[Guest post by Kathryn Vercillo.]

Attending a wedding can be a really pricey affair. You have to get a gift for the happy couple. You have to make arrangements to attend the event which frequently means traveling somewhere and/or losing time from work. And you certainly want to show up looking your best which may mean getting new clothes and having your makeup done. If you know more than one person getting married in a wedding season then you can find yourself struggling to work out your budget to allow you to attend their special events. It's important to be smart about how you do your spending when it comes to attending a wedding.

The easiest thing to save money on is your own appearance. Unless you are a part of the wedding party, you can find something affordable to wear that is appropriate for the occasion but that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. Going for a vintage look, re-using an old outfit, purchasing an item that can be returned, borrowing wedding clothing and getting your look on sale are all methods of making a smart choice on your wedding clothing. Remembering that the day isn't even about you also helps to put into perspective how much money you should be spending to get dressed up for a wedding.

Getting a vintage dress (or suit) to wear to a wedding can be a really great option. Many of us want to wear special outfits to special occasions like weddings but it doesn't make sense to go out to buy a brand new dress that you're only going to wear once or twice. Getting a classic vintage dress/suit from a used clothing store (or an online reseller) allows you to select something really beautiful without paying full price for it. The other major option for reducing the cost of a new outfit is to make sure that you purchase a dress that is on clearance sale.

Instead of simply reducing what you spend on your wedding attire, you can actually eliminate the cost altogether through a few different methods. If you have something in your closet that has only been worn once then it may be appropriate to wear it again to the wedding. This is particularly true if the wedding is for someone you don't see often who would never know that this dress has been worn. Alternatively, you can borrow a nice dress from a friend for this occasion. Or you could go the route of purchasing a new dress, wearing it with the tags on and tucked in and then returning it for full-price when the wedding is over (J: Hah! Sneaky sneaky). The only problem with that last option is that if you ruin the dress then you won't be able to return it.

Your wedding attire is the easiest thing to avoid spending money on, but you can save money on the rest of the wedding as well. Reduce travel costs by booking tickets early and sharing a room with other guests while you're there. Select a wedding gift that is stylish but at the lower end of the budget on the wedding registry. Primarily, it's all about being conscious of how much money you're spending to attend a wedding. The fact is that this day isn't about you so you don't have to spend a lot of money to impress people there. Be your usual stylish self and keep a frugal mindset, and the day should go just fine!

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Kathryn is a writer for Promotionalcodes.org.uk which gives away free voucher codes (like this Laura Ashley Promotional Code) and also publishes money saving ideas. She recently brought us the "Top 15 Frugal Living Twitterers" as well!

Labels: frugality, girl stuff, guest post, saving, thrift stores, wedding

There comes a time in all boy's lives when we have to own up and get an Engagement Ring. The time when love populates the air and all in the world is right. It's been some time since i made this adventurous trek myself (2+ years), but the memories are still vivid as the day I lost my power ;)

You see, up to the point where the "exchanging of the ring" occurs us men have all the power. As soon as that bling is snug on that finger though, the woman sucks it all up and we convert into cute little puppy dogs! haha....i dont' really know what that means actually. I guess what i'm trying to say is it feels good going out there and being a man by putting that ring on your other half. (much better stated)

But if you've ever gone down this road before, you know of the crazy obstacles that lay in your way of the "perfect" ring. In fact, my man Doctor S over at Finance Your Life is about to go down it himself! So in honor of this beautiful time in his life, I shall unleash my 3 main tips that I can only hope will help him & all others down the line:

1. The Type of The Ring
Diamond cuts, princess cuts, colors, clarities, certifications, the variables go on and on. If you're able to do so without spoiling the surprise, I'd highly recommend going ring browsing w/ the lady so you can get an idea of what she likes. As long as you get the big ones down, like the cut and if she's a "silver/platinum" girl over "yellow gold", it would be pretty hard to go wrong. And she may not even know what she likes all the way - it's not like she's been shopping for them all her life! Well okay, a few probably have, but you get the point ;) Or you can actually pick it out and buy it together if your one of those types. Either way, just be sure you have a decent idea.

2. The Cost of The Ring
Some say it should be 6 paychecks worth (3 months), while others say it should be 6 months worth. Wanna know what I think? MALARKEY. I don't care what anybody says, you go out there and get a ring that you can afford without killing yourself. If the girl really truly loves you, she'll admire and cherish it for the rest of your lives together. And if you can only afford a little compared to what you WISH you could give her? Then save up and get her another on your 5-year anniversary. I know someone that's waiting to save up thousands and thousands of dollars because his girl won't accept anything less. WTF? Seriously, something's wrong with that picture.

You don't wanna go in crazy amounts of debt when you're about to start a whole new life together. Cuz you have to remember, the ring is just the BEGINNING! What comes next is a whole bunch of wedding planning, gift giving, honeymoon picking, etc etc...If you can barely afford a shiny new ring, you're gonna have a lot more trouble when the wedding comes around Do everyone a favor and be smart about it :)

3. Financing The Ring
Cash is definitely king here, but I don't know many that have this sorta cash just laying around. If you're one of these people, ask about financing it @ the store/site you'll be buying it from! There are some maaaaad deals out there, esp. during times like these. I was able to secure an interest-free loan for an entire year which saved me a LOT of heartache. I just divided up my payments by 12 so that by the end of the year the balance would be down to zero. It was basically like a credit card line of credit where the interest would jack up to 20%+ after the period ended - so be VERY sure it's paid off by then ;)

Okay, that's all i got for ya this round. I could seriously go on and on here as there's just SOOOOO much you can get into, but ima stop before this gets any longer. I can totally feel word vomit coming on here ;) You can find other wedding goodness I've previously posted about here too if it helps. And if you have anything to add, please do so! Us boys can certainly learn a lot more...

Labels: advice, girl stuff, love, wedding

The whole wedding pic. fiasco was picked up by MSN Money's Smart Spending Blog last night! How hot is that??? I've never been featured on a big site like that before, so i'm totally sexcited about it all :) And it makes going through the whole ordeal that much sweeter too! So mad thanks go out to Karen Datko who blogged about it, and my man Clever Dude who gave her the heads up - you guys are great scholars, and fine Americans!

Labels: awesomely awesome, in the media, link lovin, wedding

Yessir! Mr. D-head made contact within 48 hours of our blog launch ;)

How interesting, huh? It turns out people respond a lot faster when you market their name all over the internet ;) And it's a good thing too as we were slowly running out of options!

But our hard work paid off, and it's one less thing to worry about now. In fact, i might even miss all this drama! haha ... nahhhh, scratch that. For all enquiring minds, here are a few fun facts about the anti-blog...who woulda thunk it?:

• Within 2 days we receive 300+ hits!
• Dozens of comments and emails fly all over Facebook & Myspace.
• An old friend offers his skills to get d-head's name to the top of Google! (we decline, but keep this card in our pocket just in case)
• A DIFFERENT photographer offers to do a whole shoot of the Mrs. in her wedding dress for FREE!!! She hates when people give their industry a bad rap.
• Angry clients come out of the woodwork for this guy, and post their own reviews!
• Within 48 hours we receive the pics online, and a week & a half later the physical images.

So for a measly $9.99 (for the domain name) and a few hours of hard work, Operation Wedding Pictures was a sucess! I still can't believe we had to go through this whole thing, but at least it ends happily and we can now move on.

And you know I have to give you all guys mad love too! Your support and encouragement kept us sane throughout the whole thing, and we thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the comments...esp. the not-so-PC ones ;) It was definitely therapeutic using this blog to bitch, so THANK YOU times a million!

