Savings for marriage...(couples with zero savings to start, pls join in)

[gin]

Hi all,
Im wondering do you guys save every single cents for the wedding before starting to prepare for customary wedding? I guess cos i belong to the low income...so I wonder how you ppl save? Do anyone of you save a fraction of it and hope ang bao can cover your banquet? Then how long will it take usually? How much savings is consider enough? Please share with me ok?

 

[forrestgump4]

hi gin,
to start off, me and my FH had a joint acct and make it a pt to save part of our income in it. how much is then base on your income level.

normally the ang bao should be able to cover the banquet but again if you know your relatives or frens are also belong to lower income grp or whatsoever, then no point considering high end restaurant or hotel where you know that each ang bao cant cover the table cost.

well, how much is enough that depends on your budget. if you want a very classy and good quality bridal photo shoot then you got to save a lot or if not, bet toto? better not lor, go according to your budget. certain things need not spend so much like bridal shoot pkg. for me, i think 4k should be just nice. i've heard some people spend about 10k on it...wow...

if you want to know good and cheaper options of the items needed for your wedding, consult your frens for those who wedded b4 or if not in this website lah. Here got pretty good suggestion lor.

hope above helps a bit.

 

[gin]

Hi Mandy,
Thanks for sharing!!
As me and FH juz decided to held our customary next year...so we do not have any savings. And again, we are not looking into CLASS..but rather a MEMORABLE event..so we will work according to our budget. My bridal package currently is only at $2988 but haven add those ADDITIONAL photos lor. I hope not to spend so much cos like ppl say...after wedding, the pics will most likely be in the cupboard already. As for banquet, I have a budget to work with so that things will be able to cover by ang baos...but the sad thing is we are now striving hard to save up the deposit for the banquet lor. Sad sia..i scare the date is taken....
So when's ur aD?

 

[huggiez]

hi hi juz to share, me and hubby actually saved for everything, not taking the angpao which we will receive into consideration. i like to save more juz in case something which i didnt buy crop up. i tink if wanna save the minimum is to save up for the following items only: GDL, angpaos used on AD, BS, banquet deposit.

 

[mandyray]

Hi Gin,

Perhaps, you will want to consider holding your banquet at middle range restauarnt??

The deposit for my banquet is $1,000. Overall, I'm going to have about 40 tables.. If avg, one person give a red packet of $60, it will cover my entire banquet cost

Beside the banquet, a sum of $$ have to put aside to for red packets too.. Red Packets for helpers.. The bridal package does not cover everything, the eye lashes are considered additional which you have to pay the make up artist too..

Not forgetting, the wedding shoes and manicures... A lot of small little sums that add up to quite a large sum..

Hope it helps..

 

[gin]

Hi mushloom,
So I guess u and ur hubby take a long time to save? Or been planning for sometimes liaoz rite?
Mind if I ask, how much have you save?

Hi Ray,
Eh...which place deposit only $1k? Heee..most places I see at least $2k wor.

Yeah...I understand regarding the hidden costs. But Im looking in turns of general ma..hehehhee...
So did you save all before you prepare?

 

[huggiez]

me n hubby try to save 1k per mth lor. saving for close to 1 yr liao. my ad is nx yr.

tink usually at restaurant deposit is usually 1k. hotel may vary from 2k - 3k.

 

[happybunny]

hi .. just to share ...
me n hubby open a joint a/c where we dutifully put in a fixed comfortable amt every month ...
while planning for the wedding, we did not take the 'angbaos' into consideration cos we want to leave for margins

I agree with Ray on the small/hidden costs ... cos it can really add up if u r not careful!!!

save n prepare concurrently shouldn't be any major problem as long as u know ur budget...

hope this helps

 

[gin]

Hi mushloom,
WOW 1k? I hope me and FH can..but he is not earning alot and furthermore he has to pay his own expenses..so which makes it very difficult. For myself, im much better...Sigh...

