Creating a wedding budget

It is super easy to allow wedding spending to get out of control. So it is important early on to get a hold of your wedding spending and keep it reigned in. One of the best ways to do this is to create a budget that allows you to track all your spending as well as all the contributions to the wedding fund. Today we will be sharing with our readers a FREE PRINTABLE wedding budget. 

If you click on the image below it will take you to a google docs from there you can download the spreadsheet. Print it off and start the budgeting process. 

Here are some handy tips to get the most out of the printable.

First, make a note of all the contributions. This will give you the total you have to work with and will guide the rest of the process. 

Decide what expences you will have. For example if you have a combined ceremony and reception package then amend to reflect that. At first you wont be entirely sure how much of your budget you will spend on each area and although there are percentage guides don't worry if they are not exactly how you plan to spend. Talk to friends and family who are recently married to see which areas they found their budget went mostly too. Also try to decide on what you plan on having (the budget sheet will have categories that not everyone will use), identify what areas are of highest priority and other which are less important. For example for us photography was super important to us and we attributed a high percentage of our budget to this area, whereas my dress was only £150. We found the best way to start to figure these amounts out by collecting a number of quotes and combining these with guide percentages to see how much is sensible to spend in our area. This will be your budgeted amount.

Once you have contacted a number of vendors and narrowed it down you will have a better idea of how much it is likely to cost. We recommend contacting 3-5 vendors for quotes to give you the best idea of prices. This is your vendor quote.

You may also want to assign certain expences to money given my particular individuals. For example it may be the bride and grooms responsibility to pay for the groom's ring. You may want to use a colour coding method for this. 

Finally once you have bought all that is needed for a expense area then give it a tick next to it at the end. Do this to remind yourself to stop spending from this category and to control the budget. Its also a good idea to keep a copy of all the receipts as you go along so that you can verify the total when writing it in the budget. 

If you use the spreadsheet be sure to let us know how it helps you with wedding budgeting :)

Money Monday || Cash envelope system

As many of you know I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey and one of the ideas he advocates is using a cash envelope system. Todays blog post is about how I implement this into my life. 

So firstly I don't use cash for everything. I use a combination of cash, debit card and direct debit/standing order to pay for my monthly expenses.
Rent and bills are paid by standing order so they are set to come out. Other expenses such as textbooks, clothes, transport which I pay less frequently and have annual budgeted limits I have envelopes for (though sometimes I use debit).
There are two main areas I always pay for with cash, my weekly grocery shop and entertainment/ eating out. These are also the two areas I am most prone to overspending. I take out my cash once a week, usually the day I do the food shop. Previously had tried using actual envelopes for these categories, but this was not helpful as I'm always changing bags and would forget to take them if I was just popping down the shop. So instead I use the separate compartments of my purse to separate the money into its respective categories. 

Within my purse there are three compartments. One I use for my weekly shop money, the other I use for my dining out and entertainment money and the back compartment I use to keep all my receipts and coupons. 
For other expences which I spend less frequently (i.e. clothing or books) I use my cash envelopes (and these are kept at home unless I'm going out to buy from that category. They are super easy to assemble and I usually print in greyscale to save ink(and pennies). Below is a link to the cash envelope printable that I use. Whenever I spend from these categories I will make sure to write down how much I spend and on what on the front to help me keep track. As I find for expenses I have an annual (not weekly) budget for because they are less frequent it is super easy for me to forget what I've spent. 
If I use my card to spend from one of these categories then I take the cash out of the envelope and deposit it into my account (or put it aside for next weeks budget and withdraw less cash the following week).

How do you use the cash envelope system?

Plus don't forget to vote for us in #moneyminute competition where I give our number 1 financial tip 

How to vacation on a budget

It is that time of year where summer vacations are nearly there. Chris and I are off to USA for three weeks on a road trip from California to Colorado and back very soon (we are both super excited for this). But holidays are expensive, for us this is the last big holiday for several years as Chris is starting college in September, and I'm in law school. Despite being a big holiday, we have worked hard to find the best deals and keep the cost as low as possible when booking. Today we will be sharing our tips on having an amazing vacation on a budget.

Make an itinerary. Know when you want to fly out. When you need accommodation for what locations and what you plan on doing during your days, this especially important for day trip planning. Though having some flexibility on your dates is helpful and will help you to be able to pick dates which offer the best value for money. 

Flights- Book early. We booked in January for a June/July holiday, but the prices were even cheaper when we looked in November/December. We found SkySkanner a really helpful site for comparing flight prices. Also think realistically about how many of the 'add-ons' you need. For us we knew that where we would be staying would have laundry facilities so we decided that we would share one 'hold' luggage and them both have our carry-ons (Chris has promised me that he will be able to fit all his stuff in his carry on; though we will see how that pans out). A lot of the cheaper airline make up their profits with add-ons. Food on the flights worked out as a £50 pp add-on. There is no way the food is worth that, and so we will be taking our own pack ups (and buy drinks in duty-free as we have to work around the liquids limit). We are flying with Norweigan who worked out £150 cheaper than everywhere else (plus I got cashback through Quidco)

Car Hire- At the end of the day all you need is a car to get you from A to B. It doesn't have to be a fancy model just ensure it can fit the number of passengers and the right amount of luggage. Big names such as Hertz and Avis often don't work out the best price. Plus never wait until you arrive in the country to pick up the car you sometimes pay  double what you would if you book online in advance. Also don't forget to compare the cost of the drivers if there are several of you travelling. If any of the drivers are young or have points/penalties on their license then the costs will increase. Consider whether someone else could opt to drive. 