And just for $hits and giggles, i figured i'd post a recap of everything that's transpired. On last crazy story to wrap things up! Here it is, from start to finish:

• Feb 6 - We sign contract and PRE-PAY for all photography.
• May 31 - We get married!
• Jul 15 - Day our printed proofs are due, per contract.
• Jul 30 - Day our online previews are due, per contract.
• Aug 6 - We check on status. D-head says ready in 1 week.
• Sep 1 - We check on status. D-head says he'll call in 1 week.
• Sep 18 - D-head starts using our photos to advertise his company!
• Sep 22 - We check on status. D-head schedules time to meet.
• Sep 28 - D-head fails to show up at our house.
• Sep 30 - D-head says our proofs were repossessed with his car.
• Oct 9 - D-head says pics coming soon...moves across the country.
• Oct 12 - D-Head comes up with even MORE excuses...
• Oct 17 - We file a B.B.B Complaint.
• Nov 5 - D-head tells us to just "stop calling".
• Nov 6 - We threaten to take him to court.
• Nov 19 - We launch blog and market the hell out of it!
• Nov 21 - Pictures are uploaded online!!!
• Dec 3 - Pictures are securely in our hands :)

So there you have it, the past 2 months of craziness all rolled up nicely into 1 happy ending :) I'm not sure *why* exactly we were put to this test, but i do know things happen for a reason. Perhaps this guy has learned his lesson?

Thank you all so very much, and God bless the Internets!

Labels: cockamamy indeed, updates, wedding

Back by popular demand, here's an update on our wedding picture fiasco! I realize it's not the most positive thing to read these days, so feel free to X on out and move onto the next site you're addicted to ;)

So where did we leave off? Oh yes, we threatened our good friend d-head w/ court if he didn't send us our pics by this last Friday, November 14th. And, naturally, he didn't send them.

So we started researching court and mediation and stuff like that, but they all required an address to send the documentation to and all (which we didn't have) and stated that without it, the process could be severely delayed and hard to get started.

Now, i'm no judicial genius, but it seemed like we're pretty screwed without it. That means the little bastard has allllll the power! But before we could get down on ourselves, a very magical thing happened out of thin air!

An idea popped into my head! And this idea told me that if we could create our OWN power/leverage/bargaining chip, that we could get this resolved much quicker.

Know what came to me? The power of the internet! I mean, just blogging anonymously about it gets people riled up and passionate, but imagine stating all the names and company involved and all, right? And then plastering it all over the net, in other blogs, wedding forums, facebook, myspace, and even sending it to newspapers and tv stations! Talk about creating some mad leverage ;)

So that's exactly what i did this weekend - I spent 5 hours creating an entire blog around this issue. And let me tell you, it's not your ordinary one ;) I named names, attached emails and our contract, and linked the HELL out of the whole thing for better SEO and chances it'll rise to the top in Google and such. I even bought a domain name and everything, just to prove how serious i was!

I also talked it over w/ a lawyer friend of mine to make sure i can't get in trouble for slander or anything of that nature. I'm probably still on the border of that, but i was told that as long as i "stick to the facts" and not assume anything or lie or write anything that i can't prove and back up, that it's fair game (What do you think jessica?). I mean, if it works for Consumerist.com, maybe it'll work for me?

The point of this site is simple: We keep this horrible review online until we receive every last picture owed to us.

If we get them, we gladly close down the site. If we don't, his name and company name will be forever brandished online for all to see. (his name is in his company name, so he's pretty screwed even if he re-brands his company name).

And that's where we stand today. The website is created, and i'm about to make it public any minute! I seriously hope this does the trick, we're running out of ideas...

----
ps: I'm sooooo sorry i can't post the site here, believe me i would LOVE that more than anything, but it would totally give away my anonymity!

Labels: rant, updates, wedding

I seriously just don't get how people can treat other people so horribly?!

What is wrong w/ this world? I'm sorry to say, but this is probably not gonna be the happiest of posts today - just keeping things honest up in here ;)

It's not accurate if i only post all the happy happy,joy joy stuff right? This is life, and it's crazy sometimes...i'm also selfishly hoping to feel better when i finish here.

Order #1 on the docket - That d-head of a photographer wrote back after 4 weeks with another sob story and demanding us to stop contacting him as his life sucks. He said he'll send the Proofs (no raw images, prints, nothing - just the proofs) by end of December. Are you on crack, son? I'll agree with him that he sucks @ life, but sorry buddy, i've lost all patience and respect for you. You do not have the right to ask for a thing anymore.

I left him the following note on facebook (his preferred method apparently), email, voicemail, and text:

"D-head (edited),

Our condolences for your losses. December is not going to work. We will give you until next Friday, November 14th, to simply mail us the RAW images and you will not be bothered again. If we do not receive these RAW images by Friday, November 14th, we will see you in court. Apparently filing a BBB complaint was not enough.

Mr. and Mrs. Rockstar (edited)"

Needless to say, i've basically lost my $hit now w/ this turdbucket. But fingers crossed.

****************
*UPDATE: Got the following back within 30 mins (pretty good for someone who has no access to any communication, huh? "As stated. I will not be able to make that deadline." I basically told him that if he does not meet the deadline, the court will decide further action. HAH! F'er.
****************

Order #2 on the docket: My paycheck just bounced, and i am not scared this economy has finally affected us. There's a whole back story here, but unfortunately i cannot risk saying anything more for fear of blowing my anonymous cover. That, and i actually LOVE my job despite all of this - so i'd rather not depart prematurely. Still aggravating as hell. UPDATE: Will be getting a wire transfer within 24 hours...crisis averted.

Order #3 on the docket: The Mrs. is sick :( Made 3-4 trips to dr's, hospitals, you name it. We're going on 3 days now, and no diagnosis has been found - which is both good and bad really. This has nothing to do with personal finance, unless i talk about how i saved $18 remembering to bring my insurance card this time for the drugs!, but it still upsets me :( this is a rant on life moreso than against a particular person. UPDATE: Wifey still sick, seeing doctor in one hour! UPDATE #2: Wifey went back into E.R., and is now staying over night! yikesy mama - prob. have to take her gallbladder out, but we'll know more in the mornin'. time to go join her and have a "fun" sleep!

Okay, that is all. I'm not feeling 100% better now, but it def. helped! Thanks for listening, and PLEASE please PLEASE holler back with some happy stuff if you've got anything. Some of you have to be having a blessed day, right?!

Labels: career, crazy economy, rant, wedding

That's right my friends, Mr. Nice Guy has left the building! It's been 3 weeks since F-Face (aka our wedding photographer) last contacted us, and we've decided to take action now.

For all the new folds reading, you can click here, here, here, or here for an update of your choice....although, sadly, it amounts to a pile of lies on the bridge to nowhere.

So why the sudden urge to do something about it NOW? Well i'll tell you:

1) I've completely lost my patience. We've been more than nice & understanding throughout this whole debacle, and it's obviously not getting us anywhere.
2) YOU GUYS have been telling me to do this from the start! And after trying it MY way for the past 30 days, it's about time i try out YOURS ;)
3) I just found out this D-Head did this same thing to one of his best friends!!! WTF?

Yes, it looks like this guy has been up to a mess of jerkness for the past cple years. This old best friend i speak of was found on Facebook by the Mrs. who knew she had used him for her own wedding. And it turns out, the closer you are to him, the worst he treats you. I know this because the Mrs. hit her up and asked about her situation.

