Summertime is certainly here, and with it come barbeques, outdoor sports, and vacations – as well as the inevitable increase in household spending. Kids need something to do, gas prices skyrocket, and the electric bill climbs up along with the rising heat. What almost never accompanies these summer month expenditures is the increase in household income. Kids can mow lawns to make their ends meet, but what about you?

You’re already hard at work during the day and so is the spouse. You’ve streamlined the summertime expenses, but don’t want to be forced to cancel the annual trip to see some family in Florida. Coupons are cut out, the air conditioning is monitored diligently, and still gas prices rise and your bank account lowers. What’s a family to do?

Depending on your particular situation, you could consider trying one of the following ideas. Some are simple, some seem a little too simple, but none are complicated and they all do a good job putting you back in black during the red hot season.

Keep the fridge stocked

The refrigerator and freezer consume nearly 17% of a home’s energy, more than any other appliance. You can cut down the amount of energy it takes for your fridge to keep cool by keeping it full. By doing so, the cold temperature of the fridge can be better re-established after it’s been open on account of the cold items already inside. Keep several pitchers and other containers of water inside to take up space and to always have cold water available.

Recirculate air correctly

We should all know why the recirculation button accompanies most automobile air conditioning systems – it allows for colder inside air to be re-used which saves your engine some trouble. But not everybody knows the best way to go about using it properly. You should start your car with just the A/C running for at least ten minutes before applying the recirculation function in order to build up enough cold air for it to function the right way.

Look for online work

I can’t say you’ll be able to find a way to make stacks of cash by sitting at your computer, but if you’re spending money on keeping your home cool why not try and earn some money while you’re inside of it? Sites like Survey Head are always looking for people to take surveys through their home computer. Cold hard cash takes several surveys to amass, but these sites tend to always provide very useful product giveaways and other gifts and promotional items. What’s an hour worth of clicking “yes” or “no” while you watch TV if it means you can get some free toothbrushes for the family?

Use a clothesline

There’s no reason why anybody should be drying their clothes in a drying machine when it’s hot enough outside to fry an egg on an engine block. Clotheslines can be assembled pretty much anywhere on Earth where there are two walls next to each other or any other object you can tie a string to. Spend an hour assembling yourself a clothesline apparatus and enjoy free clothes drying for several months. Take a survey to net yourself some fabric softener.

Shop online and save

Whenever possible, shop online. It saves you a lot of cash. Coupon codes are a lot easier to find than the ones floating around newspapers and junk mail, and so long as you order something from another state there’s no state sales tax applied. When you consider all the time you spend driving from one place to another finding the right “bargain”, burning fuel to do so, it’s crazy still wanting to stick to traditional mall rat tactics.

You don’t need to cancel the family trip to save on summertime costs. You just need to know which corners to cut and where you can find opportunity when you otherwise can’t find the time. The summer shouldn’t be synonymous with spending money. Start associating the season with saving starting today.