Budgeting for your wedding day is one of the first to-dos for newly engaged couples. It’s a crucial part of preparation for a variety of reasons, but ultimately allows you to see the bigger picture before the fun (and often stressful) part of wedding planning begins. Your wedding budget will give you the figures needed to correctly forecast the finances required to make your wedding day all you imagined it would be. Your budget also gives you the information to identify whether you have enough money for your wedding or need to go back to the drawing board and save a little more.
If you’ve discovered that it’s the latter that applies to you, don’t despair. Making a few simple tweaks to your lifestyle could help you gather those extra funds. In this blog post, we reveal just some of the little things to give up now to boost your wedding fund.
High street coffee
The nation’s obsession with coffee is no secret. Despite being self-confessed tea lovers, Brits are now drinking 95 million cups of coffee per day. As you may know from personal experience, getting your daily coffee fix isn’t cheap. There are now a variety of coffee brands waiting in the wings to snap up your custom and your cash.
By making your own coffee instead of buying on the high street, you could save a considerable sum. The average cost of a Venti coffee is £3.50 from Starbucks, but you can buy a jar of supermarket brand ground coffee for around £2. If you really like the taste of Costa and Starbucks, you can purchase a 200g pack of their ground coffee from a supermarket for the same price as a single cup.
Taking your own cup into your favourite coffee house is another way to save. Many big name brands are offering discounts for those who exercise this bring your own policy. Costa and Starbucks offer a 25p discount per cup, Pret a Manger provides a 50p cup reduction, and Caffe Nero awards double points to put towards a free coffee.
Expensive bills
Price comparison websites don’t just spawn great adverts. They’re pretty good at helping you to save money too. You could save on every bill you pay thanks to the countless financial products that are compared via these websites. Compare car insurance, credit cards, broadband, home insurance, pet cover, gas and electricity, and travel insurance to name but a few things.
There’s a website and app for everything these days – there’s even apps for wedding planning – which makes comparing and finding the best deals easy. All you have to do is enter some simple details to get quotes, and many price comparison sites help you to switch too.
Gym membership
You’ll want to look great on your wedding day but you don’t have to join a big, expensive gym to hone your wedding body. Save money on gym membership fees and equally expensive workout gear by downloading an exercise app to burn calories and lose weight at home. Walking, running and jogging are other ways to get into shape and feel great.
Bootcamps are the latest fitness craze to sweep the UK. You don’t have to part with your cash to enjoy their benefits however. Health shares their advice for creating your own bootcamp and you can even get your bridesmaids involved:
“Bootcamp-style workouts are a lot of fun. Who doesn’t love a challenge? You can create your own by doing strength and cardio exercises at home or outside at a park—all you need is a good pair of sneakers! Try this circuit: jumping jacks, lunges, high knees, push-ups, triceps dips (off a bench or curb), and sit-ups. Do each exercise for 60 to 90 seconds; rest in between exercises as needed.”
Costly food shops
One of the biggest expenses many people have is the cost of food. There are many ways you can save on your shopping bill. Choosing supermarket brands instead of bigger names and using loyalty cards to collect points and get money off your shop are both lifestyle changes you can make to boost your wedding fund. You can also compare your shopping basket to find the most economical retailer for you.
In addition to this, you can make your own smoothies, buy cheaper but just as delicious cuts of meat and use those coupons that you’re sent by retailers to get a better deal at the checkout.