Hi HappyBunny,
If i dun take those ang baos as considerations, perhaps i need to save for 4 yrs before we can have the wedding..as me and FH cant contribute much to the savings..and i got a study loan till mid year too...sigh...
Congrats!

 

[coralfairy]

Hi Gin,

i'm in the same situation as u oso...me & hubby too many committments (car, hse utilities, hubby's course fees, etc) so we didn't save much oso...

share with you; for banquet u try negotiate to pay the deposit by instalment. can try negotiate in 2-3 instalment with yr rsnt/hotel. i think most will allow since they wld want yr biz, jz make sure this payment term is stated in the contract u're signing.

for wedding packages (gowns,ps,car, makeup etc) try see if they allow instalment payment oso. i'm not sure whether most boutiques allows instalment coz i've yet to signed up mine. but in time to come, if my boutique do not allow instalment payment, wat we'll do is pay by credit card which allows interest-free instalment. u may like to ask frens/relatives with credit cards to help you pay the boutique first then u pay yr frens monthly. good luck!

 

[demi]

Buy your own fake eyelash, save money. You can buy your own ampolue too, but then again, it's not really needed if you have a good makeup base, imho.

 

[gin]

Hi Coralfairy,
I hope they would allow that..im poor at negotiating wor...sigh...waiting for the coordinator to call back..hope to hear good news though.

For the bridal packages, i have already booked..and it's pay by installments so tat area is fine...the banquet is what im worried about..

But thanks...

Hi Demi,
I dun tink all studio allows own eye lashes...usually they say muz use theirs...aiyah they are so weird....

 

[cottoncandy]

Hi Gin

Me and hubby has started our joint account 3 yrs back.. each mth, we each pay a fixed sum of $$ inside... the money currently is enuff to cover BS, loses from banquet (which we est at about max $5k), photographer, videographer, honeymoon, GDL...

the major area of spending is when u have your own lovenest.. have to do reno, buy furniture and electrical appliances etc...

 

[gin]

Hi sweet,
Wow...3 yrs...its a long time...i guess the whole wedding the most money consuming item is house reno....but at least you guys have savings. Me and FH also intend to save for BS, loses from banquet (around $4k), photographer, ang baos, honeymoon, GDL (trying to reduce some procedures too)...
I hope that tings wil go fine..So when's ur aD?

 

[gooobergrape]

Hi Ladies,

Do enjoy your wedding preps and do remember to think beyond the wedding too!

 

[gin]

Hi goober grape lover,

We will..hehehe...hope u too...

 

[poky]

helo gin,

for the banquet, if the resturant or hotels dosen't allow for installment, try findin those that allow payment after the banquet. find the middle range of abt 400-500 per table, then prepare another 3-4k for margins lor. frankly speaking, dun think will "lose out" too much.. most ppl will at least give 50 for ang bos... think shld be able to survive through. mi also on veri veri tight bugdet.. my fh juz started work 1yr ago, no previous savin at all, then stil got to pay installement for bike... beside the weddin stil got lovenest to settle... sigh... o one more thing.. think resturant are easier to find for deposit of less than 2k. mine was 1.5k.

 

[gin]

Hi poky,
You r right abt that.

I found my fav hotel and they are allowing two payments for deposit which is already quite affordable liaoz.

My calculations..in other thread..shld be quite ok with the amount.

 

[cottoncandy]

hi gin

my AD is in Oct of next yr...so which hotel u confirming for your AD?

 

[gin]

Hi sweet,
My AD shld be in sep 05...the hotel is Marriott.

 

[gooobergrape]

Hi Gin, glad you found your banquet location!
Where are you going to get your other stuff done? I am with The Wedding Present. they just had a fashion show and have alot of new stunning gowns which you can simply get off the rack (much cheaper). Their gowns are more "ang moh pai" so if you like vera wang style you can check them out. they have also lately included some gowns inspired by Indian culture very sexy ones too....
packages start fr $2888.

