Americans' 10 Biggest Wastes of Money

[mezrah]

Originally posted by: modestninja

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Kalvin00
i aint paying no ****** $30000 when i go to get married

That's up to your future wife.

The cost of a wedding adds up quickly.

Catering is expensive. A nice meal will range from $35 to $150 a head.
Location fees will probably run you $1000 or so unless the facility is owned by the caterer
Her dress will be $1000+. You can get one at David's Bridal for $500 or so (my wife did), but throw in a retardedly expensive veil, tiara, shoes, jewelry, alterations...
Photographer - now this is something we didn't want to skimp on, because your photographs will be just about all you have to remind you of the wedding. There are some pretty bad photographers who try to pass themselves off as wedding photographers, especially now that digital photography is cheap. A photographer will cost you $1000+ easily. More for a really good one.
Flowers/Decorations - You can go cheap here. One of my friends did all of her own flower arrangements for her wedding, and they looked very nice. The flowers themselves aren't cheap though. $1000+.
Band/DJ - $1000+.

Of course you can skimp and get cheaper. There are many ways to reduce the cost. You can go cheap on the food since that's the biggest cost. You can hook an iPod up to the sound system in the reception hall and skip the DJ. But a lot of people are getting married when they're older now, and they have the money to spend. I would never go into debt for a wedding, I think that's stupid. I wouldn't even want to spend a significant portion of my savings on a wedding. But if you have the money... it can make the best day of your life that much better.

Well, my wife and I spent quite a bit less than 30K and didn't skimp on too many things. The best resource she found for bargains (like our flower guy who got us top quality flowers and arranged them for $300 + the cost of ribbon, all we had to do was have them picked up) was theknot.com. I know she'd recommend it to anyone planning a wedding.

Yep...the knot is a great resource. We didn't skimp at all, just did some research and used some connections that we had. Our wedding was around $8,000, which we spent the 3 years before the wedding saving for. Our photographer and videographer were students at the university, the reception hall was owned by a friend, we found great deals on the food, flowers, dj, linens, etc. If you just do the research, you can definitely get your wedding at or under 10k.

 

[BW86]

Originally posted by: txrandom
Americans' Biggest Waste of Money: AOL

QFT!

 

[rh71]

For those interested... I kept tabs on what we spent on the wedding... so now you know what you can skimp on if you so choose...

Favors $200.00
Wedding Cake $440.00
Florist $240.00
Rings $540.00
Stamps $55.00
Invitations $399.00
Ceremony Priest $300.00
Ceremony Musician $225.00
Wedding Dress $662.61
DJ $1,130.00
Sheraton $18,544.18 (reception venue incl. food for 225 ppl)
Fox Hollow $1,000.00 (ceremony venue, just use of their outdoor area)
Eternal Wedding $4,500.00 (incl. limo, photographer, studio/outdoor/wedding day pics, videographer, bridesmaid dresses, tuxedos)
Bridal Shoes $115.00
Dance Lessons $230.00 (to not look like fools)
Tips $370.00
Marriage License $40.00
Ring Pillow/Baskets $85.00
Vases $16.00
Planting Fields $120.00 (venue to take outdoor pics)

 

[ViviTheMage]

Fuel-inefficient vehicles:

stupid SUVs

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Weddings? Single and loving it.
Premium coffee? I buy pepsi by the 36 pack!
Expensive option packages? I go out of my way to avoid them, they're just more crap to break.
Sports memorabilia? None.
Cigarrettes? Smoke in general isn't a good thing
Impulse internet buys? *looks at the 4GB USB drive in his pocket* Guilty.
Gambling? $5 lotto ticket when the jackpot is high, otherwise, nope.
Fuel inefficient vehicles? That one you can argue. While mine's not an efficient one, it's not that bad.
Fast food? I don't go out to fast food much anymore.
Christmas shopping? $500/year. About the same as I spend on birthdays. (but being a single guy, I get screwed)

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: rh71
For those interested... I kept tabs on what we spent... so now you know what you can skimp on if you so choose...

Favors $200.00
Wedding Cake $440.00
Florist $240.00
Rings $540.00
Stamps $55.00
Invitations $399.00
Ceremony Priest $300.00
Ceremony Musician $225.00
Wedding Dress $662.61
DJ $1,130.00
Sheraton $18,544.18 (reception venue incl. food for 225 ppl)
Fox Hollow $1,000.00 (ceremony venue, just use of their outdoor area)
Eternal Wedding $4,500.00 (incl. limo, photographer, studio/outdoor/wedding day pics, videographer)
Bridal Shoes $115.00
Dance Lessons $230.00 (to not look like fools)
Tips $370.00
Marriage License $40.00
Ring Pillow/Baskets $85.00
Vases $16.00
Planting Fields $120.00 (venue to take outdoor pics)

What about:

Rehearsal dinner costs?
Honeymoon costs?
Hotel rooms for wedding party members that were out of area?

