Preparing for the Summer Slide | Cleveland Bradley County Teachers Federal Credit

Whether you have children of your own or you teach children, you know that the summer slide doesn’t refer to the recreation item commonly found on playgrounds. “Summer slide” refers to the loss of knowledge that commonly occurs in students over the summer as lessons are quickly forgotten.

While parents and teachers alike do a lot to prepare students and avoid any losses over the summer break, there is another kind of summer slide that anyone with a ten-month job or a seasonal job should prepare for—the slide from regular income to a much lower (or non-existent) one.

Even if you haven’t begun to think about summer yet, the more prepared you are for a lower income, the easier things will be. Create a plan you can stick to year-round, and the only slide you will have to think about is one you can put your arms up in the air and enjoy the ride on.

Put It in the Budget

The best way to be prepared for a period when your income is going to be lower than the rest of the year is to budget for it. When you build or update your budget, the loss of cash flow should be reflected so that you have a clear picture of what those months will look like.

This can also help give you an idea of how much you should be setting aside each month in order to create some extra padding when your paycheck decreases.

Every few months, assess your budget in order to watch for excess spending. If you are building a budget for the first time, take a look at expenses from the previous year during the period in which your income was less. You can use those expenses as a guide to what the next low-pay period will look like—and as an indicator of how much you should be setting aside regularly.

If you take a vacation during your off months, start planning well in advance. Create a payment plan that allows you to get the bulk of your trip paid for during your working months. Keep your trips realistic, too. That doesn’t mean as a seasonal employee or a 10-month worker you can’t take that dream trip to Paris; instead, it may mean you plan that once-in-a-lifetime vacay two years in advance in order to pay for it without blowing your budget.

Increase Your Savings

Another way to prepare yourself for the financial summer slide (or winter slide depending on your season of employment) is to increase your savings. While setting aside a particular amount every month in your budget to create a padding for times of low or no income can be helpful, consider creating a completely separate savings account as well to lean on.

By creating an automatic deposit into a savings account, you can build your financial security for down-months without ever having to think about it. You still need to budget for those months in order to ensure you have enough to cover bills and other living expenses, and you could even consider setting up account transfers on a weekly or biweekly basis to “pay yourself” when you are on break from your regular job.

If you are a teacher or other contracted worker, another solution for handling lower income is to stretch your pay over a 12-month period instead of 10-month one. While this may feel like lowering your income, you are still bringing in the same amount of money. Adjust your budget for the variance in your paychecks to account for the lengthened time frame in order to stay on track.

Taking on a second job is always an option, but if you have planned and prepared ahead, working during your off-time can be completely out of desire instead of necessity.

Start considering how you will prepare for a financial slide. Put it in your budget, and be consistent in creating savings. Then spend your time off finding all the playground and water park slides of your dreams.

Want help creating the perfect savings account to build your financial future? Contact us and find everything you need.