I am very happy with the service and created a wedding prep blog to record the pictures I took when fitting out my gown etc. if you would like to take a look at the album, let me know.

 

[gooobergrape]

alamak, i just realised that you have a BS already.

anyways....

 

[gin]

Hi goober grape lover,
Heee...I wan to see the album!!! Heee.....email me at [email protected]
Tis fri going to try my ROM dress..hehehee...will most likely take pictures too..hehehehe..
Ya..my BS is with Jess Haute Couture.

 

[mandyray]

Hi Gin,

I started my preparations with nothing.. And I have a new flat to renovate too.

So I save on renovation, did nothing much.. only kitchen cabinets and lightings only.. Painting also paint by me and my husband..

The lucky thing is my husband parents support us.. We took a no interest loan from them... So everymonth just pay them...

Its better than paying with credit cards..

My AD Banquet each table lesser than $600.. if each ppl only gives us $50, still can cover..

Not forgetting, my parents will be having 8 tables.. so that 8 tables cannot count.. all red packets for the 8 tables goes to my parents..

The rest of the tables can at least cover that 8 tables.

Unless, all the red packets goes into your own pocket.. if not, try to break even..

 

[gin]

Hi Ray,
Oh...guess we on the same boat too..but i got no flat to reno...of cos paying back parents is better than credit card wor...legal ar-long..heehe...
My Ad banquet is also less than $600...in fact is $528 nett...and all the ang baos will be kept by us...my parents are quite understanding on that.

 

[sugarbabe]

hi Gin, urs a wkday banquet? And hw many tables u having??

 

[gin]

Hi sugarbabe,
Mine is a weekend luncheon banquet. Shld be around 25 tables....or maybe slightly lesser.

 

[cottoncandy]

hi gin

glad that u have confirm your venue for AD.. hehe

hi goober grape lover

mind sharing your pics with me too? email addy : [email protected]

 

[gin]

Hi Sweet,
Thanks..hehehhe..im very happy..

 

[forrestgump4]

Hi Gin,sorry din reply and i didn't know so many replies in such a short time.

my AD is unknown cos we would like to settle the house 1st. we are going to collect our key next yr jan. so most prob aft CNY will start reno you see. so most of our money will be tied to the house. after paying for the house, dun think got money left. so got to save up again. Haih....

but glad you have booked your banquet location. congrats!

 

[skywolf]

Just to share...

My FH and i had just started saving also. Coz his pay was on the low side (employer took him in as o level though he has a dip due to poor economy), so we also planning to fixed a fixed amt each mth...

Going by the above postings, is it correct to take the minimum as the amt we have to pay upfront? Because we are planning to get a resale flat (use of hdb's grant) and the deco of it. So we're kinda stuck as to really how much to save before deciding to fix a date for AD... Does anyone has an idea?

 

[satin]

Just to share,

My hubby and I didnt take the angpows into considerations. My hubby drives and he needs to pay installments, road tax etc etc. We have just paid our renovation in cash cuz we do not want to pay the interest rates charged by banks.

Now we are starting from sq one to start saving for our customary, asumming that our angpows will help to cover abit. We plan to save 5-20 tables for out customary. We targeted about $15K. Now we have $13K to go. My target is to save $1K every month. My hubby is paying some installments for the furniture and electrical appliances on top of the road tax etc etc. The $1K will come from me.

 

[gin]

Hi mandy,
Anyway, as long as u and ur hubb are comfortable with the arrangement, ok lor....anyway we choose to finish customary b4 house cos we wan to put all our finances in our customary first.

Hi skywolf,
Erm....it really depends on you wan to pay the banquet urself, doing AD without banquet or wat lor...if with banquet, but without considering the ang baos...at least $30k. If without banquet juz catering...around $12k should be able to cover all.