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
What about:

Rehearsal dinner costs?
---> Went fine without a rehearsal... matre'd reviewed how the ceremony works about 15 mins before it started. The reception was led by the DJ - best money spent on the entire thing... he was great in entertaining the whole night.. he's used by a lot of people here.

Honeymoon costs?
---> It was $4574 for 2 weeks of Maui and Kauai

Hotel rooms for wedding party members that were out of area?
---> Only 2 couples were out of towners and non-relatives... they got a local hotel because we couldn't secure rooms in ours... US Open tennis was going on for the week and they were booked solid. Are we supposed to pay for their rooms ? The relatives stayed with 3 different local families.

 

[cliftonite]

Weddings? Single
Premium coffee? Rarely (2 to 3 times a month)
Expensive option packages? Honda Civic Dx VP (13,600 something with TTL)
Sports memorabilia? None.
Cigarrettes? Nope
Impulse internet buys? Very guilty of this.
Gambling? None.
Fuel inefficient vehicles? Honda civic, not too bad
Fast food? Yes probably too much.
Christmas shopping? Not too much.

 

[ch33zw1z]

War on Drugs = #1
War on Terror = #2
Welfare = #3

What a crappy article, those are personal wastes of money, not Americas

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: mezrah

Originally posted by: modestninja

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Kalvin00
i aint paying no ****** $30000 when i go to get married

That's up to your future wife.

The cost of a wedding adds up quickly.

Catering is expensive. A nice meal will range from $35 to $150 a head.
Location fees will probably run you $1000 or so unless the facility is owned by the caterer
Her dress will be $1000+. You can get one at David's Bridal for $500 or so (my wife did), but throw in a retardedly expensive veil, tiara, shoes, jewelry, alterations...
Photographer - now this is something we didn't want to skimp on, because your photographs will be just about all you have to remind you of the wedding. There are some pretty bad photographers who try to pass themselves off as wedding photographers, especially now that digital photography is cheap. A photographer will cost you $1000+ easily. More for a really good one.
Flowers/Decorations - You can go cheap here. One of my friends did all of her own flower arrangements for her wedding, and they looked very nice. The flowers themselves aren't cheap though. $1000+.
Band/DJ - $1000+.

Of course you can skimp and get cheaper. There are many ways to reduce the cost. You can go cheap on the food since that's the biggest cost. You can hook an iPod up to the sound system in the reception hall and skip the DJ. But a lot of people are getting married when they're older now, and they have the money to spend. I would never go into debt for a wedding, I think that's stupid. I wouldn't even want to spend a significant portion of my savings on a wedding. But if you have the money... it can make the best day of your life that much better.

Well, my wife and I spent quite a bit less than 30K and didn't skimp on too many things. The best resource she found for bargains (like our flower guy who got us top quality flowers and arranged them for $300 + the cost of ribbon, all we had to do was have them picked up) was theknot.com. I know she'd recommend it to anyone planning a wedding.

Yep...the knot is a great resource. We didn't skimp at all, just did some research and used some connections that we had. Our wedding was around $8,000, which we spent the 3 years before the wedding saving for. Our photographer and videographer were students at the university, the reception hall was owned by a friend, we found great deals on the food, flowers, dj, linens, etc. If you just do the research, you can definitely get your wedding at or under 10k.

Oh we saved money every way we could, even though the cost was really no issue. We could have done it cheaper were it not for our two biggest expenses that we really didn't want to skimp on.

1. The location of the wedding/reception + food provided by that location. That was $90 a head. It was really amazing though.
2. The photographer was $3000. That was his cheapest package. He was a great photographer. My wife is a photographer, so great photography was something she insisted on. That $3000 got us a proof box filled with 4x6 prints and a DVD - as well as the rights to have the pictures printed ourselves. So we saved a lot of money by not buying albums or enlargements from him.

We know we could have done it cheaper. We also could have done it a heck of a lot more expensively! Her father was happy to pay for it, although we really spent no more than what we would have if we were paying for it ourselves.

Edit:
The ring - I didn't follow the 2 months salary BS "rule." She would have been pissed if I spent that much. Her engagement ring cost me about 3 weeks salary at the time, which is pretty reasonable for a piece of jewelry she'll wear for the rest of her life.