The more i heard about it, the more furious i got! This poor girl got married in Sep '07, and promised the proofs and online pics by Nov. She didn't get ANYTHING until June of '08!!! 9 F'ing months??? They used to talk a few times every single day, so not only did she get f'd over w/ the pics (she never got the actual photos, ONLY the proofs) but she lost one of her best friends :(

Lastly, before i tell you what we're doing now, here are a few of the excuses he threw out to her:

• His mom accidently spilled paint all over her proofs the day he was to deliver them!
• Then there was a "billing issue" w/ the company re-printing them.
• And then there were problems with his cell phone not receiving texts/calls. (sound familiar?)

Pulling the same $hit all over town? What a D-head! There's no way in hell i'm letting this drag on any longer. It's time to take action as many of you have mentioned in the past - no more games.

You'll be happy to know that 2 Fridays ago we filed a BBB complaint! That's right, we gathered all of our notes and dates, and put it all together into a perfect little case. And i gotta tell you, it was damn easy to file! I highly suggest it if you ever go through a mess w/ any company .

The BBB says they'll have an update within 30 days, good or bad, at which point we'll take the appropiate action (aka Court). In the meantime we'll be researching the best & quickest way to file this in small claims. It'll suck, but it's all about the principal now. As soon as i have those bad boys in hand - originals and all - i'll be smearing his company's name all over the net...i've had it.

Labels: cockamamy indeed, rant, wedding

Every week there's some other lame a$$ excuse holding up our pics. First it was having to sue someone and then moving out of state, then it was losing the proofs when his mother's car got repo'd, then came the apology and promise to make right, and now it's back to the lies and piss poor communication again.

It's been 9 days since my last post on this, and what i SHOULD be writing about right now is how happy we are viewing all of our pictures on collages.net, and even how sexier they are printed out in our proof album! but noooooooooo...instead, i have to (yet again) bitch about how this whole thing is a colossal regret, and how i'm about to turn into an extremely annoying client (think calling every single hour, on the hour, until we get a response).

Is it time to take "other actions" now? I don't know. He really does have all the power here considering he holds our once-in-a-lifetime pictures. One bad move on our end can send them right down the toilet...if they haven't been trashed already.

The sad part is that a couple we know who JUST had their wedding 3 weeks ago, has already gotten their pictures back!!! I'll leave you with our latest correspondence for now, and then pray the next post about this will be something POSITIVE for once. All this negativity just blows :(

• October 2nd: Part of his email to us:

  "Didn't get all the photos uploaded yesterday because I kept losing my internet connection. Working on that more today."

• October 6th: Mrs. Budgetsaresexy's email:

  "D-head (edited),
  
  Will the online pictures be available soon?
  
  Thanks."

• October 8th: Mrs. Budgetsaresexy's email:

  "?? Any response is helpful."

• October 9th: He emails back:

  "Sorry for the delayed response. I'm in la-la land (edited) helping my mom so no phone reception. I'm still organizing the images online. It didn't take the categories I sent it in. Which I know means nothing to you, it's just I have to re-do everything in terms of organizing the images. I should hopefully have all that up and organized by tomorrow at the latest.
  
  Thanks.
  (edited)"

• October 10th (in the pm): Mrs Budgetsaresexy's email:

  "How are we looking on this front?"

• October 11th: The Mrs. send over a pretty detailed and punishing email...if it weren't so long, i'd post it, but it's pretty long :) You can imagine what was inside of it though.
• October 12th: I call a few times, no answer. I call from a different phone #, no answer. i leave a message stating simply, "What the hell is going on dude?". No answer, yet.
• UPDATE: October 13th: left another voicemail, email, text message, facebook msg (which got deleted asap - shocker!) and 2 blog "comments"...i know those will get deleted too, but at least he knows we're not f'ing around anymore.
• UPDATE: October 14th: Starting to file a BBB report now, and then it's on to warn him one last time before we file for small claims court. (THANKS everyone for your encouragement!!!) Will keep you updated...

So another week, another bunch of nothing. But thanks for letting me vent! I promise to hold it all in until the next week or so when we have more solid news :) HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY everyone!

Labels: cockamamy indeed, rant, wedding

Man, this thing just keeps on going! If this is your first time reading about it, here's the part when our photographer started dissing us, and then here's the part when he said the pics were "stolen". Now onto part 3...

He responded within 24 hours of his last email! This is great on two accounts: The first being that he now knows just how pissed off we are, and the second being that he's starting to understand how important communication is with us.

I'm not sure if it was my first email to him (the one where i *sorta* threatened further action), or the second one (where i kinda apologized for being harsh, and asked if the pics were okay), but in any case things are looking up!

Here's the last response we got:

"Most awesome blogger ever (edited),

No worries. You have more than every right to be upset and I'm embarrassed. I went ahead and ordered another set of proofs. Should be about a week. I put a rush on it so you can get your proofs ASAP. All of my original images are backed-up in 3 places. My external hard drive that stays with me, my server farm out in la-la land (edited) and on disc in my storage unit. It's been my backup policy to have everything backed up in triplicate ever since I went digital.

Didn't get all the photos uploaded yesterday because I kept losing my internet connection. Working on that more today.

If you're looking for a refund, and I would understand, let me know and we'll see what can be worked out. Getting a refurbished phone today so I should be able to call you soon.

That's my update as of right now.

Better Communicator (edited)"

Not bad, right?! I don't believe his story 100%, but i AM keeping an open mind and hoping for the best. I just want him to get through whatever's messing up his life so he can get back to taking freakin' awesome pics! That, and so others don't have to put up with this ish...

And we're not gonna accept any sort of refund at this point. We're just gonna keep pushing until we have the physical pics in our hands, and go from there. Maybe we'll get some courtesy pics or something, but i'm not too worried about. Just gimme those pictures!

-------
*Will update in a week or two once the proofs are supposedly due to come in. (or if anything else f'd up hops on the plate - which would really push me over!)

Labels: cockamamy indeed, rant, wedding

The wedding pics debacle continues....

"The last 3 days have been a nightmare-and-a-half. My car was stolen while I was in my photo shoot on Sunday in downtown (edited) -- or at least I thought it was stolen; thankfully I had my equipment with me. My cell phone is in the car too since I didn't want it ringing during my job."

The email gets a little crazier after that, and goes onto say that it was actually repossessed (not stolen) because of bad paperwork, and that he's working on reproducing the prints now, as well as uploading them online so we can at least SEE them.

But it really didn't matter what the next 4 paragraphs actually said, because all i could think at that point was, "$hit, our pictures are lost".

I feel for the guy, i really do, but it's starting to get out of hand regardless if he's telling us the truth or not. Because if he is, his life sucks (his previous email mentioned being out of thousands and thousands of dollars because a client renigged, and thus having to move across country to "live".). And if he isn't, then something's mentally wrong with that kid....which would be a complete 180 as the guy is pretty freakin' smart, not to mention GREAT at what he does - taking pictures.

Either way, i followed up with the following,

"first off, thank you for responding. if you could please do so every day, even if it's a "nothing is new" that will help as we're both extremely close to losing it. in fact, we're even considering other options should this not be resolved in the very near future, which we'd really hate to do.

we have been very happy with your services the entire point up until now, and of course we wish the best for you no matter what is happening. that being said, however, i can't say that i really care anymore what the reasons are, or if i believe them for that matter.

all i know is that our pictures have been due for months now, per the contract, and our patience is dwindling. if there if there is even the slightest possibility that our proofs/raw images do not exist anymore, please give it to us straight so that we can go from there.

again, we sincerely hope things do get better for you, but please keep us updated no matter what.
-(edited)

ps: and just so i understand correctly, are you saying that our proof album is in the car that you cannot get back? because i have to tell you, it seems odd being that your cell phone that was left in there is seemingly turning on and off while it is "lost". And as you know, you certainly have the ability to check your voicemails from anywhere in the world."

