Save to the Future

This weekend, I had the pleasure to attend a church retreat for soon-to-be married couples. The retreat was hosted by many married couples who came and talked to us about their experiences with married life. Topics ranged from communication, to finance. Unfortunately, the topic of finance was the least informative of all.

My fiancee and I have discussed plenty about how we would handle our finances. Here is a snapshot of how our finances are at this point separately:

• I’m very much a saver while she tends to lean on the spending side.
• Both of us work and pay for everything cash (She has a Credit Card that has been recently been paid in full and cancelled).
• I put away about 20% of my income into retirement accounts and she puts about 8%.
• Both of us make a monthly budget where we allocate where our money is going to be spent and where we list our financial goals.
• We both have emergency funds that we plan to combine after marriage.

The biggest question that we have is how we are going to handle our checking and savings accounts? Three of the most common responses we found where these:

1. Having joint accounts only. The reasoning behind this is that if we are “becoming one”, shouldn’t it also include our finances?
2. Keeping our finances completely separate. If we keep our money separate. We won’t worry or feel bad every time one of us spends money.
3. The third option we found was a combination of the first two. We should have a joint account where all our money goes to directly from our employers. That money is then divided to pay our monthly expenses, long term and short term savings goals, and a portion sent to separate checking accounts for the two of us. This is money that we can use to spend it on whatever we want. The only catch is that if it is an item or service that costs more than $100, we have to consult with each other to see if it is alright to spend it.

We are still indecisive of which option to choose. All of them have their pros and cons so we are trying to find the one that fits our personalities. The last thing that we want is money being an issue in our marriage. So I am asking the readers is how you handled money with a significant other? Any tips on how to avoid conflict? What has worked and hasn’t?

I woke up this morning, and I looked at the alarm clock next to me. I curiously noticed the date (my alarm clock displays the month and date). I am getting married in less than 6 months! The 2nd of August will be our civil ceremony here in Houston while our church wedding will take place the 20th of September in Mexico.

I know that it is somewhat hypocritical, that someone who preaches frugality, is having to separate ceremonies. The only thing that I can say is that we are sticking to our budget, everything is being paid in cash, and we are not scaling back on our long term savings.

So this got me thinking of ways that one can save money for a wedding. Here are some:

• Have your family and friends to help out. If you happen to know somebody who works or owns a catering service, see if you could get a discount for it. Maybe a family member knows someone in the floral business. Start asking around. You will be surprised the amount of connections you will find that can lead you to great deals.

• Don’t ask for quotes for a wedding. Places tend to charge more if you mention the word wedding, instead say a “large party”.

• Think outside the box. Unfortunately, traditional weddings can be expensive. For example, we found out it was cheaper to higher a local ice cream merchant to come to the wedding and serve homemade ice cream to the guests than having a traditional wedding cake. It was something completely different and way more memorable than your classic cake.

• Negotiate. Don’t be afraid to say no. If you feel that something is overpriced, let them know. Most businesses will try to work with you. Remember that you are paying them to work for you, not the other way around.

The only thing that I would not try to cut corners and save money on are your wedding photos. This is a once in a lifetime occasion and you do not want the memories you have of it captured poorly by a unprofessional photographer.

The Getrichslowly forums has a great post on this topic dealing with weddings and money.

The picutre you see is the actual church where we plan to get married.