Budget: Finding the Money, Part I -- The Small Stuff

Welcome to a two-part series all about helping you find the money for your wedding in your everyday life. So many of us are worried about being able to afford the costs of our dream wedding; after all, the average wedding costs nearly $28,000 (according to The Knot), and few of us have that kind of cash just lying around. Today we'll be focusing on the small, daily things you can do to start saving the money for your wedding. Just remember: it's not about how much you spend or how extravagant you make your reception. It's all about the love between you and your SO... big wedding or not.

There are simple steps you can take to make the huge task of money-managing more, well, manageable.

First, make a budget
If you already have one for everyday life, great! You're a huge part of the way there; most Americans really don't know how much they're spending on a day-to-day or monthly basis, even for things like food and clothing. Make a budget that accurately reflects what you're currently spending on these items, plus rent/utilities or house payments, car payments, phone bills, etc. and a realistic approximation of how much you spend on "luxury" items. Base it on a week, two weeks, or a month, rather than a year, as this will allow you to tackle your spending more easily.

The Mint has personal budget software and a service that synchronizes all your bank accounts for you. It's a sign-up service, but free (probably because the banks that work with them pay a fee).
Budget Tracker is less pretty but just as free, allowing a wide range of services and applications for budgeting, paying bills, etc. This one is also sign-up-based.

Now, really look at it
Take a hard look at your spending. Are you paying more than you should by going over your minutes on your cell phone, or going on several shopping sprees a month? Are you buying too much food? What about your luxuries?

The point of making a budget in the first place is to force yourself to face the reality of what you spend. By scrutinizing where your money is going, you'll be better able to figure out where you can cut back in order to save for your wedding (or for any large purchase later in life).

Then find ways to cut back
This doesn't have to be complicated. You don't necessarily have to invest your money in order to afford a wedding. Since we're focusing on the "small stuff" today, we'll look at habits that can be scaled back in order to save.

*Do your own "round up" program. You know those bank accounts that round up what you spend to the next $0.50 or $1, and put the difference in your savings? You don't necessarily need to sign up for a program like that in order to reap those kinds of benefits. Since you have a good budget now, try this: Portion a realistic amount to spend per week (or month) on something that tends to be the same week-to-week (or month-to-month) -- say, grocery bills. Make a mental note, or if you're prone to overspending, take only that amount of cash with you when you go shopping. If you spend less than that, put the difference into a savings account. Even a few dollars a week can add up pretty quickly. If you tend to spend more than that on a frequent basis, you probably haven't budgeted it right. Fix it, then try again.
Or sign up for rounding programs that match your own contribution, like the one at Bank of America.

*Cut coupons. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's boring and seems silly, but it's surprising how much this can really add up. If you use Internet coupons, make sure your local stores are taking them in order to avoid a headache when checking out. Pair this with the previous tip, and you can really start to see the difference!

*Learn to cook well. Not only is cooking fun, but it can be a cost-effective way of entertaining yourselves and others. If you're in the habit of going to a nice restaurant every Saturday night, that can really take a bite out of your potential savings. Scale back this activity by making it a "night in." Find an intriguing recipe (not too complicated if you're just starting the gourmet stuff) in a cookbook or on the Internet (I really like AllRecipes.com -- look for ones with a high star rating). Set some mood lighting if you want an "experience." This is nearly always less expensive than going to a restaurant, and if you cook with your fiancé(e), it can be a more meaningful weekly date.

*Stay in for movie night. Like cooking your own gourmet meal, this can still be special without having to spend so much money. I really do understand that going to the movies is an "experience" that can't be duplicated, but instead of doing that every week, cut down to once a month and stay in for movie night the rest of the time. Rent a movie from a local video rental store (I have a Video Warehouse near me that's a "membership" based store, but rents at rock-bottom prices) or from a service like Netflix. (Alternatively, watch movies via the Internet at a site like hulu.com, which offers commercial movies and TV shows.) You can make this a fun date, too, by popping your own popcorn or making fresh cookies, turning off the lights and snuggling close together.

*Play online instead of on a console. If you, like my fiancé, are an avid gamer, you know that buying all those new games can add up really quickly. Why not play free online games instead? There are many interesting ones -- even high-quality ones, too, that are worth playing. Unlike some MMORPGs, they aren't all fee-based. Check out Liberated Games (a clean, crisp site listing a bunch of available games) or Net-Games (a busier site chock-full of links to smaller games) for some insights.

*Cut out the latte. You knew this one was coming, didn't you? With the economy in a bit of a confusion, Starbucks is closing a number of its stores... no doubt due to people cutting back on their daily coffees in order to save money. Lattes are the classic "luxury" items that most people drop as soon as they need to cut back on their spending. Here I'm using it not as a specific item, but as a symbol: What is your "latte" that you're spending an money for, on a daily or weekly basis? Turn your latte into homemade coffee -- find ways to substitute those luxuries for something similar, cheaper, yet still satisfactory. You can do it! That's what DIY is for, after all.

Find more ways to live better and more frugally at The Simple Dollar, a wonderful blog by a regular guy who has figured out how to live well without spending a lot. He also has great advice about how to avoid making mistakes and what to do if you've made a big one. It's worth checking out even if you think you're doing well financially.

A note to my readers: I am not paid for nor am I advertising these links. Most of these are just for your benefit: I gather them while browsing the Web if I think they might be useful to you. If you find that they are not as I've described, or have any other useful knowledge, please leave me a comment.