Ten Tips for a Frugal (Not Cheap) Wedding

What advice do you have for a frugal wedding? We’re getting married in 2010. Since we are both in our early twenties and don’t have a lot to spend we were hoping to keep our wedding as small as possible.

1. Avoid guest list bloat.

For some people, it can feel very tempting to invite hundreds of people to the ceremony. However, with each addition to your guest list, you’re adding a person that’s of lesser importance to you compared to the people you’ve already invited. To a degree, this was a trap we fell into with our own wedding - our guest list grew and grew to the point where we invited people that we didn’t know well simply out of a sense of obligation. Instead of just adding more and more people, consider inviting fewer people and making the event more intimate. Try cutting your list in half and see if you’re happy with it.

2. Ask for wedding help instead of wedding gifts.

You are lucky if several of your friends and family had musical talent, so they were able to provide musical accompaniment for your ceremony. If you also have a close friend who is an extremely skilled amateur photographer and he/she is willing to serve as photographer for your ceremony as your wedding gift.

3. Have the ceremony at home, or outdoors.

You may find that the cost of renting a building for your ceremony and reception is expensive. Instead, consider using your own home (or the home of a parent) for your ceremony, or perhaps a public park with a beautiful view. In each case, you can also have your reception outdoors, often eliminating the cost of renting a place as well as creating a memorable ceremony.

4. Do the catering yourself, or hire a family-owned restaurant.

It would drastically reduced the food costs for the ceremony if you do the catering yourself.. If this isn’t your forte, look around your community for a family-owned restaurant and ask the owners directly to cater your wedding. Family-owned restaurants are always the first place to check - they will almost always go the extra mile to make your wedding special and will also charge a reasonable rate.

5. Go minimal with the flowers.

Instead of having huge piles of flowers everywhere (something that will only really last for an afternoon), instead simply go with a single rose for each bridesmaid and a very small bouquet for the bride. If you know someone with a rose bush, you can actually easily make your own bouquets the day before the ceremony by cutting the roses yourself and trimming away the thorns.

6. Make your own invitations.

With a quality home printer and some time, you can make very classy invitations on your own.

7. Patiently shop for any decoration needs.

Wedding decoration suppliers all have sales somewhat regularly throughout the year - and they all sell supplies that can be helpful with your wedding. Know what you’re looking for as far in advance as possible and let the sales come to you.

8. Make a simple honeymoon, not an ostentatious one.

A huge, over-the-top honeymoon might sound fun, but it’s far, far cheaper (and often more enjoyable) to have a much more laid-back honeymoon. Instead of planning a big trip, just hop in the car and spend a week or two together just driving around and enjoying being married. The fewer plans, the better - and the cheaper.

9. Involve your closest friends and family in the preparation.

As you’re developing plans, you should get your closest friends and family involved with the details. Quite often, they’ll have surprisingly good ideas that can save you money and effort - perhaps they’ll know someone that can cut you a deal on a certain part, or maybe they’ll just volunteer to help out with that piece. Good friends and family are always there to help, so you might as well use it.

10 Plan, plan, plan.

List everything you can think of and walk through these items step by step. The earlier you get started - and the more things you think about early on - the less “last minute stress” you’ll have and the more time you’ll have to find sales and discounts and other good ideas.

Good luck!

Money in Your 20s

Certificate of Deposit (CDs) @ Fixed Deposit (FD)

Definition:
One savings tool is a certificate of deposit or (FD). A FDis a tool that locks your money in at a set interest rate for a certain period of time. The interest rate is usually higher than a normal savings account or a money market account, since you do not have access to the money for the length of the FD. Generally a FD is a very conservative way to save your money since the rate of return is so low on the account.

You may consider setting up a FD if you know that you will be using the money in a specific period of time and will not need to access it immediately. However, this is generally for very short periods. If you are looking at more than five years you should consider mutual funds. If you are considering a shorter period you should also consider a money market account. A FD rate will not go up if the interest rates begin to rise whereas a money market account will. If the interest rates are close it may be better to go with a money market account, because the interest rates vary according the current market.

One of the biggest risks of a FD is that you will not earn interest at the rate of inflation. Additionally if you do need to access the money before the FD term is up you will pay penalties and early withdrawal fees. If you are considering opening an IRA that is a FD you would be better off going with an IRA that is connected to mutual funds.

FDs have different options when it comes to paying interest on the account. Many FDs will deposit the interest into one of your accounts monthly or quarterly. Other FDs will add the interest back into the FD or pay the interest at the end of the FD term. Additionally some FDs will automatically roll over into a new FD at the current market rate. If this is the case, you need to mark the date on your calendar so that you can withdraw it and put it into a better investment option.

Smart Money Tips

To whom can’t control their spending habit using the credit cards should have test to do this technique. The technique called “Freezing Your Credit Card In Ice”. The requirements are:

• A freezer or chiller



• Credit Cards



• Glass of water
  

The way to have it done is by putting the card is a glass of water and put the glass in your freezer. Let it be ice. Do not worry as the card will not be damaged.
This makes it so every time you want to use your credit card, you’ll have to wait for the credit card to melt. By the time the ice has thawed, your desire to impulsively purchase may have evaporated as well.
Apparently, it doesn’t ruin the credit card, although it will if you try to microwave-defrost it. This method is probably only good for people who do their shopping sprees in-person. Online shopaholics would just look through the ice.
With this technique you can develop the resistant of having the feeling to swipe and enjoy the credit facilities given by the particular banks. So girls, please use this technique and practice the good way of saving fuel.