Brides don’t typically think about credit card debt and budgeting when they dream of their wedding. However, it’s certainly the reality most couples will face when it comes to their special day. Creating a wedding budget is the perfect way to have a beautiful wedding without sacrificing your future financial stability.
Create a Wedding Budget to Avoid Debt
A wedding budget works just like a normal budget: balance the money coming in with the money going out. Let’s take a look at ways to pay for your wedding budget without incurring credit card debt.
Saving for Your Wedding Budget
Saving as much as you can for your wedding is a great way to avoid credit card debt. Depending on how long your engagement is, you probably have at least a few months to save. You might even start before a ring enters the picture.
To figure out how much you will save before the wedding, you need to look at your current budget and spending habits. It’s time to shift priorities away from areas like clothing, entertainment, subscriptions and maybe even cut back on your grocery bill. Look at all the ways you can move money towards your wedding fund.
Now, you can take that monthly estimate and multiply it by the number of months prior to your wedding. Let’s say you are saving $350/month and won’t need the money for another 6 months. At that time, you will have $2,100! Plus, your partner can also be saving if you have separate finances. Let’s say they save $3,000. Now you have $5,100 for your wedding.
Other Ways to Pay for Your Wedding
Sometimes family is able to provide some money for your wedding. If you find yourself in this situation, make sure that everyone is very clear with their expectations. Is the money a gift? Do they expect some of it back? Naming rights to your first child? Dealing with family and money can be tricky. Speak at length about the details and their expectations of repayment and what they expect you to do with the money. And then thank them. A lot.
Besides family, another way to avoid credit card debt is to generate more income. If you can squeeze in a few more hours at work, a few babysitting or house sitting gigs, or even a part-time job, you can add all of that to your wedding fund.
Wedding Costs
Now that you have $5,100 saved and your parents gave you $3,000, you can really start to plan out how much you can spend on the wedding. Here are a few big ticket items to think about first:
- Size of the Wedding
- Venue
- Photography/Videography
- Food & Drink
- Wedding Dress & Attire
- Honeymoon
Hop on your favorite budgeting app, Excel spreadsheet or notebook and start crunching some numbers! Following your wedding budget may prove difficult down the line. Just imagine how glad you will be to not have $10,000 in credit card debt once it’s over. Instead, you can start saving for other major goals in life, like a down payment on a house, or continue knocking out those pesky student loans.
Next week, we will find creative ways to manage the budget while still delivering your dream wedding.
No Comment