Smart spending with Huntington National Bank

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This post is brought to you by The Huntington National Bank and The Motherhood. All opinions are completely my own.

I know I’ve been talking a lot about saving money and budgeting over the last several months, but I wanted to take a moment to write about a topic I’m equally as passionate about: spending! Having savings goals and being financially responsible are two very important things, but I believe it’s also important to enjoy life in the moment a little, too. 

Spending is a pretty personal topic, just like saving is. After all, what one person might spend on a fancy handbag that brings them joy is money I’d rather be putting towards our next big trip. I also wanted to share how we utilize Huntington Bank’s Huntington Heads Up^® tool (Message and data rates may apply) to let us know when we can splurge on some of these extras and when we need to reign it in a little. So what kinds of things do we spend money on?

Date nights

With Jamie’s work schedule and the kid’s activities, it can sometimes be hard to carve out some solid one-on-one time as a couple. We try to schedule something for just the two of us about once a month or so. And because we don’t have any family that lives nearby, this means not only budgeting for the date but also for babysitting. Babysitting rates can add up quickly on top of the date itself. But while it’s expensive, the alone time is worth it to us. We love day dates, exploring new places together, fancy dinners, and just reconnecting over a shared dessert and a good cup of coffee.

(Photo from our recent babymoon, which basically combined all of the above. Such a great weekend!)

Childcare for work

I’ve been working from home since before we had kids. Most of what I do requires some solid blocks of uninterrupted writing time. What I’ve found is that I’m a better employee – and mom – when I have a little bit of help. We budget for one day of childcare a week, which gives me a solid day to get work done. This helps me spend the rest of the week focused on spending time with the kids. Could I make it work without childcare help? Absolutely. But that would also mean a lot less sleep for me or taking on less work that I love to do.

Kid clothes + toys

If you’ve followed me for a while, then you know that I love to shop small, especially when it comes to kid clothes and baby things. I’m able to support small businesses and moms working from home just like myself, and also pick up things that are more unique than what you’d get from a store.

Travel

We love to travel with our kids and typically take one or two large trips each year with several smaller ones in between. Even when we’re traveling to places we go all the time (like New York City), we’re always trying to add in new experiences. Like last year’s side trip to Long Island:

We use our Huntington checking account for things we pay for on a regular basis, like bills, groceries, childcare costs, etc. Funds towards trips and other larger expenses go into our Huntington savings account until we’re ready to spend the money. Huntington makes it so easy to transfer money between the two different accounts so our money is accessible whenever we need it. 

What I love about the Huntington Heads Up^® tool is that it helps us track our saving and spending within these accounts. It gives us real-time updates so we don’t have to keep checking ourselves every time we move money around or spend it. For instance, I recently got a Huntington Heads Up alert via text that told me we were spending more money on groceries than we had in previous months. I had no idea because it wasn’t something I was looking at myself. Instead of completely overspending by a lot for the month, I was able to adjust our meal plan to spend less. 

If you’re already a Huntington Bank customer, you can easily enroll in Huntington Heads Up alerts. I opt to receive notifications via e-mail and text, but you can also opt for push notifications on your phone or even all three (as always, message and data rates may apply). Once you’ve enrolled, you can set up the monthly amounts you want to spend in each area. Our family has separate categories for things like groceries, eating out and gas, for example. 

As you spend money each month, your Huntington Bank account will track everything and send you a Huntington Heads Up alert on different things, like when you’re spending more than average (like I did with our grocery budget), when you’re getting close to your spending limits or when new money has been deposited into your account. This is a great way to know if you spent too much in a month and need to adjust accordingly next month, or build your savings if you were under budget in a category. At our house, extra funds tend to go towards travel. 

So now that I’ve talked a little bit about our family’s spending, what kinds of things do YOU like to spend money on? I’d love to hear!

More information about Huntington Heads Up can be found here. And make sure you’re following Huntington Bank on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more financial tips!