Money Matters
sarahtrg
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Getting out of debt AND saving for a wedding?
Hi ladies -
My significant other and I have decided to extend our engagement to 2 years instead of 1, so that we can save for the wedding AND try and get out of some of the debt we are in. Is this even possible?? Are there any software programs or basic budgeting worksheets that can help us do this? Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Re: Getting out of debt AND saving for a wedding?
We use excel and live closely to Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. The book has tons of money work sheets that are really helpful.
It is possible to do both if you are both working hard and if you can prioritize. We had a smaller wedding. We spent 5 thousand on it and I will never regret it because we were able to pay off 8 thousand of his student loan debt as well. I am glad we chose to work on debt because now we are a third of the way done and it is making things much less stressful and allowing us to have a three year plan of having a family.
Love: March 2010 Marriage: July 2013 Debt Free: October 2014 TTC: May 2015
I second what PP said about the wedding. DH was unemployed when we got married, so this strapped our budget a bit, but we had everything we wanted, and it was still an amazing day. Total we spend under 10k and we had about 120 people who came. But family helped out with a lot- for instance my bouquet, and bridesmaids bouquets and boutineers came from the florist, the centerpieces and church flowers were ordered from Sams club and we put them together ourselves. For us we were determined to pay cash for the wedding, and we were having it in 5 months- we weren't going to put it off. We had a venue where we could bring in the alcohol and had beer and wine, which again we got from Sams club. That right there saved us a ton.
Live like broke college students - basics only. Rent a cheap but adequate apartment - not the nicer one you can afford, drive inexpensive to own and operate vehicles, take your lunch to work and severely limit eating out, meal plan. Cell phones - talk only unless work requires more. Netflix rather than cable/satellite TV.
Track all income and expenses to the dollar. Reduce or cut where you can.
Sell stuff you do not need or use. Get second PT jobs.
Buy only what you NEED. Clothes - wear what you already own. When you need an item buy on sale or better yet clearance or consignment. Stay at home vacations.
Apply all gift money, bonuses or tax refunds to debt.
Weddings - you can find almost everything for less if it does not have the word wedding or bridal attached to it. I had a lovely ivory lace gown (on clearance from a high end store) - was evening wear not a wedding dress - but no one would know the difference.
Keep everything simple, and small. One attendant each, Only family a close friends, We took advantage of our beautiful church and had the reception in the church's social hall. (that meant no alcohol, but we are non drinkers as are most of our friends)
This is only a few hours out of your married life - do NOT go into debt for it. A gorgeous wedding does not make for a happier marriage.
Save the honeymoon for later in the year if needed.
Post your budget along with the debt and interest rates for more specific advice.
You could consider getting married at the Justice of the Peace and host (or have a family member) host a simple "celebration" BBQ.
Congratulations on wanting to start off your married life on a good financial footing.
In addition to the Dave Ramsey book -- another one to look at and share is Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach -- about joining finances, and setting up a budget that works for BOTH people in the relationship.
@MrNibbles
Keeping things simple for your wedding will help, like doing the invites yourself & keeping them simple will cut down on the postage costs. We had 120 people at our wedding and did it for about $10,000. Granted we basically got limo bus for free (gas + driver tip) because my husband works part time for the company (2nd job) and his sister owns a photography studio so our only cost was the hourly rate + tip for one of her employees (we wanted her to be a guest & not a worker). I got extremely lucky and my parents gifted me my dress & veil. But we utilized the centerpieces the hall had available and the basic cake that was included.
If your schedules allow for it, what about getting 2nd jobs & then 50% of it each check goes to wedding account and the other half towards paying off debts.?