Minimum amount of $$ to get married...

[dark_choz]

SO and I are looking at 50k which we would achieve by next june so......
for us 50k would suffice for wedding dinner + downpayment for house +renovation

^5 Alya... i'm also looking at 50k for all... in fact downpayment for house can be payable by cpf so i'm not worrying about that. Except that I'll only be able to save up to 50k earliest by June 2008. sigh...

My SO & I are both going 25 this year and I only started work 2 yrs ago, while SO 1 year ago only and I'm still financing my study loan as well... so I would think it'll be very impressive for both of us if we can save 50k by 2008..

[Alya]

yup yup@
e-raine! we really have to save hard!

on my part, i try to cut down on shopping,
limiting myself to a pathetic $200 per month
i am lucky to have a doting dad who gives me 2 credit cards.
However, i try to limit my spending to $500 for both cards, and anything
excess of that i will pay my dad. I have no study loans to clear as my
dad cleared my NUS fees. *phew* if not that will be an additional burden.
Being young and vain..ahaha it's really hard to live on barely $800 !!
I save half my pay (divided in joint account with SO, insurance and personal savings),
give my mum $300 and sis $50.

I regretted not saving much more when i first started working.
think i totally blew all my $$$ away then... travelling, impulsive buys etc
only realised last year, it's time to save !!
Right now, while saving for our wedding + housing + reno, we have to be more
thrifty and other than business trips, i don't see myself travelling too much..

But good news and i really love my dad....while fetching me from SO's place
last night, Dad told me that he will cover my wedding dinner cost !!! however,
SO and I are determined to rely as little as possible on our family so.......
Save Hard !!!

edited to add : we are maximising our chances of travelling by going on and extending each other's work trips ....save on 1 air ticket at least, can even use krisflyer and sometimes stretch the hotel stay to the max...aahaha

[chocolicious]

i blow away my savings now as well...

i wonder from the time of proposal/ when both of you decides to get married till teh day of marriage...

how long will it take on average to save up 50K? let's say both side also contribute equally.

it is really hard to finance the weddings nowadays. especially with new home + reno + honeymoon + wedding dinner.

[dark_choz]

wow Alya, your dad is good ...

Not that my dad isn't good to me but I come from a very average-income family so my family could not do so for me as I still have a little sis they need to support . But that doesn't matter, I've since young cultivated the habit of spending within my limits and I know how to save my money, just that my financial liabilities aren't allowing me to save alot... I gave $350 to my family every month and pay home scv & broadband bills...

Anyway, I still go for holidays, whether short or long, i can't refrain myself from travelling, it's a way to de-stress myself... works better than retail therapy to me. That's partially contributing to my low savings
Ya SAVE HARD too!!

Hi Chocolicious,
I think it depends on how much u can save per month without compromising too much on your personal expenses. You know, one can get super grouchy if ain't able to spend like before... Perhaps, you can do your calculation backward. For e.g. You are planning to get married in 2 years time. So:
50k / 2yrs = 25k per yr / 2 person = 12.5k per person / 12 months = approx 1k/mth?

Or you can do it the same way as me... my bf and I are each contributing 500bucks /mth into our joint account... and probably at end of year or when we get our bonus, we'll throw in a lump sum of money into our joint account. In this way, we won't feel that tight-up with $ every month.

I think it'll be good if we can have a "Money-Saving for marriage Support Group" haha...

[califit]

haaa. Great idea to have a "money saving for marriage support group"!!

i totally agree with e-raine on the travelling part. it's a great way to de-stress and when the holiday's taken with SO, it just makes the relationship stronger! I just hate the pile of work that I see when I'm back from my 3 weeks vacation.

chocolicious, SO and I took about 1.5 years to save up 50k. It was rather tough, since we wanted to maintain our usual lifestyles. Basically, i save 1k per month, while he saves around 1.5k, since he doesn't have much cpf. Then we dump whatever extra monies we have into the joint acct. we feel we should not deprive ourselves while we save, so we still went on our US trip and other short trips. Since he's a foreigner, he also went home for a few weeks. The insurance fees that we have to pay yearly (about 2K for him and 6 K yearly for me) didn't make things easier. It'll be good, for a couple to have a common savings target and work towards that together. The fruits of this hard work is very satisfying!