And that's where we're at kiddies. The whole thing just blows, and now we are at the mercy of his future responses until we see, or don't see, the pictures online. Once that happens, we'll know what we're dealing with. Happy Wednesday?

--------------------
UPDATE: Oct 1st, evening: The Mrs. and i couldn't sleep, and felt that i may have been a little harsh on him because it's very possible he's not doing so good in life right now. If these pics are low on his priority list, then i'm afraid to ask what's high on it. Anyways, we felt bad and sent him this email before going to bed. At the very least we feel better about it, even if we are being "too nice".

"Hey (edited),

I just wanted to say i'm sorry if i came across a bit harsh on that last email. I hope you could understand where our frustration is coming from. If you could please just confirm that the originals are okay, and that we will definitely get them, it would be really helpful for us in remaining patient.

We have you in our thoughts, and sincerely hope your situation gets worked out.
-(edited)-"

I'll keep ya posted...
--------------------
UPDATE: Oct 2nd, morning: He emails back saying they aren't lost! In fact, he backs them up in 3 different places :)

Labels: cockamamy indeed, rant, wedding

Can you believe that? FOUR months and nothing, not even our proofs. I've been hoping to resolve this for a few weeks now, but sadly it looks like it's finally gotten to me. What makes it worse is that we had finally gotten a hopeful response last week, but then THAT failed as well.

Is it that hard to ask for something you've paid for a YEAR in advance?

Seriously, we're not talking about anything genius here. They're pictures. You take them, develop them, and then give them to the exuberant bride or groom. Here's the dilly so far:

• Mid-June: Back from our honeymoon, we ask how long it may take. His response? 6-8 weeks.
• Mid-August: "It's taken a bit longer to develop the black & white images. A cple more weeks go go" First off, i'm fairly certain it doesn't take that much longer (if at all) to develop B&W over color, and ESPECIALLY not for the 4x5 proofs! I asked my sister who works for a photographer doing weddings herself, and they didn't buy it.
• Early Sep: "I'll call you this week so we can meet up and go over it all". Nothing that week. nor the next. nor the next.

*This is the point at which i jump in and start getting irrated. The guy is an old high school friend of the Mrs., so we cut him some slack thinking all would be dandy. A couple of weeks ago she was done with him, so i got to play bad cop ;) which is perfectly fine as i get it all day long @ work anyways being a customer service manager.

• Sep 11th - I call and leave a calm but important message on his cell phone. no response.
• Sep 13th - Text him "What's the deal, bro?" hoping to get anything at all back. nothing.
• Sep 16th - The Mrs. calls him and leaves a message. nothing again.
• Sep 18th - The Mrs. emails him:

  "D-head (edited),
  
  What's going on? You haven't returned our phone calls/voicemails to you and I haven't heard from you since Sept.1 when you indicated you'd be calling me that week.
  
  We'd really just like to see our proofs. I've been asking for them for months now and have received numerous indications from you that they would be forthcoming, but we have still not received them.
  
  The only thing we've seen at all so far has been a few pictures on Facebook. Though we enjoyed seeing those, we waited until 3 months after our wedding to catch a glimpse of 13 pictures, whereas the other wedding you posted had taken place one day prior and they had 3 times as many pictures up. Clearly, we are not a priority for you right now but this is becoming increasingly frustrating--and disappointing. Our wedding pictures are important to us and we'd really like to see how they turned out.
  
  I would really appreciate the courtesy of receiving some communication from you as to what's going on regarding our proofs, and when we can expect to receive them. We're approaching 4 months from our wedding date at this point.
  
  Mrs. Budgetsaresexy (edited)"

• Sep 25th - Success! An email into Facebook AND gmail. AWESOME! And as much as i'd LOVE to post his sad story of a response, there's too many details that would give up who it is :( I did think about it though ;) He did, however, say he'll be in town for a few days (he said he moved), and will stop by early Sunday morning to review it together.
• Sep 28th, Sunday - No show. We call him at 1pm and he calls back, clearly aggitated, stating he'll drop it off during the day, even if we're not at home. And surprise, surprise, he didn't.
• Sep 28th, evening - The mrs. leaves a voicemail asking for an update. nothing. i text him a "still stopping by?" text as well, but nothing again.
• Sep 29th, evening - I repeatedly try calling him from 7pm-10pm but phone appears turned off - i didn't leave a message...and that's where we are today.
• UPDATE: Sep 30th, morning - The Mrs. emails him again,

  "D-head (edited),
  
  Your phone has either been not working or turned off for the last 2 days, and again, we've left a number a messages. You never showed up on Sunday. Can we please get a status update on the proofs???"

• UPDATE: Sep 30th, evening - I call him every hour, on the hour, for 4 hours straight. just rings and rings and then hits vmail (better than just going straigth there i suppose). I leave one message stating that i basically just want him to drop them off before leaving town, and that i can care less about the reasoning behind it. I also say a call/email/text/facebook/myspace message or whatever is fine. Just make contact.
• UPDATE: Oct 1st, morning - Nothing yet...will wait until tomorrow, and then it's on.
• UPDATE: Oct 1st, afternoon - He emailed us back! but it's not good...

So, now not only has he pissed us off for months on end, but he has crushed our remaining hope of getting this resolved asap. And keep in mind, after getting these proofs, we STILL have to order the freakin' pictures from him!! arghhhhhhhh...what a dick. (sorry, but it's called for here.)

I think the worst of it all, though, is that i'm starting to wonder if something's just wrong with the pics? Like, perhaps they came out horribly? Or maybe his team accidently erased them or something? I'm sure they were all digital, so who knows what's possible.

Whew, that felt good! Thanks for listening, and/or skimming ;) All in all it's not the worst thing going on these days (bailout anyone?), but it certainly is at the top of my $hit list. And if we never get them? Well, at least we've got plenty of other pics from our friends and family that portray the beautiful day! We're certainly not going to let it "ruin" the wedding.

I'll keep ya posted...

Labels: cockamamy indeed, rant, wedding

I mean, gifts shouldn't really "matter" in theory, but i know life dictates otherwise ;)

I mention this (again) only because it's been coming up a few times with all our weddings we still have - from both "real" friends, and fellow bloggers and other internet folk.

We used to be hardcore fans of the whole registry phenomenon, but ever since we had our own wedding we're sooooooooooooo into giving money now!

Maybe it's cuz i'm a guy, or we got like 100+ gifts even BEFORE the wedding came, but there's something satisfying about getting piles of cold hard cash! (Esp. right after you spent a small fortune throwing the most expensive party of your entire life.)

So we've already decided that cash, or check, is the way to go now, but it's the AMOUNT to give that's up for discussion. Allow me to throw out a few variables here:

1. How many people is this gift covering?
If you go by yourself, do you cut the gift in half? Or does it not even matter as the gift is coming from your family or niche? I think etiquette says it depends on who exactly was invited, but i really don't know...in fact, i kinda just made that up right now ;) I feel that you should give the same no matter if you were invited by yourself, or if you AND your other half were invited. And if you're going on behalf of your entire family, let's say, maybe add a few dollars...i dunno, that's just what we've been doing.

2. How well do you know these soon to be newlyweds?
Is it like a distant cousin or someone you've only known for a month? Or are we talking about your brother from another mother kinda person? And, SHOULD that even matter? haha...you like how i say it matters, and then i turn around and question even that? i'm kinda wonky like that, you must excuse me.

