How to Save Up for a Wedding
Your wedding is the biggest day of your life, but it can easily be the most expensive. You might think that you’ll stick to your budget and do as much as you can yourself, but the catering and venue bill might be much higher than you think. It’s not impossible to save up for your wedding, but it does require a bit of thought. By spending smartly and cutting back, you can pay for the big day and have enough left for the honeymoon.
Refinancing Your Car
Do you have a loan on your car? Consider refinancing it to save money. One of the biggest reasons people refinance their loans is to reduce their interest rates. If you didn’t have great credit when you got the loan, you might get better offers now, letting you lower your monthly payments. Refinancing also lets you extend the life of your loan, so you don’t have to pay as much. For example, if there are two years left on your current loan, extending its term to four years can lower your monthly payments and allow you to put more toward your wedding. See how much you can save by submitting your application to WithClutch.com. It takes less than 20 seconds and won’t impact your credit score.
Determining How Much to Save Each Month
Saving up for a big goal can be daunting, so create smaller goals that are easier to meet. First, determine how much your total goal is and divide that by the number of months until the big day. So, if it’s going to cost $20,000 and is in a year, divide that by 12. That means you have to save around $1,700 each month. If that still seems like too much, consider cutting back on monthly expenses or lengthening your engagement. Set up a new savings account for funds for your day. Having that dedicated account can make it more fun to set aside funds knowing what it’s going towards. You might also get interest on that money. Don’t set unattainable goals. If you can only put aside $800 dollars each month but want a $50,000 wedding, it’ll take over five years to pay for it. But if you can split the costs with relatives, it could still be doable.
Avoiding Spending Habits
Consider going out to lunch only a couple of times each month or scaling down your shopping. For example, if you currently buy a $15 lunch three times a week, you’re spending over $2,300 a year on meals you could make at home and bring to the office. It’s easy to spend money without thinking. It might be bottled water, coffee, or soda from a vending machine. Even if it’s just a few dollars here and there, it adds up over time. If you cut back on a lot of these expenses, you could save $10 or $20 a day, which is $300 to $600 a month. You might find that you put aside over $7,000 in a year, which could be a third the cost of a wedding.
Using Your Credit Cards Wisely
If you’re still setting aside money for your wedding while you are making deposits for vendors like your venue, you’ll need to use credit cards. But as long as you use credit cards wisely, it shouldn’t worry you. That means paying them off in a timely way. Credit cards can facilitate transactions and keep you safe from fraud. You don’t have to completely avoid them, as long as you have enough in savings. You just don’t want to start your marriage in debt and don’t pay for wedding costs with money you won’t have for a long time.