[shazzerlyn]

hi gals,

a friend once told me that you can get married with just $26! I was like are you serious???

Then I probed further and she said you just need to pay $26 to register your marriage, it's cheap yah?

It was then that I realised that the cost of wedding is determined by the couple. It all basically depends on the type of wedding you want, a lavish or a small and simple cosy affair etc. How much you want to spend on your house, renovation, furniture etc.

For those who would like to get married soon but realised that it's not that possible to save up $59k within a short period of time, what you can do is work out a comfortable amount you and your SO can save every month and decide how long you have to save and derive at a budget for the wedding and work backwards.

You have to decide what are the important things to both of you, is a dinner necessary? If so, how much would you be prepared to come up with as a buffer for losses in case the ang baos are not enough to cover the cost?

Home is a major part of the wedding expenses. Most couples finds it stretching to have their wedding and getting their house ready within the same period of time. My advise is stay with in-laws first if you're financially stretched or get an affordable flat that requires minimal renovation.

I'll be doing my renovation, very minor and within a budget of $10k when I'm back from my honeymoon. My objective is to do without a home loan and I will get the necessary furniture and appliances and build up my lovenest slowly instead of adding financial stress. SO and I love travelling and we decided to spend the $$$ on our honeymoon instead of spending on the house. Our rationale is that the home can be decorated slowly and we agreed that renovation costs is basically money down the drain if you decide to stay only for short term of say, 5 years. Unless your buyer likes your renovation ideas, they won't want to pay you the above cash value for your renovation.

For my wedding, what's important is the ring and the honeymoon and what happens after the wedding. Therefore I'm not spending alot on my gown, wedding dinner etc. I just wanted a simple do that will make my parents and in-law happy and something that I can spend time with my beloved friends, so it's not a lavish affair.

Just my 2 worth, hope it helps!

[califit]

Agree with Shazzerlyn... Have met a friend who did up renovations for a 4 room flat at just $9k+!

I'm intending to give the ang bao money that I collect to our parents, and offer them a longer holiday trip than what we usually pay for yearly.

Housing is definitely a big committment, and couples should manage the home loan according to their comfort level. If it's within your comfort level, do opt for a short mortage period. The interests that you pay for a 30 year loan is scary!!

[hamham]

wow alya is 1 lucky girl! heez..
i need to save hard.... regret that i did not start saving earlier when i started working
now have to blow all my money on school fees.. then afterwhich all to house...
haha... all the way save + spend + save + spend.... tsk tsk :p

[VinLongo]

ok, hmn for me, its flat + wedding together. so its tough i supposed?

my flat is 300K++ for a 5room,
renovation is ard 30K++ including fixtures. but i am not sure after i buy electronic appliances will it exceed 40k.

didnt get any loan for renovation because i dont like the idea of paying so much interest.

as for wedding, bridal package is abt 4k+, videography is reasonable price @ $700++ and i think might exceed $800 for those add-on (ie too early in the morning), banquet no idea how much its going to cost since bf is going to do his part on that.

hmn seem like a lot of pple, parents are helping with the flat/renovations etc. for me, not that much luck. its 'lend' but still able to save lots of interest for the house loan. and quite sad right, like can see parents paying for this n that, its so much different from the early generations when parents at our age, started to work n give their parents $. our parents now are so generous!

when i tihnk abt this, i worry abt the next generations. my bro said 'u dont know? there is no such thing as kids taking care of parents from our generation onwards. it will be the opposite, so next time dont expect anything from yr kid!'...................

[Mitsy]

I am planning my customary wedding for next year and the budget my hubby and i have decided on is about 45K.

Wedding package = $4200 (including additional photos, have already bargained with bridal shop for a final package inclusive of 50 photos, so hopefully do not have to top up anymore)

Wedding dinner = $5000 (This is the maximum loss we predict we will make. we are holding it at a country club ball room so it is much cheaper than a hotel ballroom, and my mum is returning all the red packets.)

Redpackets = $2000 (for all the sisters and brothers and driver and all helpers on the day)

Photographer for actual day = $800

Buffets = $600 (lunch for both houses)

Misc = $2400 (inclusive of cakes and gifts for my mum)

Total = $15K

House Renovations plus furnitures = $30K ( we will try to work within our budget and get the bare minimal for our house first, then slowly buy as we go along)

So hopefully we will spend about 45K. We took quite a few years to save this amount of money and actually we are still saving. We hope that by next year we will have 45K plus some savings incase of emergency.