I think there is definitely something to be said here though - If i'm going to a wedding because "i have to" (family related) I'd feel comfortable giving $80 for the Mrs. and I....maybe even $60 in all honesty. BUT, if we're talking about our bff, then i'd probably up the ante and dish out $100-$150 depending on my mood as i write the check ;)

3. Can you even afford to give a hefty amount?
This is probably the most important issue here. If you can't afford giving out $100 for each wedding, then surely don't do it. The happy couple loves just having you there, and while they will sit down and open up your present/money voucher at some point, they should be happy with whatever you give. And if they're not? F 'em. You came, and you cheered them on didn't you? it doesn't really matter though, it's not like you'd ever find out they thought your gift was too little ;)

If you can't afford to give a lot of money, or if you prefer not doing so anyways, then the next best thing (in my opinion) is hitting up Bed, Bath, and Beyond with a 20% off coupon! Everyone knows it's the perfect place to give a gift, and save a little while doing so. And hopefully they're registered there so you can get them something they actually want/need. But even not, give only what you can afford.

I think that about covers it...did i miss anything? When it comes down to it, there's no right or wrong answers here - everyone is different and has their own thoughts on this stuff. You gotta do whatever you and your wallet are comfortable with :) Now, it's time to get ready for our second half of Wedding Season! I sure hope I'll run into Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson!!!

Labels: gifting, wedding

The summer is winding down, but we sure as hell aren't finished with Wedding Season.

You'd think the one we just had on Labor Day woulda been the end to it, but crazily enough we're only half way there! We have THREE (3) more this month (in a row, mind you) and then the last grand finale mid-January in the Bahamas - which i'm not complaining about at all.

But while i have enough ammo to turn this post into a wedding rant, i shall not. Considering the Mrs. and I wed back in May, we really dont' have any room to talk. haha...plus, 4 out of the 7 other weddings are for super close friends and we're delighted we get to spend $700 in presents share in their love and joy together :)

(we've decided to give $100 as wedding presents from here on out since we know how much we appreciated $ over gifts ourselves! So 7 weddings = $700...ouch)

I'd actually like to explore "Travel Insurance" a bit and see if it's worth it or not. And apparantly to us, it isn't because we turned it down! haha...but neither of us have ever used it, nor had any crazy issues that would have ever stopped us from going. (HUGE knock on wood here please, my goodness!) So we're naturally pessimistic about spending another $200 for the chance of something getting in our way.

Here's what this "Cancel For Any Reason Travel Protection Plan" covers:

- Trip interruption should clients need to return home early for a covered reason.
- Protection against addional expenses in the event a covered weather delay.
- Reimbursement for lost or stolen baggage.
- Reimbursement for medical expenses incurred overseas. Many group health or primary medical insurance plans do not cover medical expenses incurred outside of the United States or the plan's covered territories.

Maybe we've never heard of, or used it, before though because this is the first time we went through a travel agent? We're pros at using Expedia.com and the internet to get flights and hotels and such, and rarely do we get a pop up or extra check box to pay for insurance of any type.

The whole trip cost us $1313.20 for all airfare, hotel & tax costs, airport xfers, etc. Everything except for food basically, which lucky enough will be covered by the wedding events :) And we're only going for the weekend (crazy, i know!), so spending an extra $89 a peice is really the last thing we wanna do.

Of course, our realtor travel agent (i always get those 2 mixed up) was blown away that we'd turn down such a thing. In fact, not only did she mention 98% of her clients take it every single time, but she made me email her back explicitly stating that we do not want it so that she can have it in writing "just in case". And this is after the 3 emails spelling out exactly what the policy covers.

I know she means well and all, but seriously - she has got me all 2nd guessing myself now! I mean, look at this last attempt to sway us:

"If you choose NOT to purchase the protection I need to advise you that the airfare is FULLY NONREFUNDABLE once ticketed, it cannot be used for another travel date and it cannot be transferred to another person... "

Have strong feelings, much?! After all was said and done, we kept firm and declined the $200 addition. It was our initial gut response, and we feel good about it. We also don't do well with "scare tactics", so the more they came, the more we were fighting back.

But are we idiots? You can tell me the truth, we need some un-biased opinions. You could even be anonymous if you're afraid i'll come over there and find you ;) I'm pretty sure it comes down to personal opinion and experience anyways, but that little F'er has really got me thinking now...

Labels: insurance, travel, wedding

That's right, miraculously we're STILL getting wedding checks sent our way :) I guess that "1 year to give a gift" rule is pretty common these days. Not that i really care one way or the other, i just find it pretty funny. This rule doesn't apply to birthdays, graduation,or Christmas so why weddings?

I asked a couple friends but no luck, they all came back pretty much with "i dunno, it's just the way it is". Okay, so let's just say that's the deal. Why do it though? I mean, it takes a lot of time to make arrangements to go to the wedding, get a hotel (if needed), and schedule your family's life around it cuz of the time it consumes, so the present part should be the easy part, right?

The only thing i can think of is that perhaps it just gets forgotten w/ all this other stuff going on. Or it's just laziness :) I've never sent a late gift myself, but if i did it would totally come down to the lazy factor. But enough of this talk, my word vomit is going wayyyy off track now.

The reason for this post is to give an update on our newest check contenders in our Bank Battle! So here they are:

• USAA moves up a notch to 2nd place with a $200'er (holler)
• Commerce Bank brings in another $50.00
• And PNC makes it a 3-way tie for first, w/ another respectable $100.00!

Ooh, and i almost forgot about the BEST gift ever! A $500 Savings Bond :) Similar to the others in my safe, it's a "Patriot Bond" (EE) worth $250 at the present time, which will work it's way up over the years. I love it! (For more info on bonds, check out the snazzy Treasurydirect.gov site.)

There's just something about those little guys that bring absolute joy to my life. I think it's the whole "you can watch me grow, but you can't spend me!" thing. Fine by me, my other bonds will now have an extra friend to play with. No shame in that game!

So there you have it, our old cash gift total worked it's way up from $6,000 to $6,350, and USAA is battling Navy Federal for the 2nd place title...will it end here? Only time, and laziness, will tell ;)

Labels: banking, bonds, gifting, PNC, USAA, wedding

POOP! What about my USAA? According to all of the wedding checks we got from our friends and family, it only ranks in 5th place :( Turns out most of them prefer Wachovia, Bank of America, and PNC. Oh well, at least we got some extra $$$ to help start our married lives, right?!

This is decidedly a GOOD thing, as our wedding budget had finally burst at the seams, and it's now time to clean it all up ;)

So, being the big dork that i am, i took some time to sort through all of our cash gifts and analyzed the bajesus out of 'em. It's just sooo fun, i love it! Plus, what else do i have to do on Friday the 13th? haha... Chew on these fancy facts:

After counting it all up, we were given a total of about $6,000 $6,350!
- $700 of them were pure cashy cash
- $5,300 $5,650 of them were old fashioned checks.

Here are how the amounts broke down:
- $1,000 was the biggest gift (holler)
- $40 was the smallest gift
- $138 was the average gift

And these are the banks the checks came from (most popular to least):
- 5 @ Wachovia Bank
- 5 @ Bank of America
- 4 5@ PNC Bank
- 3 @ Navy Federal Credit Union
- 2 3 @ USAA Federal Savings Bank (the best e-v-e-r!)
- 2 @ Citibank
- 1 2 @ Commerce Bank
- 1 @ Chase
- 1 @ BB&T
- 1 @ SunTrust
- 1 @ Hudson United Bank
- 1 @ Harleysville National Bank
- 1 @ Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union

Wasn't that fun? No? Well you are just too cool aren't ya ;) I certainly enjoyed breaking it all down - especially when it came to banking. There are so many options out there, i wonder what made them choose their specific one. I actually thought we'd have more "military" related banks than the 5 we did (USAA & Navy Federal), so that was interesting.

