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Summer has a funny habit of sending the bill after the memories are made.

One minute you're booking flights, RSVPing “yes,” signing your kid up for camp, and dining al fresco. The next, it's Labor Day and you're wondering how your credit card balance grew faster than your tan.

This year the average American was expecting to spend over $2,800 on travel alone, according to a PwC survey. Add in weddings, childcare, concerts, and all those “well, while we're here” purchases, and summer can easily become one of the most expensive stretches on the calendar.

So what?

With everything that summer brings, it's not uncommon for the bigger bills to turn into lingering debt. Most U.S. adults who put last summer's vacation on a credit card didn't pay it off right away, and 35% of them were still carrying a balance in February, according to a NerdWallet survey.

If you're staring down a summer debt hangover that could follow you into fall, form a game plan sooner rather than later. Interest on credit cards compounds, making any debt you incur all the more difficult to shake. And the last thing you want is to give that fantastic beach trip a bitter aftertaste.

A good place to start is lowering the cost of what you owe:

Get a 0% APR balance-transfer card. If your credit score is in good shape and you just need a few months to catch up on your bills, it may be worth applying for a credit card with a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers. You'll avoid finance charges for that intro period — usually 12 to 21 months — in exchange for paying a 3% to 5% balance transfer fee. Just make sure the promotional period doesn't lull you into a false sense of security. Divide your balance by the number of 0% months so you know how much you'll need to pay each month to beat the clock.

Consolidate your credit card debt with a lower-interest personal loan. Trading your high-interest credit card debt for a lower fixed-rate installment loan can meaningfully reduce your interest costs and may even shrink your monthly payments. And in contrast to a revolving card balance, interest on personal loans doesn't compound. You pay the same monthly payment for a set number of months and you're done.

Target one low-spend or detox month. Challenge yourself to use up pantry foods and avoid non-essentials for 30 days, redirecting the savings straight to your debt. Even pausing subscriptions and impulse shopping can free up measurable extra cash to inject straight into your principal balance.

Once you're out of the woods with this year's bills, you can start thinking about what you might do differently next year.

Could you avoid credit card debt altogether by planning ahead? Maybe you start setting aside $200 a month now in a “summer fund,” automating the transfers to a high-yield savings account like SoFi's so you don't even have to think about it.

How about designating all the rewards you earn on credit card spending this fall and winter to next summer's expenses? Depending on your overhead, that could be a decent start to your warm weather war chest.

Or what about booking trips — or even purchasing summer pool memberships or camps — earlier than you did this year? Flights and seasonal rentals are often cheaper the earlier you book them, and there may be early bird discounts on summer activities.

Bottom line: Treating summer as a predictable annual milestone rather than an unexpected budget emergency can help avoid a big crunch this time next year. Then by next Labor Day, the only thing fading will be your tan.

Related Reading

Tips for a Financially Savvy Summer (The Wall Street Journal)

5 Ways to Launch Your Best Budget Summer (NerdWallet)

5 Ways to Be a Good Tourist and Still Save Money (SoFi)

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