A couple days ago I made a post mentioning how the average wedding in the US currently costs about $30,000. Ouch! Someone in the comment mentioned to think of it as a “party” not a wedding. Can you imagine throwing a party for your friends with FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR budget!? That would be a massive rager… yet only 1/6th the cost of the AVERAGE wedding.
I think when some of these big life events pop off, our brains tend to short circuit and we forget our normally frugal ways. Many of us are usually careful with every dollar, pacing the aisles of a grocery store scanning for prices to get the best deal. But when it’s wedding time and a vendor pitches the pricing, our brains shut off and we resort to “it costs what it costs” and it all feels like monopoly money.
I just looked up wedding flower prices in my area. It was hard to even FIND prices, because I’m sure the vendors prefer to keep that sticker shock until the couple feels bad backing out. When I did find a price it was quoted at “$2,000-$8,000+”. There was a budget “pick up” option starting at “$1,000+”. Then I went to Costco’s website and found the prettiest flowers I’VE ever seen for $50. Can you IMAGINE spending $1,000 on Costco flowers?! That would be a lot of flowers.
So when you have a big life event (college, wedding, baby, home purchase, divorce, funeral, etc… not necessarily in that order) try to remember that those dollars you spend are every bit as green as the dollars you spend the rest of the year. And a normally frugal budget can get blown up by one big spending spree.
As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.
-Jeremy
via Instagram