All i know is, as soon as these bad boys clear (i like to use that term "bad boys" don't i?) we're paying off each and every credit card, and throwing the rest in our House Savings! Bow chicka wa wa!

*Updated: 6-20-08

Labels: Bank of America, banking, gifting, PNC, USAA, Wachovia, wedding

Whew! From saying "I Do", to jumping in waterfalls, it's been quite an adventure lately - but my goodness was it a helluva good time :)

And the best part? Being back on U.S. soil and catching up on all the juicy gossip we've missed!

We literally have hundreds of emails and pictures to catch up on, and i'll be milking this attention while i can ;) haha...

But, as i sip on my overpriced yet DEARLY missed Panera coffee (which i still have yet to conquer), the time has come to talk turkey. This ain't no personal blog...although it would be much more interesting posting up all our drunken, crazy, wild, party pics ;)

So, in an effort to spew all of the thoughts swirling around in my mind, here is a breakdown of the categories i'd liked to share:

Stuff NEVER to Buy on Resorts
Sure you can go "into town" and pick up some of this stuff for a quarter of the price, but unless you have a killer instinct (aka know when you're getting ripped off and/or stalked by the beggars) and you wanna blow $10 for a cab ride each way, you're pretty much screwed.

• Deodorant: $8.50! And this was for one of those "mini" travel size ones!
• Magazines: $12.00! This was for the only copy of Cosmo they had. Not that i'd ever read it (unless you count browsing all of the hottie pictures ;) ), but my damness that's expensive. You could also pick up Good Housekeeping for $9.00, which was pretty random.
• Straw hats: $45.00 - $85.00! Cowboy hats, Panama Jack hats, you name it...

5 Reasons to go to a Sandals/Beaches Resort
There are a butt-load of reasons to go with a resort style place, but here were our top picks.

1. All you can eat! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, you name it.
2. All you can drink! Beer, Wine, Liquor, whatever your poison.
3. Private-ish beaches all around! Lay out and get tan without any crazy "locals" peddling their goods at ya.
   
4. Community pools, games, fun! Live bands almost every night, piano bars, talent shows, a whole mess of vacation goodness :)
5. Don't have to spend a dime while you're there! All your main things are taken care of w/ the all-inclusiveness. Be warned though, it sure ain't easy turning down all those "extras" all around you.
   

5 Reasons NOT to go to a Sandals/Beaches Resort
While those top reasons sure were sexy, you also gotta play devil's advocate on this one.

1. The hefty price tag - We spent around $4,100 for 8 days/nights, NOT including plane tickets (thank hotness for my boss hooking us up again w/ first class tickets all the way!) You get those awesome benefits I showed above, but it def. hurts the wallet either way.
2. All you can eat & drink! Haha ... while it's fun as hell, you KNOW you'll put on some pounds with this one ;) It's hard to keep count of how many drinks you pound down...believe me.
3. Their "resort credit card" - Since everything you buy (souvenirs, golf, island adventures, etc) must be put on this card they give to you during check in, it's hard to keep track of it all. You can easily blow through some greenbacks.
4. Having to dress up at times - Sure there are 7+ restaurants on these resorts, but if you only brought tee's and flip flops, you'll only be allowed into half of them. It was okay after I got used to it, but the bathing suit was the only thing i wanted to wear most of the time ;)
5. Extra costs for tours & sightseeing - It's bad enough spending the 4k+ on the resort itself, but there's only so much you can do on the beach before you get antsy. We got a GREAT deal on a 6 hour island tour for $80 a piece (Joe Knows! Best tour guide E-V-E-R), but you gotta check around or you could spend hundreds when the week's over.
   

Lastly, Never Wear Camouflage Stuff.
I learned this the hard way as I tried to get through Customs w/ camo shorts on ;) Although they took it easy on me and just forced me to change, they very well could have stripped me down in front of everyone, and then thrown me in jail for a day! (I don't recommend testing them)

Apparently this is a big no-no on the island, and I was just a "stupid American". After thugs were robbing islanders, dressed as the military, the governments passed a law forbidding any camouflage gear whatsoever. Oops.

That's it for now kiddies. As the alcohol clears and more fun-ness comes to mind, I'll be sure to post them up. I leave you now with the best slogan ever, courtesy a la Caribbean - "No Pressure, No Problem!"

Labels: honeymoon, sandals, wedding

Missing me yet? I hope not - you should have plenty to read while i'm away ;) Remember that Chuck Norris Random Fact Generator link i sent to ya? aww yeahhhh!

Anyways, I just wanted to give you all a quick shout out and to let you know that I'm looking for bargains down here when we're out and about... Just cuz it's our honeymoon, doesn't mean i can get all kooky w/ my our money!

Although, with the way we're being spoiled down here Mr. Sexy might come back in action and take over from Mr. Frugal! (Remember what almost happened back in Vegas?)

We got one of those "all you can eat & drink" resort places down here, so we don't have to plan a damn thing anymore ;) The price tag wasn't pretty ($4,000), but we get 8 long days and nights there, and it's supposed to be one of the best parts for our lives. We all know it'll be hard to justify another trip like this in the near future! Why do i have to be so frugal again?

Well that's it for now my furry little friends! I *may* or *may not* be back anytime soon, so if i don't respond to any posts or emails, you'll know why...i'll be down at the copa cabana w/ two drinks in my hand and a farmers tan ;)

Labels: randomness 3000, wedding

What a good way to end single-ness: UP a good 3 Grand this month :)

The only stuff holding us back are all of the wedding expenses now charged on our card and sucking us dry! haha...

On the other hand, the beautiful checks still continue to flow in, so i'm pretty hopeful we'll be back in action soon. And NO MORE expenditures to come, HOORAY!

Here's how it breaks down this month:

Cash Savings: Oh yeah, lost a few dollars in this department. But it's only because of said wedding costs and balancing our credit cards the best way to limit interest charges. I'm afraid to report though that we'll actually accrue these fees on the next statement. At least it's a first in years.

Roth IRA: Another month of doing nothing, and watching the balance eek itself up ;) I'll take that any day.

401k: A+++ I love this bad boy! Had the usual two deposits of $1187.50 (my half + 100% matching), and then some extra help from the markets going up. And the best part? im STILL waiting for 3 full months of owed deposits!!! Well, i guess that's kinda good in that it's not in yet, but also terrible that it's taken this long so far :( But, as always, can't start getting heated about it again.

Savings Bonds: These guys don't like to move much...been this way for 2 moths now. i guess that's why they're considered a "safe" investment, huh?

Condo Investment: Still sending my brother $123 each month for his condo. Nothing too juicy going on here, except that this might stop within the next few months.

Home Equity: Same with this department - at a stand still until after the wedding and grad school stuff comes together. This amount reflects the purchase price of our house minus all principal payments.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH again for the 4th month in a row. At least it didn't go down as MUCH as it has been, but it's still quickly depreciating like a mother. I'm adding this to the "do something about it" list for next month.

Credit Cards: It went down a bit (hence the drop in my cash savings as well), but it's still wayyyy off track. Chalk this one up to the wedding stuff too. But at least I get to move the sidebar a bit :)

Auto Loan: Slowly and steadily paying off $300ish in principal each month. I really won't miss this one at all if i end up getting a beater down the road which, naturally, I'm still considering.