The honeymoon - saved a ton of staying at a vacation house of someone we know in Maui. Free lodging, free vehicle.

 

[loic2003]

lol this says everything about american cars: "For the past two decades, auto mileage has not changed. American cars average 22 MPG, far below European standards."

It's no myth that cars for the US market not only run like those of aeons ago, but also handle and look like them too. I say spend less on flags that you plaster everywhere and more on R&D!

 

[flyfish]

Yep.
They left out the government.
:disgust:

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: rh71
For those interested... I kept tabs on what we spent on the wedding... so now you know what you can skimp on if you so choose...

Favors $200.00

what are favors? not sure what you got on this.

Wedding Cake $440.00

we got lucky on this. we know a lady who was a proffesional baker. she did oure cake for cost (she lived across the street from my MIL at the time)

Florist $240.00

we went with silk flowers. cost a little more but was able to give them away as gifts. also we kept some for my wife.

Rings $540.00

we also got lucky on these. a good friend of mine owns a jewlery store. so we were able to get all the rings for about $500. that is engagment wring, marriage wrap and my wedding ring.

Stamps $55.00

yeah about the same for us.

Invitations $399.00

dont think we paid that much. not sure i think we did $250

Ceremony Priest $300.00

again we got lucky on this. the churce across the street from my house is a "training" church. so the Priest was new and inexperianced. we got the church and his services for free. while he made some mistakes (he was as nervouse as we were) it actually added to the feel. He moved to a diffrent church but we still stay in contact with him. we feel very blessed to had him do it. BUT i agree it is not for everyone.

Ceremony Musician $225.00

the church provided this for us. a bunch of the older women volenterd to help out! i love the church even though it is not teh one i go to heh

Wedding Dress $662.61

wife's father baught it for her as a gift. but it was a $1200 dress on sale for $4-500 i cant remember. it was one that was on a manaquine for the year.

DJ $1,130.00

a friend of my SIL who is an amature DJ did it for us. mainly he took request all night and we had a blast.

Sheraton $18,544.18 (reception venue incl. food for 225 ppl)

wow. we did it at my house. it has a huge yard (3+acres) and we just grilled out a bunch of food etc. cost was like $2k or so. also had a bunch of people helping out.

Fox Hollow $1,000.00 (ceremony venue, just use of their outdoor area)
Eternal Wedding $4,500.00 (incl. limo, photographer, studio/outdoor/wedding day pics, videographer, bridesmaid dresses, tuxedos)

Pictures and videographer were a gift from my wifes uncle. got lucky on this. as for the bridesmaid dresses and tuxes we didnt have to pay for t hem all.

Bridal Shoes $115.00
Dance Lessons $230.00 (to not look like fools)
Tips $370.00
Marriage License $40.00

yeap about the same

Ring Pillow/Baskets $85.00
Vases $16.00
Planting Fields $120.00 (venue to take outdoor pics)

didnt need any of those.



all in all the wedding was not that much for us. but i do have to say we didnt want a big one. we just wanted something special wich it was. i twas fun and something we will remember.

 

[Bill Brasky]

"But twentysomethings buy $3 java drinks like it?s just milk money -- and then complain Social Security won?t be there for them."

What a dick head, stereotyping thing to say. And that doesn't change the fact that people paying Social Security tax their entire life are entitled to receiving Social Security. Now I'm too pissed to finish the article. I'm probably over reacting, though.

 

[judasmachine]

I hate to admit it, but for me it's the premium coffee. My friend owns a shop, and I'm horribly addicted to his Mochas. Shameful.

 

[Bill Brasky]

That's the way I was at first, but I learned its much cheaper if you buy the beans, then grind and brew them yourself. A 17 dollar pound of beans lasts me about a month, and after a year and a half the grinder and brewer have already paid for themselves.

 

[yhelothar]

You're technically not wasting anything if you're enjoying it.

 

[Bill Brasky]

lol. I hadn't thought of it like that.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Id like to know where they get these numbers. I find it VERY hard to believe the average wedding is 30k. I know of nobody who has spent anywhere close to that.

tennessee =/= Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago...

Guess who is in town? MTV. Guess what they are doing? Filing an episode of their "Sweet Sixteen" show. You know the one where the girl turning 16 gets a bazillion dollars spend for her party. Yeah, right here in good 'ol TN.

You ignoratly assumed TN, is all poor. Do you think all of Cali is like the good parts of LA? OR NY is all like Park Avenue? Sigh...