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Spring is in full swing, which means summer is just around the corner. Many of you may be looking forward to sunny beachside vacations or family theme-park adventures — but you may also be dreading the expenses that come with all those fun summer activities. (Bing: What's the first day of summer?)
As luck would have it, we've been thinking ahead on your behalf, and we have three suggestions for summer savings. See if one of these can help you squirrel away some cash.
1. Rent out your home
While you're off gallivanting through Europe, trekking the trails of Montana or waiting in line at Disneyland, why not let someone else live in your home – in exchange for some cold hard cash? This is something renters can do, too, if the landlord says it's OK.
Sites such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VacationRentals.com make it easy to find people who are looking for somewhere to stay. There's also Craigslist, which has a vacation-rentals section.
Michelle Parkinson and her partner, Michelle Deveroux, have been renting out their Old Orchard Beach, Maine, home using HomeAway for the past five years, one week at a time for about six weeks each summer. They don't go far for their own vacation — they spend those weeks at a campground within walking distance of their home. They have the rental weeks set up so renters check in and out on Saturdays, with a four-hour gap between renters. Each Saturday, they go home to clean and do laundry, then turn over their home to the next set of renters.
Parkinson says the vacation-rental income offsets their mortgage for the summer. And they haven't had trouble finding customers; they're booked for all six weeks this summer.
"There are seven miles of white sandy beach," she says. "With Maine's rockbound coast, white sandy beach really attracts people in the summer."
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She says she screens people carefully and talks to them about their plans.
"Where it is my home, I feel comfortable really scrutinizing who's coming, and people appreciate that," she says. "We've never had an issue."
By now, they have the process down to a science. Parkinson says they can be ready to rent the place with just a couple of days notice.
"In the spring, we just clean out all the personal items that you wouldn't want in the house when someone was here," she says. "There's a place in our basement where we store them. Then we bring them back in the fall."
Jon Gray, vice president of HomeAway, North America, says owners rent their homes for an average of $1,475 per week, with higher rates during peak travel times.
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"For this reason, many people choose to give up their homes to take advantage of this potential income during the summer months or even throughout the year during large events in their area such as music festivals, sporting events or conventions," he says.
2. Grow some of your own food
May could be the perfect time to plant most vegetables you'd want in a home garden, horticulturist Maureen "Mo" Gilmer says.
"In a lot of climates, May 1 is the vegetable-garden planting time for things that need warm soil, like corn and squash and tomatoes," she says. "Right now, you can get it timed right to plant."
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Because different parts of the country have different climates, Gilmer recommends that homeowners check with the agricultural-extension service in their state and county. Find yours on the Department of Agriculture's website.
"(Extension services) have all the regionally specific data that (homeowners) need, as opposed to the more generalized, national information that may not apply to their climate," she says.
Gilmer recommends tomatoes, eggplants, bell peppers and potatoes, all from the nightshade family; cauliflower, broccoli, kale, collards and other greens from the brassica family; carrots and radishes; and strawberries and raspberries.
"It's important to remember that you don't plant everything all on one day," she says. "Spacing it out a bit helps you sequence the harvest."
She says any starter plant found in a local garden center in a 1-, 2- or 5-gallon pot will likely grow well in your area, depending on where you plant it. Those garden centers are another good place to get information on what will grow best in your climate.
Homeowners who are thinking more long term can plant trees, shrubs and vines that add beauty to the landscaping and also provide food.
"True fruit trees went out of style, and their fruitless counterparts became popular," Gilmer says. "But now they're going back. Fruit trees are a no-brainer." (Bing: Can you legally plant fruit trees in your yard?)
Grapes and kiwis grow on vines, while blueberries and currants are great shrub options.
"All those things can grow very effectively on arbors and fences," she says.
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Gilmer also suggests getting rid of a grass lawn in favor of creeping thyme or chamomile. These lawns used to be more common and once served a practical purpose.
"They would make these lawns around the castle areas of Britain, and they'd come outside and drag their clothing across the lawn," she says. "It would release the oils into your shoes and skirts and petticoats, and it would cover up the fact that you don't bathe."
An herb lawn doesn't require much maintenance, and you can use trimmings in the kitchen. If you have a homeowners association, check its rules about lawns and ground cover.
Check with your extension service to see what other herbs you can grow in your climate. Many people with limited space choose to grow a small herb garden indoors.
3. Team up with the neighbors
If you plan to hire a landscaper or lawn-care service this summer, find out whether your neighbors have similar plans, and ask about multiple-customer discounts.
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"If you have four or five people come together and contact the lawn service, you have group buying power," says David Lupberger, home-improvement expert for ServiceMagic (ServiceMagic is an MSN Real Estate partner).
That service professional could recognize the value in having several customers in one location, and it often will give you a better price, he says.
Use that same tactic if several neighbors are planning to pressure wash and reseal their decks, or get their sprinklers serviced. Most homeowners in your area will have similar yard-maintenance needs.
Think beyond summer, too. For instance, you can team up on gutter cleaning, tree trimming or general yard cleanup to prepare for winter.
You can also team up with neighbors to buy things such as mulch, dirt and flowers. It's possible you'll get a discount, or you may create a large enough order that your nursery will deliver and save everyone a trip — or even a truck rental.
Lupberger says that when he lived in suburban Maryland, he teamed up with neighbors to buy or rent equipment, and neighbors who had trucks would volunteer to haul things for truckless neighbors. The benefits go beyond saving money.
"It actually transcends that because it in fact builds community," Lupberger says. "The houses are nicer, lawns taken care of, decks maintained. People working together getting to know each other makes a stronger community."
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There's also an added safety element that comes from getting to know the neighbors.
"If any truck pulled up that we didn't recognize, we would have known it," Lupberger says. "Usually, we knew when people were gone on vacation. There is an informal neighborhood watch that really happens just out of familiarity."