Hope everyone's having a wonderful week out there! And hopefully i'll be able to jump on with some sexy updates soon - straight from the Caribbean ;)

* Side bars have also been updated
* Click here to check out past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth, wedding

That's right - as of this sec. we are officially married ;)

And it feels awesome! Well ... i'm pretty sure it feels awesome, i'm probably more nervous than anything right now with all those faces staring up at me! That's right, I am still up there on the alter as you're reading this- how cool is that? i SO heart blogger ... and Mrs. Budgetsaresexy!

(it's party time!)

Labels: life, love, wedding

That's right my dear friends, tomorrow I go from "singlehood" to "chained", i mean "married" ;) It was a fun 27 years going it alone, and now i shall be blessed with a family. Oooooh, i could have little J's running around now too - woohoo!

And if you're wondering how you'll keep entertained while we're away, worry no more. I have a few nuggets lined up, and they'll be sure to do the trick:

• Guest posts from awesome bloggers & readers such as yourself.
• Random posts that i have future dated (savvy, huh?)
• And semi-tipsy updates if i can sneak online ;)
  

And if you go through all that, and you STILL need something juicy, then check out (and bookmark) one of the best sites e-v-e-r: The Chuck Norris Random Fact Generator!

You're in good hands my loved ones. I'm off to get hitched now and get to honeymooning, but while i'm gone next week you just remember one thing - don't do anything i wouldn't do!

Labels: life, love, wedding

The presents are starting to flow in now, and we're getting some pretty generous checks - we're talking about ones for $100 and $150 a PIECE!!! I'm not sure what the average amount people usually give, but anything over $50 seems like a lot to me. I can understand if close family members or best friends want to give a little extra, but we're getting a lot from guests that aren't even COMING to the wedding! WTF? I guess we have some good fans ;)

Being the curious little badger that I am, I took it upon myself to do some research and I came across an interesting little blurb from WeddingBasics.com:

"Guests are not required to bring a wedding gift to the wedding which is one of the reasons you should never make mention of gifts with your wedding invitation. However, social etiquette indicates that if you are invited to a wedding you should send a gift to the couple whether or not you plan to attend."

First off, i thought it was a mandatory thing! haha...not that i personally care, it just seems to be the case. I guess that's where "social" etiquette comes in. To be honest, the whole gift registry thing was the only part where Mrs Budgetsaresexy and I got into some arguments :(

I didn't want to put a billion things on our registries cuz I feel that we (or I should say "I") already have most of this stuff, but she thought we needed to so that people know what to give us, and so that we could also have more "joint" stuff. At any rate, we're totally passed all that now, but it never fails to get a bit crazy when money starts playing a part.

Secondly (sorry, got a little sidetracked there) i guess it IS a rule of thumb to send a gift whether you're coming or not. That's quite a shock to me, esp. looking back at all those I didn't attend - YIKES! I'll just blame it on all those brain cells i lost back in College ;) I don't think many people expect any big gifts from college kids anyways, so whatever.

Okay that's enough wedding talk for now. I can seriously go on and on about all this stuff, but I'm sure not everyone wants to read about it - I know i don't want to any more! I can tell you one thing though, it'll be GREAT not having to worry about this stuff ever again. Crazy kids and their crazy weddings.

-------------------
If you're itching for more though, check out these oldies:
- Mrs. Budgetsaresexy on frugal wedding-ness
- Two rants and two helpful hints
- Wedding budget for $10k? Fingers crossed!
- I just spent $170 in under 5 minutes

Labels: gifting, wedding

Dear Readers,

Well hello! And welcome to my guest post :) As our impending nuptials quickly approach, I figured I would throw in a few of my frugally-minded wedding experiences to share with those interested. And, as I am MUCH more charming and interesting than the regular writer of this blog, you will probably find reading this to be the greatest experience of your life!! Haha, just kidding....it will be closer to the second or third greatest experience of your life.

I keed, I keed!

So as the oh-so-handsome Mr. BudgetsareSexy (aka J.) had previously mentioned, our initial wedding budget from my lovely and generous mother was just around $10K, and then we planned to pitch in the rest ourselves. It may be hard to believe, but most weddings, particularly in our (*cough*snobby*cough*) area, cost a great deal more than this, so we had to work hard to make ends meet and still make it a beautiful day for all to enjoy.

The following are some of my friendly and frugal tactics for cutting costs:

1) The wedding dress. Some brides want (and can afford) a dress that costs thousands of dollars; I am not one of them! I meandered over to David's Bridal, tried on 6 or 7 dresses and luckily found one I liked for a reasonable price. Some other tips for brides looking for their dream dress would be to check out second-hand bridal stores (where you can find a gorgeous pre-worn dress for a fraction of the cost), or for the hardier ladies, even the "running of the brides" annual event done by Filene's Basement. I did this years ago with a friend of mine who was getting married, and it was chaos! But, to some degree, it was fun--and indisputeably thrifty! If you are one of the lucky ones, you just may end up with a dirt-cheap designer gown, with only alterations and cleaning costs to cover.

2) Accessories. It's pretty easy to run up wedding costs with bridal accessories---headpieces, shoes, lingerie, handbags, etc. can put a considerable dent in your budget. However, keeping an eye out for sales and prioritizing your "must-haves" in light of your "can-do-withouts" is always important. Personally, I hit up Target for my reception shoes ($5.09 on clearance), eBay for my veil ($23 from an original $179), and the cheapest shoes/dress combo I could find for my rehearsal dinner outfit ($20 shoes from payless, and a $22 dress from Forever 21). It's definitely a special day and worth spending a little extra money for things you want to preserve for posterity (ie, i spent about $150 on a pearl necklace and earring set--on a 60% off sale, of course), but for the rest, give your wallet a rest and comb the clearance racks!

3) Online coupon codes. I ordered all of my bridesmaid gifts on overstock.com ($ saver in itself), and just today ordered disposable camers (on sale for only $2.99 each) and bubbles ($8.49 for a pack of 48) from theknot.com. Before checking out online, I did quick google searches for promo codes for both sites. Lo and behold, I found them, and wound up saving 10-15% off the original cost just by finding a little code to type in! Just as those little dollars here and there add up to the total wedding cost, saving those dollars wherever possible can also add up big in the long run.

4) Wedding favors. Who ever uses those crappy throwaway items that many people give away as wedding favors? I mean, seriously...when you get a cake-topper to bring home from a wedding, do you really ever do anything other than toss it in the garbage when you get home? The frustrating part about favors is, even though people don't tend to use their $2-3 momento for much, they expect them, AND, it winds up costing us hundreds when factoring in 170 guests or so. Our plan? Tentatively, we are planning to donate a tree for each guest from the Arbor Day Foundation. 1 tree costs $1, and even though it will still end up costing us a fair amount, it's A) tax-deductible, and most importantly, B) going to a good cause. We will then type up some small cards to place at each setting, letting the guests know that a tree was planted in their honor.

5) Stationary. Once upon a cold February evening, Mr. B and I headed off to a meeting at a fancy-shmancy stationary store to discuss wedding invitations. It was a night that we will not soon forget, but that is only because they basically ignored us after shoving some books of overpriced paper samples at us and walking away. We promptly returned home, and Mr. B found some much more reasonable online invitations for us to order (check out Exclusively Weddings). If you do your research, there are plenty of options out there in the online world for all kinds of budgets. And in lieu of buying matching thank you notecards with the invitations, we opted for non-matching (but still cute) notecards from the dollar bin at Michael's. 10 notecards for $1 is an awesome deal, and I guarantee you that no one is going to mind if our thank you notes don't match the invitation pattern. It's what written inside them that counts!

