If there’s one thing that will always cause disagreement and debate it’s money. Does it make the world go around? hmmmmm ….. well it can certainly make couples go around and also drive them up the walls too. If you and your intended have never, and I mean NEVER sat down and mapped out spending, then you’re in for a whole new experience of being a couple.
Budgeting, planning or whatever name you like to put on it is a tough exercise, even after four kids and almost 21 years of marriage it can still be hard to do. But I would say, start as you mean to go on. I am that ‘joe’ that didn’t sit down and map things out properly and sometimes I feel like I’m still trying to catch up.
Whilst doing some research for another wedding related i
ssue, I came across the National Consumer Agency website. I didn’t realise they have a Getting Married section. How handy is that?
Here is the list of topics they cover:
Set a Budget for your wedding
Keep Track of spending
Get the best value loan if you need one
Insurance cover if things go wrong
Using your credit card
Making the most of the cash gift
These are all things that go around in our heads when planning the big day, but if we don’t get them out of our head and onto paper or a spreadsheet/document, then they can be forgotten and become an unaccounted for expense. When you buy a car you don’t forget that it has to be insured!
There was a saying my late dad used for almost everything, and when I was younger I thought he was mad (in a loving way). When we went to do anything that involved parting with our hard earned cash he always said ‘Measure twice and cut once’. It was only as big events arose in my own life that I truly understood what he was getting at – prepare yourself in advance so as to avoid the pitfalls.
When you have gone through the National Consumer Agency website head on over to Mrs2be.ie When you register (for free by the way) you’ll have access to some great planning tools including their Wedding Planning Guide and Wedding Budget Calculator. In 2011 Mrs2be.ie carried out a wedding survey and have used the findings to produce quite a comprehensive cost analysis of a ‘typical’ wedding. It’s well worth a look.
One final note about using the NCA website is that it also gives you tips on ‘How to Complain‘ but I’m taking it as a given that when you budget for and research your suppliers you won’t have any cause for complaint.
