Academics · Subject Resources · Summer

Price the whole
summer first.

List each camp, class and lesson with its weeks, fee and extras. The calculator totals the summer, checks the budget, finds the open weeks and adds up the day-camp fees that may count as care expenses.

Plan my summer budgetWhat you get

The summer enrichment budget calculator

The worked example is a ten-week summer before 7th grade: three day camps, a week of scout camp, a coding class and swim lessons. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Academics · Subject ResourcesFree

What you finish with
The summer’s total and cost a week, the amount over or under budget, the weeks covered and left open, and the day-camp fees to keep receipts for. It prints as a one-page plan to keep with the registration emails.
Who it is for
Parents and guardians planning a child’s summer in the spring, when most camps open registration, and families comparing a camp-heavy summer with a cheaper one.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Subject Resources space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Set the budget and summer weeks.
  2. Add each program and its kind.
  3. Type weeks, fee and extras.
  4. Read the open weeks.
  5. Keep day-camp receipts.

Plan my summer budget

How the summer is added up

Programs, extras, then the tax rule.

The worked example: the summer before 7th gradeSix programs$2,340weeks × fee + extrasOne-time+$120fees and gearBudget$2,400set by the familyResultOver $60$1,440 counts as careThe worked example: the summer before 7th gradeSix programs$2,340weeks × fee + extrasOne-time+$120fees and gearBudget$2,400set by the familyResultOver $60$1,440 counts as care
Each program costs its weeks times the weekly fee and extras; one-time costs go on top; the budget shows what to trim, and the day-camp fees show what may count for the care credit.

Fees, extras and open weeks

A program costs its weeks times the weekly fee plus the weekly extras. Day and overnight camps count as a covered week; lessons and classes are part of a day, so they do not. A week with no camp is a week someone still has to plan for when both parents work.

Day camp and the care credit

Under IRS Publication 503, the cost of a day camp can count as a work-related care expense for a child under 13, even a camp built around one activity such as soccer or computers. Overnight camp, summer school and tutoring do not count. Expenses count up to $3,000 for one child or $6,000 for two or more; the credit is a percentage of that which depends on income, so this page stops at the expenses.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses (irs.gov/pub503): day camp, overnight camp, summer school and the $3,000 and $6,000 limits.
  2. Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit (irs.gov/taxtopics/tc602).
  3. American Camp Association. Camp cost and accreditation information for families (acacamps.org).
  4. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index: day care and preschool, camps (bls.gov/cpi).

Prices change; check each program’s registration page. This is not tax advice; IRS Publication 503 and a tax preparer decide what counts. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.