Hi Satin,
Wah..tis is a very tedious process for your side. Anyway like wat I told mandy, me and my hubb choose to leave flat behind...cos we want to invest all savings in our customary. Of cos we can still stay with my MIL lor. Anyway perhaps to me saving up $13k will take super long cos me and my hubb dun earn alot. Our AD is on 11th Sept...we will most likely save ard $12k by the time...and hope the rest would be able to cover by ang baos...

 

[small_one]

my situation is quite jia lat... on the hind sight, at least i've got the hse and the reno done up, however, my FH & i are left with quite a sum of repayments to make. hence, we plan to use 2 yrs (until 2006) to repay the reno loan from bank, as also the outstanding debts we have with d credit cards.

den we'll have to re-start our joint account savings for our customary in May 2007. currently, still mentally visualising our wedding, looking out for church venues and banquet locations (i'm working on kicking the banquet idea away from my FH's mind).

only fortunate thing, i've got the bridal package from Golden Horse Awards. Managed to use it for my ROM last year ( cos they included the ROM dress in the package as well - loved the dress lots)...

 

[satin]

Hi Gin,

My hubby is paying for the installments for the air-con, fridge, washing machine. He is paying for the utility charges and constituency charges too. Thus, my hubby is actually paying for quite a number of things. For me, I have a study loan to clear. (My dad used his CPF for my univerisity loans.) I am paying for the installment for our bedroom set from Picket and Rail. But I dont have to support a car. Hehehehehe


All in all, we paid about $23K in cash for the reno and some furniture.

I know its a tedious process. But no choice. Getting married is a tedious and expensive process. Thats why I am very exhausted from giving tutition. Thank goodness I found one that pays me $420 for 8 lessons. I saved all of that plus combined with the amount I spent monthly, I should have $1k left a month.

Its very tough for me cuz I give my parents money (not alot though) plus study loan etc etc....still, all the sake of me and my hubby. So no complains la

 

[gin]

Hi ivy,
Ic...I hope that you and ur FH would be able to clear those debts soon!

good luck!

Hi Satin,
Erm...im also paying my study loan. This amount can easily taken 1/3 of my pay..and hp bills all that paying myself. Luckily my parents are understanding cos me supporting myself in my course so currently I din have to give my parents. Seriously after all these payments, I dun have much left too. Hubb dun earn alot...so im paying most of the wedding deposit lor with my hard earned bonus...I am also left with nothing to leisure myself...sigh..but like wat u said, its an expensive and tedious process. Anyway we do not have a flat now...I guess in future, we might have the same problem too... :S
Nonetheless, good luck!

 

[satin]

Hi Gin,

Sometimes I get very stressed by money problems too. But I try to tell myself that I am actually alot better than those couples who took reno plus furnishing loans. I checked with some banks. The interest rates charged are around 7% and its compounded!

 

[gin]

Hi Satin,
WOW...I think next time b4 I get a new flat, we got to save up alot for the reno and cash deposits and payments first...so scary!

Already money not enough, still have to owe bank so much! Kaoz! Erm...anyway glad that you settle ur reno already...now you got a home sweet home! Heee...

 

[satin]

Ya. We try to cut down the reno costs. As for furniture, we buy those neccessary ones first. The others can wait. We even did the painting ourselves. My reno was completed last month. But on our part, we have been too busy with work to complete the painting. I was lucky in a sense my hubby got a friend to do our reno.

For a 5 room flat, we pid about $18K with
tiling for the whole flat
Shoes Caninet for about 100 pairs of shoes.
Custom made altar
Built in Warbrobe
Kitchen Cabinet
vanity top in toilet

 

[gin]

Hi Satin,
Tat's quite a good bargain!

Glad that you chose to buy those necessary furniture first.

Now me am looking at WIS flats from HDB...but I tink some legal fees and cash deposit can already 'kill' me..sigh.
Anyway if i need reno lobang, can ask u rite?
So u chosen ur AD liaoz ritE? How abt BS?

