Budget Areas for Monthly Living
Congratulations! You have decided to get married, and have also decided that a monthly budget is the best way to find out how much you can afford to spend on your wedding. This is the wisest course of action, as many couples begin their planning by deciding how much they want to spend on their wedding and are then left scrambling to cover the mounting costs.
To see how much money you can spend on your wedding, you will first need to create a monthly budget. This article outlines some areas to consider in the creation of this budget. Remember, not every couple has the same income or lifestyle, so these areas are guideposts in creating a monthly budget, and do not offer concrete dollar amounts or even percentages. Instead, you should get an idea of what areas you can cut back in in order to save up for your wedding.
The Must-Pays
"Must-Pay" areas are portions of your budget that allow for no compromise. These areas are the same every single month and have to be met in order to sustain your quality of life. They include your rent and your utility payments, as well as any car payments or insurance payments that you make each month. If you do not make monthly insurance payments, then you should probably set aside an amount of money each month that will add up to pay your insurance at the end of the year. You should also include any loan repayments in this section. Loans are all right as long as you continue to make the minimum payments, but begin to skyrocket when you neglect them. none of the "must-pay" areas can change in order to raise the amount you want to save on your wedding, unless you decide to move back in with your parents or have an incredible stroke of financial luck such as winning a lottery.
Necessities
The necessities are the places where you need to spend money every month in order to survive, but are areas in which some flexibility is offered. They are really the last area that you can make cuts in, but small cuts are still possible with careful shopping and planning. Necessities include money spent on gas and groceries. Couples who live together might also consider their transportation as part of their necessity budget; some savings can be made by going down to one vehicle instead of two. To cut money on groceries, look for coupons or non-brand name items as well as considering cutting some food out of your monthly diet (this might even pay off when it comes to how you look for the wedding!). In this area, the savings are usually smaller but will add up.
Frivolities
Frivolities are the area that is more commonly termed fun money. It might not always seem like it, but most of us have a lot of fun money in our budgets. Going out to eat, buying alcohol, going to movies, cigarettes, and other forms of entertainment are where the most cuts can be made in a monthly budget in order to save up money for the wedding. In this way, most people control their own destinies, because the more you can live without, the more you will end up having! Internet and long distance costs as well as television costs are also included in this area. This is theoretically the easiest area for most of us to reign in spending, but it requires a great deal of self-control.
What's Left?
Determine how much money you spend in each of these areas each month and whatever is left over is the money that you have extra. If you don't have any extra money, then it is time to start making cuts to the areas listed above. When you do have some money left over, it is time to decide what you want to do with it. If you want to put it all towards the wedding, the all you have to do is multiply the dollar amount by the number of months until the wedding, and you have the amount you can spend. You can raise your wedding budget by extending the engagement period, or by making further cuts in the budget areas.
Remember that there are other concerns besides the wedding that you might want to put your extra money towards, so if you are saving for a honeymoon or down payment on a house take that into account. Also, remember that you need to be realistic when making your cuts. Most people think they can quit eating out altogether, but this isn't reality. Instead, keep the amount you spend on frivolities within moderation, and your wedding budget goal will be easily reachable.
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