Getting married is one of life’s greatest joys but let’s be honest- weddings are an expensive affair. In 2021, the average wedding in the United States was around $22,500. For the ones who are tight on their budget or are broke, it can be an additional hassle to pay for wedding expenses.
After all, how will you keep track of flower arrangements or wedding rings when the total budget keeps bothering you? But even if you’re broke, there are a few ways to make sure your dream day doesn’t get spoiled. Here are a few ways you can pay for your wedding even when you’re out of money.
- Divide the cost
Every time you look at the overall cost of the wedding, it’s more than enough to give you a panic attack. Instead of doing that, try to visualize the cost into smaller components.
There is a very simple math trick you can do to make things easier- simply divide the total wedding cost by the number of months you have left until the big day. This will give you an estimate as to how much money to save and how much time you have on your hands.
For example, if your budget is $24000 and you have about a year left, divide $24000 by 12, which comes out to be $2000.
- Save up
After you have calculated how much money you need to save up each month, it’s time to actually do it. See where you are unnecessarily spending your money and how to stop doing so.
For example, do you really need a monthly subscription to a magazine that you never read? Cancel it instead and save that amount.
Even if the money that you’ve saved seems too little or insignificant, remember that every penny counts when you are broke. If you’re a big fan of going to the movies or attending entertainment shows, try to reduce attending these events as much as possible.
- Invest in mutual funds
Another great way to pay for your wedding expenses is to invest a bit of money in a mutual fund. These funds are a good way to invest in the stock market without developing any kind of technical or complicated knowledge related to stocks.
You can even take a SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) and go according to that. SIPs basically help to make your head feel lighter by taking off a bit of the budget burden and making investments easier.
If you invest in an ELSS (Equity Linked Savings Scheme), you can even end up with quite a bit of extra money to spend on your wedding!
- Take a loan
There are many ways to take a loan. You can either go to a bank or a similar organization and apply for a personal loan there or go to an individual and ask them directly.
Depending on the bank, you will be charged a fixed rate of interest, so it’s always a good idea to choose a bank that offers you loans at low rates of interest. In order to apply for a personal loan, you will have to have a good credit score and make sure all your documents are updated.
If you wish to go to an individual, you can ask your friend, family member, or colleague to loan you a bit of money. The advantage here is that your close ones will either charge very low-interest rates or not charge them at all!
- Use credit cards wisely
Whenever we get our hands on a credit card, we tend to go on a shopping spree without thinking of the consequences.
If you have a wedding up ahead, you need to be much more careful and spend money wisely. If you have a credit card, use it to make only absolutely necessary transactions. Try to use cash as much as possible, especially for paying for things like groceries or fuel.
Pay off your credit cards timely so that you don’t end up paying a penalty fee or getting a low credit score. This will not only reflect badly on your account but you will also end up paying fines unnecessarily.
Over to you…
Even though we all want a wedding to remember, your ideal wedding doesn’t always have to be lavish or ultra-sophisticated. As long as you spend a decent amount of money intelligently, any wedding can be perfect and worth remembering!