I feel that is is important to set a budget and try to work within it. Initially i was not planning to have the customary wedding dinner but then to make everyone happy, especially my grandparents so decided to do it but on a cheaper scale. I do not need branded bridal shops or big hotels, just want a nice and cosy dinner for everyone and memories for the 2 of us to remember.

House wise not very urgent so we are still looking out for a nice 4 room flat in the area he wants. If cannot find by next year, then we will be staying with parents temporarily.

[ponine]

Agree with Shazzerlyn... Have met a friend who did up renovations for a 4 room flat at just $9k+!

I'm intending to give the ang bao money that I collect to our parents, and offer them a longer holiday trip than what we usually pay for yearly.

Just curious : Is that a new flat you are talking about here ?And the 9K would include furnishing?

Can share how the house look like ?

[chocolicious]

honestly, i cannot imagine parents paying for us first. even then, i will still wanna push to pay back them.. and when i think about the long period my i will need to scrimp and save to return them, my heart just wail!

somemore, what happens if mistake comes your way and a 3rd mouth is here to feed?

[lumos]

looking at what you gals write here, think i dont need to get married already, lolz..

SO only really started working 6 months ago, before that he had his own business and he didnt earn a single cent, til today i'm earning more than him but i have more commitments to my family as compared to him

we dont really intend to do much i think, our ROM should just be a simple one and then just the wedding dinner and some photographs. dont think we will take any album or stuff like that either, its the house i'm worried about. ah well, i'm still young i think (26 this year) so hopefully will get married next year or something

[califit]

Just curious : Is that a new flat you are talking about here ?And the 9K would include furnishing?

Can share how the house look like ?

Based on that budget, the house is very simply done. but basic stuff like kitchen cabinets, etc are done. Wall paint wise, they're using the anti-bacterial formula, which is rather expensive. Flooring's simple ceramic types. The wardrobe's etc were all built in too. Based on that, 9K is very cheap.

Furniture wise, it's not included. My friend's relatives gave him quite a bit of stuff. He just topped up around 3K+ to get sofa, dining table and TV. The rest were simple. But by the way he did it, he coped without a renovation loan, and even managed to pay 40K out of the 190K flat that he's got.

[xiaoqi]

hi gals,

a friend once told me that you can get married with just $26! I was like are you serious???

Then I probed further and she said you just need to pay $26 to register your marriage, it's cheap yah?

It was then that I realised that the cost of wedding is determined by the couple. It all basically depends on the type of wedding you want, a lavish or a small and simple cosy affair etc. How much you want to spend on your house, renovation, furniture etc.

For those who would like to get married soon but realised that it's not that possible to save up $59k within a short period of time, what you can do is work out a comfortable amount you and your SO can save every month and decide how long you have to save and derive at a budget for the wedding and work backwards.

You have to decide what are the important things to both of you, is a dinner necessary? If so, how much would you be prepared to come up with as a buffer for losses in case the ang baos are not enough to cover the cost?

Home is a major part of the wedding expenses. Most couples finds it stretching to have their wedding and getting their house ready within the same period of time. My advise is stay with in-laws first if you're financially stretched or get an affordable flat that requires minimal renovation.

I'll be doing my renovation, very minor and within a budget of $10k when I'm back from my honeymoon. My objective is to do without a home loan and I will get the necessary furniture and appliances and build up my lovenest slowly instead of adding financial stress. SO and I love travelling and we decided to spend the $$$ on our honeymoon instead of spending on the house. Our rationale is that the home can be decorated slowly and we agreed that renovation costs is basically money down the drain if you decide to stay only for short term of say, 5 years. Unless your buyer likes your renovation ideas, they won't want to pay you the above cash value for your renovation.

For my wedding, what's important is the ring and the honeymoon and what happens after the wedding. Therefore I'm not spending alot on my gown, wedding dinner etc. I just wanted a simple do that will make my parents and in-law happy and something that I can spend time with my beloved friends, so it's not a lavish affair.

Just my 2 worth, hope it helps!

trueeee