You’ve Worked Hard — But Are You Spending With Intention?

It’s that time of year again. The school run has an end date in sight, the diary is filling up with “what are we doing with the kids for six weeks” panic, and somewhere between the sun cream and the packed lunches, the pace of everything else in life quietly… drops.

I call it the summer slowdown, and honestly, I quite like it. Fewer meetings. Longer evenings. A slightly more relaxed version of everyone.

But here’s the thing I’ve noticed, year after year, in conversations with clients right around this point in the calendar: summer is also when spending sneaks up on people. Days out, holiday clubs, “we’re already at the seaside, we might as well,” ice creams that somehow cost more than the petrol to get there. None of it feels reckless in the moment. It just adds up quietly, the way these things do.

So while the pace of life is easing off, I think it’s worth asking yourself one slightly less relaxing question: are you spending with intention, or are you just spending?

What Does “Spending With Intention” Actually Mean?

It means knowing why your money is going where it’s going, and making sure that lines up with what actually matters to you — not cutting out the fun, and certainly not spreadsheets on the beach.

Because here’s what I see time and again: people work hard, genuinely hard, for years. They build up an income, sometimes a very good one. And then when I ask what they’re actually spending it on, or saving it for, there’s a pause. Not because they’re careless with money — most of my clients are anything but — but because nobody ever sat them down and asked the question directly.

The school holidays are, oddly, a good moment to ask it. Everything slows down just enough to notice the pattern.

What Questions Should I Ask Myself About Summer Spending?

Three, really — and none of them need a budgeting app or a spreadsheet (there are plenty of those already, and I’m not convinced anyone wants to fill one in on their sun lounger). Just sit with these over the next few weeks.

1. What am I spending on autopilot?

Subscriptions, standing orders, “it’s always been there” direct debits. Summer is a natural pause point — a good moment to actually look at your bank statement rather than skim past it. You’re not looking to cut everything; you’re looking to notice what’s on autopilot that you’d actually choose again if you were choosing today.

2. What am I not spending on, that I probably should be?

This is the one people miss. Intentional spending isn’t only about restraint — sometimes it’s about permission. I speak with clients who are sitting on healthy savings, working hard, doing everything “right,” and still hesitating to spend on the things that would genuinely improve their life now — the family holiday, the home improvement, the retirement they keep pushing back “until things settle down.” Things rarely settle down. That’s rather the point of planning around them instead.

3. If I mapped out exactly where this year’s money went, would it match what I say matters to me?

This is the honest one. Most of us would say family, security, experiences, and freedom matter more than takeaway coffees and impulse Amazon orders. But bank statements don’t lie, and they don’t always agree with what we tell ourselves.

Why Does the Summer Slowdown Matter for Spending Habits?

Because a slower pace makes spending drift easier to spot. Financial planning conversations tend to land differently in August than they do in, say, the frantic run-up to Christmas — when the pace drops, people think more clearly, with less noise and fewer decisions made in a rush between school pickup and dinner.

It’s also, frankly, when spending drift is most visible — because school holiday spending has a habit of revealing itself all at once, usually around the time the credit card statement arrives in September. If you’ve got children in tow this summer, it’s also a natural opportunity to bring them into the conversation a little — something I touched on in Teach Your Children to Save Day 2026.

I’d rather my clients notice that pattern now, gently, over a slower few weeks, than have it arrive as an unwelcome surprise later in the year.

Does Spending With Intention Mean Spending Less?

Not necessarily. It’s easy for “spend with intention” to sound like code for “spend less” or “stop having fun” — it isn’t. Some of the best financial planning conversations I have end with a client deciding to spend more, on the right things, once they can see clearly that they’ve got room to.

Working hard and having very little to show for it, in terms of the life it’s actually funding, is one of the more common frustrations I hear. Not because people are bad with money. Usually because nobody has ever helped them join the dots between what they earn, what they save, and what they actually want their life to look like — I wrote about exactly this in what your retirement actually costs, and the same principle holds true for the here and now, not just the decades ahead.

That’s really what financial planning is. Not restriction. Direction. It’s also, quite often, a mental load — knowing where you stand with money takes a weight off in ways that go beyond the numbers, something I explored in Mental Load and Money.

A Gentle Nudge, Not a Lecture

I’m not writing this to make anyone feel guilty about the ice creams or the day trips — buy the ice cream, honestly. Life is for living, and the school holidays are exactly the sort of thing worth spending on.

But if this has struck a chord — if you’ve read this thinking “actually, I’m not entirely sure where our money goes” — that’s a perfectly good reason to have a proper conversation about it. Not a scary one. Just an honest one, with someone who can help you see the whole picture.

If that’s you, I’d be glad to help. Whether it’s building a plan around the life you actually want through Lifestyle Planning, making sure your income is working as intentionally as your spending through Income Planning, or you’re simply not sure where to start and want to browse a few common questions first via our FAQs, it’s a conversation worth having. You can also read more of our thinking over on News & Insights, or get in touch directly via our Contact Us page.

Enjoy the slower pace while it lasts. Just make sure it’s slower and intentional.

Claire Markham is Managing Director of FH Manning Financial Services, an independent financial advisory firm based in Horncastle, Lincolnshire.