Accommodation- I personally really love hotels.com for booking accommodation. Firstly they offer some of the best prices out there. They have a really good cancellation policy. Plus for every ten nights you book you get one free. For our road trip, we have been super blessed and are able to stay with family and friends along our journey (we have only had to book eight nights out of the 20). Hotels.com also works through several cashback sites so you can save even more on your holiday. By being able to pay in advance you avoid paying debit-card international transaction fees. 

Foreign exchange- Monsey Saving Expert has a super useful tool for comparing exchange rates which are what we used when determining who to go with for our travel money. Never use a debit card abroad as the charges are extortionate. Though the site is correct in that there are a select number of credit cards that do provide slightly cheaper travel money. At the end of the day, they are still credit cards and so there is the temptation to spend much more than your budget as you can go into debt. However, if you have the financial diligence, then this may be the best option. If you want the security of having money on a card without the issue of debt or card fees, then a travel cashcard/passport works well. We opted to convert some of our money onto Travelex cash passports and the other in cash (in case we cant get to an ATM).

Theme parks- Booking in advance rather than on the day can save huge amounts. They are often 2/3x as expensive on the door also look for multi-day savings passes. Food at theme parks is also super expensive so bringing a packed lunch is often a good idea (though check how much a locker will cost). Another good thing to do is look online at what food places that are within your budget. Disney allows you to search their food outlets online based on cost p/p.

How do you save money on your vacation?

Making the most of casback

Who wouldn't want free money just for shopping? We that is exactly how cashback works. Whenever I make a large online purchase I look to see if I can get cashback. 

Currently some banks offer cashback on purchases made. The Santander 123 Credit Card (and I'm only advocating credit cards if you can use them responsibly i.e. pay them off every month and even then I strongly caution against them) has a staggered cashback depending on the type of purchase. Lloyds offer an 'everyday offers' scheme which provides cashback and is available on all current account including student accounts (and can be used on a debit card). Also if you are a Lloyds customer be sure to sign up to their 'its on us' scheme where they can randomly pay for something you purchased on your card during the month up to the value of £500.

My favourite online cashback scheme is Quidco. I have found myself using it a lot whilst booking my holiday to America this summer. We managed to get cashback on our flights, accommodation, car hire and currency exchange which has saved us quite a bit of money and all for buy what we would have bought in the first place. Plus there is a handy app so you can see what inshore cash back offers are available in your area. Though the cashback may not seem like huge amounts it quickly adds up. But remember to not let it encourage impulse buys purely because of the cashback. 

Grocery cashback- Quidco, Shopitiize, Checkoutsmart and TopCashback all offer cashback schemes for shopping where you upload your receipt and if it coincides with any cashback offers they are running you get the money back. I find that it works well to check these sites when you are writing your shopping list. Though don't be fooled sometimes it still works out cheaper to buy generic store brand rather than the branded product with cashback. For all my English readers out there head over to CouponShop for the latest top cashback deals and where best to use them. 

What amazing deals have you found with cashback schemes?

Save money while eating out

For Chris and I eating out is by far the luxury we find hardest to cut back on our budget. Its a big part of our social life and something we enjoy doing for dates. Despite our love for dining out we have managed to incorporate it into our budget by using the following tips to reduce the cost of dining out. 

1. Order mains only and leave the starter and dessert (or share a starter if you are desperate). Portions are often so big I found that if I had a starter I would struggle to finish my main. 

2. Water not soda. Drinks are one of the most overpriced items on a restaurants menu and alcoholic beverages are the worst. Tap water goes well with every dish and even better with our budget.

3. Use coupons. This is one of my favourite ways to save, I have had a couple of free 'tastecard' which get 2for1 in a number of restaurants. Also many offer student discounts. Sign up to restaurants mailing list as they will often send offers this way as well. Nectar and Tesco Clubcard points can also be redeemed and used towards a meal out. Also don't forget Groupon who regularly have deals on restaurants.

4. Eat lunch not dinner. Lunch menus are generally much cheaper and many places are offering the exact same food as served as dinner. This is because there are less customers at lunch time so by lowering prices they aim to obtain more custom. Though sometimes portions are smaller don't see this as a negative as you are helping both your waistline and your wallet

5. Portion control. Many places portions are massive and far to big to be eaten in one sitting. Don't be afraid to ask for a 'doggy bag' and take home the rest of the meal for another day.

6. Cashback. Don't forget to check if you can get cashback with your meal as well. Quidco often give cashback for takeaway orders. While banks such as Lloyds can give cashback for actual meals out. For example I can currently get 15% cashback from Gourmet Burger Kitchen through my bank. 

7.Copycat recipes. The best way to save money is not to eat out. If you find yourself craving your favourite restaurant dish why not try finding a copycat recipe for it as there are tons on the internet especially Pinterest. One of our favourite sites for cooking restaurant quality food at home is Great British Chefs, these are some of the best chefs in the UK sharing their favourite recipes there are ones for all abilities and tastes. 

8. Don't always tip. Sounds controversial but I am a firm believer in only tipping for exceptional service (and I say this having waitressed before). Though I appreciate that tipping culture varies significantly depending on the country don't go giving money away on sub-par service. 

How do you save money when eating out?