bunch. With this much cash, you could even go full-on tasting menu.
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