Weekly Poll - Least expensive season?

[Russ]

What is your least expensive season of the year??

Take into consideration everything if you can.

For example: This time of year the gardens should be producing quite a bit, but some of you may be buying school supplies and clothes.

Maybe list some things to stockpile now (summer) to make winter less expensive.

Stockpile roasts in your freezer, they tend to cost more in the winter.

[nodmicks]

I'm going to say winter for us.

We prepay our heating bill for the season in the summer. In the summer we go places more, have the prepay for the winters fuel and air conditioning costs. If the winter heating was not paid in full in the summer winter would not be cheapest for us!

. The garden is kicking out good in summer but we put more than we eat into the freezer for the winter season. That saves on winter food bills.

.I hate winter and sub zero temps so I do not tend to want to go running around on my days off. That saves gas and $

.dh hunts and does tons of ice fishing further reducing food costs in the winter.

. in winter all the school clothes and supplies are already bought so school isn't such a big expense. Our school lunch is $2.40 and 1 kid likes and wants hot lunch. In the summer when the teens are home my boys seriously eat non stop it seems. It is less expensive to pay for that school lunch daily than having him home all summer eating non stop.

.winter cooking involves lots of chili's, stews, soups and comfort type dishes which are cheaper on our budget than all the grilling we do in warmer weather. Hubby eats a lot and can put 4 pork chops away. 3 bowl of chili is less expensive than 4 chops.

.also during winter and the holiday season we stock up on things that go on sale like turkeys, ham and baking supplies. Ds has been wanting ham and I can't find it now under $2.99 a lb. During the holidays they are .99 a lb.

. as far as driving we are 30 miles from most things. No way with my hilly twisty drive and Wisconsin's snowy winters and crappy county plowing and salting job am I going on non work days. It is frightening enough on the days it is cruddy and I have to drive the 30 miles to work.

[monkeywrangler71]

I said spring, but it might be fall. Winter is expensive because of heating costs, summer is expensive because we want to go out and do stuff all the time. It rains less in the spring, so I can dry more clothes, and I tend to go on an organizing/cleaning frenzy, which is cheap entertainment . Fall rains more, which means more dryer, but produce is cheaper than spring and the heat is on less.

[Contrary Housewife]

Either winter (Jan-Mar) or spring (Apr-Jun). Both seasons are pretty quiet for us socially, we don't go a lot of places or spend money on things. Our electric bill is even-pay, and in winter we use more gas, so that costs. In spring we use the least gas and electric in the nice weather, but I think we take a few more weekend trips.

Our food costs are stable all year round. Even if produce or meat is cheaper seasonally, or I'm getting stuff from the garden I make up the amount with other items. Like, if produce is cheap in the summer, I am stocking up on meat or dry goods.

[Jamielane]

I said Winter. Our heating costs are much lower then our cooling costs. We stay home much more and we dont have to maintain the pool or the yard as actively. I mean in the winter the yard maintainence is shoveling if it snows and we own the shovel so thats easy. DH gets salt often times from work (with his bosses permission) for free . I am happy to pile on blankets , sweaters or plug in a heating pad while I am here alone all day to keep the furnace off or very low. Fall is very expensive because of the school start up costs and several birthdays. Plus on top of school supplies is the yearbooks (which are getting outrageous) and school pictures ( I still only get the cheapest package but its the only portraits we do). In the summer the kids are here and usually so are their friends which means much higher food costs. In the winter I cook alot of soup and chili which go a long way. Spring is more birthdays and then the kids almost always need clothes in the spring for the warmer weather.

[NikoSan999]

I said Winter because
This is Fl..spring is hot before spring gets here...fall is hot...hence electric bill
Fall into winter is when the groceries go their best sales...BOGO etc and coupons are more abundant...hence stockpiling

Winter...until this last winter we only even turned the heat on maybe 7 to 10 times in the morning to warm up the house. Past winter tho was different story...still cheaper than air.
Sales start sucking so not spending as much on stocking
Not much else I can think of right now but I'd have to say Winter

[Momto5RN]

i vote fall

~AC can go off and windows open

~no heat on yet for alot of the time- if it gets a little cool i can get away with using the wood burning stove without alot of complaints of its still cold .

~no kids birthdays ( 3 of mine are april, 1 is Dec ; 1 is feb )
( exteneded family is all year round as big as dhs family is )

~no dance recitals to need to pay for costumes or tickets - less gas spent getting dd to extra practices etc

~no cheer competitions to go to and pay for

~BTS stuff is technically bought at end of summer for me.

no swim club dues to send in - no proms - no graduations to prepare parties fo r or find gifts for ; no vacations to need a down payment for the summer vacation ( if e do anything )

no money spent on gardening stuff except a few mums for front . steps

[WV_mom_of2]

Winter here.

The a/c isn't running

I am laid off from work so there is no gas to buy, no lunches to buy things for, no birthdays or cookouts to contribute to.

I cook more when I'm home in the winter so we spend less on lunch meats, bread and convenience foods

The kids are in school and eating far less than what they do at home

[nuisance26]

~January to March is the least expensive for us. We just finish up a round of birthdays in late December so everyone is satisfied with getting stuff. I love staying home and cooking frugal foods. We all like the house very cool. No major premiums are due. We handle home improvements and repairs when it gets warmer. We actually take a road trip to NC every year for the Super Bowl and still spend less than average during the season.~

[McD]

I chose winter for several reasons---

1. we don't go out and about as often.
2. I use my crockpot more.
3. we have a heat pump that we use that pulls air from outside to heat the house unless it hits -20.
4. hubby's car is on storage insurance and he drives a beater. Huge savings.

[frugalwarrior2]

I guess spring. Not that hot or cold. School is almost out??? There all expensive these days

[frugalfranny]

Summer........for sure.

I don't have any 'major bills' coming due (IE: prop. taxes, car ins.)...........the garden is producing so it saves on the grocery bill..........I take food and water when I go out and about, unless going out to eat....don't have to worry about AC here......and no heat on.......even less washing of clothes but only due to size/weight of clothes. I can go almost two weeks before I have a full load of summer clothes as opposed to about 5 days of winter (fleece) clothes.

If I wasn't stockpiling stuff in the summer I could probably get by on about $30 for a MONTH of groc. (gotta have my milk and watermelon!! :laugh)

[greekislandgirl]

Spring for us.

We don't use heat or AC in the spring, and we are ready to go out and do stuff outside (not spending money). It's also my "use everything up" season because we move away for the summer (husband is a teacher), and I tend to want to get rid of everything in the pantry. There was one week this spring where we spent 20 cents for food, for two people (I think it was a lemon).

The summer is sort of cheaper because for July/August we don't pay rent or utilities BUT it's also when we stockpile and do all our doctors and dentists visits, as well as any "stuff" we're going to buy. We also get the car serviced, pay car insurance, and go out much more often than the rest of the year.

[dcompton]

I said winter, but that's to some degree a guess. My electric is averaged payments, but the actual cost is less for heating than cooling, and the A/C is on from early May (if I can hold off that long) to at least mid-October. Of course, it doesn't run as much spring and fall, and there is a short time between cold and too hot when I don't use either.

I stockpile in spring so I have minimal shopping in the summer heat, and replenish the stockpile in the fall, especially around Thanksgiving - that's still fall in this part of the world.

I don't have Christmas expenses- I don't decorate and don't do presents. I will do some grocery stockpiling at the Christmas sales.

So on the whole, I think winter is probably my cheapest season.