 

[satin]

I got mine at WIS. My flat costs about $350K and its on the 3rd storey! but tis 5 min walk from MRT station with NTUC being 3 minutes walk away No choice. I am living with my in laws, so we need a bigger flat and plus my hubby wants a unit in the West and I want a unit near MRT.

I got ROM at 23 so I didnt have much in my CPF. But since I am a civil servant, I paid only 10% deposit only. So no only my cash savings is dried, my CPF is wiped out too.

I think if you want to go for WIS for popular towns, you may have to wait for some time. Cuz there was 2 WIS held in 2004 for popular towns! Cheers

If you need reno lobang, confirm can find me la. I will recommend to you. I haven choose AD and BS eh. Haha. Low on cash

 

[gin]

Hi Satin,
WOW..5 Room so ex? I tot West area much cheaper?
I missed those WIS already...so got to wait lor.
Ic...I think when you guys are comfortable with your finances then find lor..at least not so siong. Your flat very siong i can see... :|
Every mth payment how much? You got take grant?

 

[satin]

Never take grant. My in laws rent out their flat and help us to pay out abit in money matters. My flat is in Queenstown so the flats are quite ex.

My repayment for the next 30 yrs is $1.2K per month. Eeks

 

[gin]

Hi satin,
OIC...at least living with with In Laws is good. I may consider living with my parents...at least they can sell the flat and help us in reno and repayments lor..
Ok....but $1.2k a month is scarry...really..

 

[satin]

Yup. My mother in law is very nice and helpful. She helps me to keep the place clean and tidy. If I am not staying with them, I will never have the time to clean a 5 rm flat.

But I realise after I move in, I have put on weight. When I was staying with my parents, I never snack. But when I move in, my hubby and I always walk over to the 7-11 nearby to buy supper. hahahaha

 

[piyopiyo23]

Hi Satin & Gin,

Hope to join in your chat...Hee hee..

Satin, you really pay quite alot for your 5RM huh.
I also choosen a unit during the Jul WIS last yr.
My flat is @ Sengkang, also 3rd floor only, Cost: 206.5K. ( Still reasonable)...but alot of people commented how come I chosen such a low level unit.
Initally, I am quite upset but now no longer upset. It is cos my Hubby and Me do not want to apply for those BTO which flat are ready in 5 yrs time. By Tat time, I old liao...

Haha...
I will be having my AD in Nov'05 and going to collect my keys in End Mar'05 and start reno...Very xiong...$$$ fly fly fly....

 

[satin]

Hi Piyo Piyo,

Welcome!!!

For me, I guess I am spolit la. For more than 20 yrs of my life, I lived about 5 minutes walk from the MRT station. Actually, Im okie with living in area such as Sengkang etc etc. But since I am living with my in laws, I have to consider their needs too. My in laws do not drive and they need a place that is accessible. My hubby believe that buying a flat near their old flat is the best because they are pretty familar with the area.

My friend got a 5 rm in Pungol at less than $200K.

 

[gin]

Hi Satin,
ahahaaa...urs not bad liaoz..my hubb now has been eating and eating non stop too....hahahaha...anyway try to control lor.

Hi Piyo,
Sure! Welcome...
Anyway currently SK flats are quite affordable. You r right, BTO takes super long to build...Wow...ask Satin to recommend reno contractor lor. BTW ur flat how many rooms?

 

[piyopiyo23]

Hi Gin,

Mine is 5RM. Only have 3bedroom.
Now Me praying hard to strike 4D...hee hee hee

Hi Satin,

U are not spoil la...Only that you get use to the convenient.

Ladies, When is your AD?

 

[satin]

I only want to strike 4D or Toto. But I dont even know how to fill in the ticket and there was a fortune teller who told me never to indulge in such stuff because I am the sort that cannot control myself. Muahahahahahaha

As for AD, no money now. Will have to wait. Heee