Summer is here. Yes, Summer! Summer provides me mixed feelings. It provides us with great weather, but it is also the name of my Canadian ex-girlfriend from high school who was a figment of my imagination. Oh…you know you had one too! Now on to the must do’s for June.
Plan your summer staycations
Now that the weather is nice, it is time to start planning your fun summer activities. One of the things I always look forward to is picnics and barbecues. Believe it or not, they are usually an inexpensive alternative to a fancy night out at a restaurant. Make it more exciting like having all your guests bring a side and drinks. Or host a pot luck.
Also, a lot of the local park systems offer great summer activities such as free family movie nights on Fridays or Saturdays. Some of the municipalities, including Blue Ash and Fort Thomas host concert series.
Review your tax situation
I know, I know people still have a bad taste in their mouth from trying to finish their taxes on April 17th, but taxes shouldn’t be something you only address once a year. June, being mid-point of the year, is a great time to compare your income and withholding to make sure you are on track tax-wise. This gives you plenty of time to adjust your income withholding for the remainder of the year. Anyone who has estimated payments should expect to make their next payment in June.
File FAFSA
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form used to award financial aid. For the 2018-2019 school year, the FAFSA is required to be filed by June 30th. We have plenty of information available in our college savings series here, but the high-level understanding is the colleges you send it to will use the information to determine the expected family contribution. The earlier you submit the FAFSA the better because there are some grants distributed to applicants based on a first-come, first-serve basis.
You can look at summer two ways: the fun time where you get to do your mid-year review of what has gone on tax-wise, start planning your kid’s college tuition payments, and enjoy all the local festivities; or you can imagine it as my imaginary ex-girlfriend from Niagra Falls Canada. Although the imaginary girlfriend story is humorous, it isn’t all that practical.