As this is turning into less of a blog posting and more of a book, I'm going to stop here. If you're getting married soon, I hope a few of these tips and experiences are helpful to you! And for the rest of you readers....well, hope I didn't bore you to tears!!

Happy Blogging to all!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Budgetsaresexy

Labels: guest post, money hacks, mrs. budgetsaresexy, saving, wedding

Hum ... not my favorite month's review, but it's all good.

Gotta have those down periods, to make those up ones feel even better, right?

Most of this was also expected, so no big shocks (thank goodness).

The main difference here, from all other months, is the massive jump in the credit card category due to more wedding related costs.

I'm not scared yet though, we have a good month to pay it off before finance charges kick in ... and even at that point, it's only at 5%, so it's not THAT bad. We'll definitely be hoping for cash wedding gifts now though ;)

Here's how the other categories played out this month (no promises it'll be exciting):

Cash Savings: The $60 here is a bit deceiving, as my actual cash went up a good $600 thanks to my new best friend - George Bush! I ended up taking my bond amounts out of here (it deserved it's own category), and then took out 48 crisp $1 bills from my stash for my current art project.

Roth IRA: I like earning money for doing nothing at all! No new deposits in here.

401k: We're finally starting to get some of the due deposits into our account now. While we only had one deposit this month, we're still waiting for a good 5+ to hit any day now. Weeeee!

Savings Bonds: These were the bonds i found in my safe the other month. Had to take them out of the "cash" area as it really didn't belong there...i was just too lazy to edit my graphics last month ;) Now I'll be able to see the differences each month a little better too, esp. when I start adding some bonds down the road.

Condo Investment: Same ol', same ol'. $123 each month still going to my bro until we agree to stop.

Home Equity: Still at a stand still due to our frozen Heloc adventure. We don't plan on paying off more of either mortgage for at least 5-6 months, as the 9k we accidently "paid off" is enough for right now.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH again. 3 months in a row now. i. still. hate. cars.

Credit Cards: All wedding related stuff - honeymoon, flowers, dj, you name it. We've already started getting some cash gifts coming in, so we're *hoping* to get enough to pay it all off before, or soon after our wedding. Either way, it's all good for now.

Auto Loan: Another measly $300ish principal payment. No more thoughts on selling my car, too much going on these days.

'Tis all for now fine folks. The sidebars have been updated, and life continues on with another glorious day ;) HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Labels: net worth, wedding

I have two gems to share with you this morning. I will bitch about both, but will then give some handy pointers after as a reward for listening :) Please to enjoy:

Rant #1: Starbucks is gonna get it! Remember all those sexy rewards they started marketing last week??? Well, apparently they forgot about the training of their staff, including the managers. Today marks the 3rd day IN A ROW that they have not credited off our syrups! Not a huge deal, but since we make a run for our co-workers, it's a good $2 each trip.

The best, though, are the looks on their faces when we ask for the credits. It's like fear strikes them and their eyes slowly glaze over in confusion. haha....so, for the 3rd time now, we had to get a manager or senior-level person to credit back the amounts - this, after explaining to them why we deserve the discounts.

Helpful hint: If you want the syrups, soy milks, and other benefits of the new Starbucks plan, make sure to tell the cashier BEFORE paying so they can adjust it for you. Unfortunately (and prob. well thought out by Starbucks) it's not automatic.

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Rant #2: Remember how our flowers budget for the wedding was around $600? Wellll, not anymore! Our flowers person dropped out at the last minute, forcing us to do some spectacularly fast research. I could probably go on and on about how sucky this was, but the circumstances are fair and our new results are even better. Our new price tag is set higher at $950, BUT we found a much better rose package and all is now good in the world! And thank goodness for Mrs. Budgetsaresexy or else we'd have hand picked daisies everywhere :)

Helpful hint: If you ever find yourself needing flower arrangements, be sure to check out proflowersweddings.com. They have some pretty killer packages lined up, and cater to both smaller and larger events.

That is all. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Labels: rant, starbucks, wedding

Okay, so we *thought* we were budgeting $10k for our wedding! haha....since i started writing this i realized our total costs are actually gonna be around $16k! i guess it's good some of you prompted me to post about it :) Still though, our new budget is about half the national average for weddings.

According to Costofwedding.com:

"U.S. couples spend (on average) $28,800 for their wedding. This does not include cost for a honeymoon, engagement ring, bridal consultant or wedding planner."

AND, it's even higher in the county i live in, coming in @ $39,000!!! How INSANE is that? While our $16k will be pretty tight, we have to at least shoot for it (esp. now that it's 6k higher than the initially planned $10k!). There's no way in hell we're blowing $30k for one night. And to be honest, i don't see that big of a difference of those i attended where even $45k & $60k were spent. Sure the flowers and locations may be a bit fancier, but the food and drinks were plentiful at both, and everyone had a fabulous time!

In any case, you're probably wondering where on earth this money goes to. So, in an attempt to keep things clear and concise (there are entire websites pages dedicated to this stuff, w/ pages and pages of info.) here is a breakdown of the "average" American wedding costs, side by side w/ the money we've spent, or are about to spend, on each category:

* According to Bridal Association of America
I'll post more later on HOW exactly we went around a lot of these costs, but as you can see it CAN be done for lower.

So far we (aka Mrs Budgetsaresexy's mom and us) have spent a total of $4,963.77, with the MAJOR category still left - the reception.

We booked it at a restaurant, and at the end of the night we get a bill totaling up the number of plates served, and alcohol drank. BUT, at least we don't have to worry about any cleaning up afterwards :) Not to mention the set up, caterers, staff, etc, it's all included since it's a restaurant! woohoo.

That pretty much covers it, in a nutshell. There are a slew of potential things to think about, but Mrs. Budgetsaresexy and I are not one to complicate things. I mean, you could spend HOURS on just picking invitations, or merely choosing flower arrangements. The possibilities are endless. Unless you've been planning your wedding since you were a little girl, be prepared to spend some hefty prep time :)

Before i go, let me just recommend the following three things if you're starting the process yourself. I promise you they will help:

1) Book the location of the ceremony (for us, it's a church), AND the reception ASAP. These dates fill up faster than Warren Bufffet on a hot business venture! wow, okay so that was the dorkiest coment i've ever made...but you get the point. Some places book 1-2 years in advance.
2) Do one thing a month! If you get in the habit of doing this, esp. if your engagement period is 10+ months long, you will find yourself very productive. Not to mention as stress-free as possible.
3) Be patient and work as a team....even if you don't want to :)

The first, and second one, are super easy to follow. It's the third that gets tougher as the time goes on! You leave one person alone to do it, and you can kiss that honeymoon goodbye :( But if you're truly getting married for the right reasons, it should be all good :) Plus, things like picking the music to play at the reception, or choosing the food is pretty easy and fun!

I think that covers most of the stuff we've been getting into. I'll be posting more updates as we get closer to the big day as well. For those of you starting out, I hope this stuff helps! (and Congratulations!)

Labels: love, wedding

- Ordered my wedding party gifts: $140 - engraved cuff links!
- Ordered Baptismal certificate so I can get married in the church: $30! - didn't see that one coming. apparently since i was born in a military chapel, everything goes through the military archdiocese.

i'll have to write about all the wedding expenses one day.
y-i-k-e-s.

Labels: wedding