How to Stick to Your Wedding Budget
Raise your hand if you have a hard time sticking to your wedding budget.
I know I’m not alone.
It’s even harder when you’re planning a wedding and literally every vendor is screaming at you that their services are the MOST important. Oh, and you should’ve booked them yesterday for your wedding.
Before you know it, you’ve overspent on everything.
I know the feeling because I’ve been there and done that. The only thing that (kind of) helped us stick to our wedding budget was a spreadsheet.
This week Raya Reaves, money coach at City Girl Savings, shares her top tips for sticking to your wedding budget. Raya covers the importance of communicating with your partner throughout the planning process. She also talks about how to hold yourself accountable for the money you spend.
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How to Stick to Your Wedding Budget
Q: How can couples avoid over-spending on their wedding once they’ve set a budget?
Raya: The key here is to make sure you’ve both decided on a realistic amount to spend. Once you’ve decided on that number, you can hold each other accountable to sticking to it. Make it a challenge to stay in budget. If someone is going over (or wants to), they have to give their partner a massage! The point is to work together and support and encourage each other to stick to the amount that you’ve both decided on.
Q: How should couples approach surprise/unexpected expenses?
Raya: Should unexpected or surprise expenses come up, refer back to the original budget to see what could be cut back or reduced to cover the new expense. If things are already tight, can one or both of you bring in some extra income to cover the expense? It all boils down to reducing your spending in other areas or increasing the amount you can spend on wedding costs by making more money.
Q: How would you recommend couples track their spending? (Like should they use a spreadsheet? Is it that simple or would you recommend a different method?)
Raya: I don’t think anyone can go wrong with a spreadsheet! If you set it up with Google Sheets, then each partner can access it at all times – which helps in making sure everyone is on the same page. If you decide to physically write your spending, set weekly money dates to review with your partner to ensure everyone knows what’s going on.
Q: Are you married? If yes, how did you plan/track your spending for your wedding? Is there anything you know now that you wish you’d known then?
Raya: I’m not currently married, but I have helped clients who were paying for their weddings. The biggest trend I’ve seen is to make sure that both partners are aware of what’s going on and can hold each other accountable to spending. When each partner has a different expectation of wedding spending, it makes for a broken budget.
Q: What are your top tips for people who are entirely new to budgeting in general?
Raya: Don’t be too rigid – no budget is 100% perfect. Give yourself some grace with budgeting, especially if you’re not too privy to doing it! Do your best to stick to the numbers you set, but if you do get off track, make it a point to bounce back quickly. Don’t let a budget mishap open the door for more reckless spending – that’s a recipe for disaster!
About City Girl Savings: City Girl Savings was founded in 2015 by Raya Reaves as a resource for women to learn about finance. Raya helps women budget better, spend wisely, and reach their financial goals. The company also features thousands of blog articles for self-starters, financial courses,
free challenges, and more.
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