Money Matters

Last weekend, I got into a minor car accident. Don't worry, I'm okay and my car is fine. There was no damage whatsoever. However, the car that I hit had scratches on its bumper. I talked it over with the driver of the car and we agreed on a certain amount that I should give her, which was around P4,000. Wow, I couldn't believe those little scratches would cost that much. :(

Because of that, I had to withdraw money from our wedding fund, which screwed up our whole budget plan. :( There were also a lot of additional non wedding-related expenses that seem to appear every month, so we would find ourselves using our wedding budget to pay for these unexpected costs.

I computed our remaining money on hand and found that to make up for our lost funds, we would have to give almost 90% of our salaries to our wedding budget, which would make day-to-day living very difficult. Isang beses lang ata kami kakain araw-araw pag ganun. Ultra-duper tipid mode!

I was so stressed out that I was ready to give up on everything. I even cried to Mox and told him to cancel the wedding, just so we can use our remaining budget for more useful things. Luckily, Mox didn't take me too seriously on my threat. Instead, he just hugged and comforted me, saying that things would get better in the end; I just have to believe in ourselves that we could do it. But still, I wasn't convinced. I kept on computing and thinking of ways to earn more money. And every time, I would get so frustrated because I would end up with no solutions for our problem.

But God would indeed provide for those who are in need. Little blessings soon came to our way; I finally received my annual salary increase, while Mox got a P10,000 bonus for his unused leaves and employment referral fee. It may not be that big of an amount for some, but it was a welcomed solution to our financial issues.

I know this may be the first of the many financial trials that would come during the course of our wedding preparations. But now I know that we would be able to get through it. All I need is some faith in God... and of course in my fiance as well. :)

The Cheapskate's Wedding Budget

I am the ultimate kuripot. Ask my closest friends, and they will definitely attest to that. I usually shy away from buying branded clothes, shoes and bags. In fact, Divisoria is my go-to place for my clothing needs. It came to a point that I would sacrifice good quality just for the sake of saving a few hundred pesos. Case in point, my P250 shoes that are now falling apart. Yes I know, I'm not a wise shopper. But I digress.

Anyway, that is why it is so hard for me to fathom the idea of spending almost half a million pesos just for a one-day event. With that amount, we could already pay for the downpayment of our house or even buy a car! When I was doing our initial wedding budget, I was so overwhelmed with the growing expenses that I told Mox we should just skip the whole wedding hoopla and just have a simple church ceremony (no entourage, no wedding march, etc.). For the reception, we'll just have it at a simple restaurant. But Mox said HE wanted to walk down the aisle and have a bonggang reception, with a band and all the works. Sus, mas maarte pa siya sa bride. Haha!

At first, our wedding budget was set at P250,000 maximum for 100 guests. Then the guest list increased to 150 guests so I had to change our budget to P300,000 max. In my computation table, I  had a list of suppliers that fit our budget and our chosen packages with them. But since the start of the year, most of them (yes, even my non-negotiables) increased their rates so I had to adjust my budget again to accommodate the price increases. Plus, Mox had some few requests like a mobile bar and a full band, so that was added to the computation as well. After all those changes, the grand total came to P350,000 max for 150 guests. Ouch, ang sakit na nito sa bulsa!

Here is a sample of my wedding budget computation. I made several versions to see how much we could save if we choose different catering packages and whether or not we could afford getting both a full band and mobile bar.  

Nahihilo na ako sa sobrang daming computations

These tables will hopefully help us be realistic with our wedding plans and stay within our set budget. Ayoko nang gumastos ng higit sa P350,000 para sa kasal namin. The cheapskate in me will definitely not approve of that. Haha. Grabe, ang mahal na talagang magpakasal.

Every Peso Counts

I know money can't buy happiness, but it is definitely hard to be happy especially when your savings are dwindling to the last peso and there are still debts to be paid. While I am enjoying my week-long stint as an unemployed bum, I am much more excited to go to work on Monday and earn my first paycheck. Wala na eh, poverty mode na talaga.

When I went out to meet Mox today in Makati, I couldn't even ride a jeepney because I only had 7 pesos left in my wallet and the fare is apparently 8 pesos now. Bwiset, nagkulang pa talaga ng piso! I had to walk all the way from PBCom Tower to his office in Buendia just because I couldn't afford the fare. It's times like these when I wish that I could find a peso coin inside my pocket or even on the ground. Ang hirap talaga kapag nagkulang ang pera. Promise.

This is my wallet's daily exercise.