Dave Ramsey – Weddings on a Budget

So, you’re engaged. Congratulations! Now you get to pick a caterer and find your perfect dress. But you also have to figure out how to pay for it.

You may be asking yourself if it’s worth it to put such a big day on credit cards. You want it to be perfect, right?

Don’t do it! PAY CASH! Financial pressures are the number one cause of divorce in America today, and the number one thing we fight about.

The Consumer Reports Money Book states that the typical household has $38,000 in debt and that total consumer debt has almost tripled just since 1980. A recent survey conducted by Consolidated Credit Counseling Services found that 71 percent of Americans say debts are making their home lives unhappy. The beginning of your marriage should be exciting and joyful, why ruin that with unnecessary debt?

The most important thing is to figure out what you can pay for with cash and do a written budget. I am amazed how creative and resourceful a bride and her mom can be when they set a Cash Budget for a wedding.

Under no circumstances should you go into debt for this wedding. A $1,000 wedding paid for in cash will be a lot more enjoyable than a $10,000 wedding you’re stuck paying for in the years to come. The debt will cause a strain on your marriage that will overshadow your wonderful day.

It’s a proven fact that people who use plastic buy more than people who use cash. Don’t start your years together with debt from a wedding looming over you.

Instead of borrowing for your wedding, pay cash by using a sinking approach. If you want to spend $15,000 on your wedding and you have one year to save, you should put $1,250 into a cookie jar every month. Figure out how much you would like to spend and see if the amount can fit into your monthly budget. If not, you may need to downsize.

When you pay with cash rather than credit, you can almost always negotiate with vendors to get a discount, so you can get more bang for your buck. People get silly when they see cash–not a check or bank note–cash. There is something highly emotional about flashing cash when making a purchase. People react to the surety and the instancy of cash.

There are three keys to opening the door to huge bargains:
Learn to negotiate everything – even for your wedding! Everything you buy is negotiable at some time or place and win-win deals really work, so don’t be afraid to ask for the deal.
Have patience. Don’t let yourself get married to a purchase before the big day! Shop around to see if you can find something equally great at a cheaper price.
Know where to find deals. Treat deals like buried treasure. Hunt far and wide at estate sales, pawn shops and classifieds looking for that really good deal.

Remember that you may not be able to have it all. Focus on saving for your wedding now and put off buying a house for a while.

This can be hard for a society that is so focused on instant gratification that we microwave everything. As Brian Tracy, a well-known motivational speaker, says, “We are being taught by everything around us to have dessert before dinner.” We must have it, and we must have it now!

What happens in America when we get married is that everyone starts gathering around and whispering in our ear that we’re idiots for renting. But I think a lot of couples in their first year of marriage make some stupid purchases in real estate because of peer pressure.

Young marriage needs all the protection it can get as you really lock in and get to know each other and just love on one another that first year.  There’s no need to add a bunch of financial stress with a mortgage. It’ll be a big enough struggle living in a little inexpensive apartment just spending T-I-M-E with each other for the next year.

Everything changes once the ring goes on the finger. And it really does take about a year to find out, for example how close to your mother-in-law you want to live.
So, for now, forget about the house and focus on staying on a budget to make your big day as perfect as possible.

Dave Ramsey is a personal money management expert, an extremely popular national radio personality and best-selling author of The Total Money Makeover. In his latest book, a follow-up of his enormously successful New York Times best-sellers Financial Peace and More Than Enough, Ramsey exemplifies his life’s work of teaching others how to be financially responsible, so they can acquire enough wealth to take care of loved ones, live prosperously into old age, and give generously to others.

Ramsey is the creator of Financial Peace University (FPU), a thirteen-week program that helps people dump their debt, get control of their money, and learn new behaviors around money that are founded on commitment and accountability. More than 500,000 families have attended FPU classes at their workplace, church, military base, local nonprofit organization, community group or Spanish speaking organization. The average family pays off $5,300 in debt and saves $2,700 in the first 91 days after beginning FPU and is completely out of debt, except for the mortgage, in 18 to 24 months.

On Oct. 15, 2007, Ramsey added television host to title when “The Dave Ramsey Show on Fox Business Network” debuted nationally. For more information visit www.DaveRamsey.com.