The wedding plan

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ADAM and Aida have been going out for quite a while now. Adam cleared all his professional exams and is a qualified Chartered Accountant while Aida is a Team Leader at her bank. They are doing pretty well career wise and are contemplating moving into the next stage of their lives – as husband and wife. Read on to see how they now have to work out their finances prudently not merely on their own but jointly.

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Adam walked past a jewellery shop when he stopped to look at the diamond ring he has been eying for the past few weeks. He felt it was about time for them to settle down though he realised that the wedding expenses can be pretty substantial.

Right then, he was waiting for his bonus but as fate would have it, there was a special sale at that jewellery store only for that day. Being a little kiasu, he didn’t want to miss the opportunity and thought that it was a good buy right then.

Decisively confident that his performance bonus is due within a month, he figured that he could charge it to his credit card first and by the time the payment is due, his bonus would have come in.

The ring was on sale with an irresistible gift accompanying it – a candlelight dinner voucher for two at a posh hotel, and he decided to go for it.  “Charge it!” he exclaimed. The damage was done – RM4, 000 and that was after a good discount! This was his single largest purchase using his credit card but hey, it’s only once in a lifetime, right?

Adam was aware of the responsibility that comes with owning a credit card and he has been very disciplined by paying off his credit card bills in full every month. As a rule of thumb, we should never swipe the card if we cannot pay for it in cash.

A credit card merely acts as a payment instrument that usually comes with reward points or some other form of incentives – it is to be utilised as a transitional substitute for cash but not as ‘hard’ cash! Start disciplining yourself by paying your credit cards in full on its due date or be prepared for penalties and finance charges of more than 18 per cent per annum.

If we have a tendency of not paying in full but still want the convenience of cashless purchases, move on to a debit card as an alternative. A debit card is almost similar to an ATM card whereby the amount spent will be immediately deducted directly from your bank account. In other words, you would only be spending up to your own savings amount.

With a diamond ring and a candlelight dinner voucher in hand, the only thing lacking for a romantic ambience was the bouquet of roses. Adam planned to surprise Aida, so on the pretext of celebrating his promotion, he invited Aida out for dinner.

As they were about to finish their dinner, Adam graciously presented Aida with the bouquet of roses leaving her amazed but pretentiously puzzled hoping for a more dramatic action. On bended knees, Adam with the symbolic diamond ring in hand, blushingly proposed to take Aida as his life partner and she accepted immediately.

Dr. Joyce Brothers said, “Marriage is not just spiritual communion and passionate embraces; marriage is also three meals a day, sharing the workload and remembering to carry out the thrash.”

If we think that owning a car is a big commitment, marriage is an even bigger commitment and should be entered into only if you are capable of handling the responsibilities that come with it. With the romance comes the real issues, including managing finances mutually and harmoniously. Be realistic about your wedding plans based on your budget and do not try to live up to the expectations of other people, including that of your prospective spouse.

Prepare a wedding budget aligned to your needs and wants – most importantly, discuss with your spouse-to-be on how much money both of you can comfortably afford. Though it may be a once in a lifetime auspicious event, but it may end up taking up a lifetime to pay off all your wedding debts.

Adam and Aida discussed their expectations of the wedding ceremony and worked out their wedding budget:

Budget

• Wedding Dinner (500

guests at RM60 each)

RM30,000

• Wedding Rings RM6,000

• Wedding Photos RM3,000

• Wedding Gown and

Suit RM4,000

• Gifts RM3,000

• Honeymoon (Within Asia)

RM4,000

• Other “surprises” RM5,000

• Total RM55,000

From the above budget, they had a better idea of an approximate amount of money needed for their wedding arrangements. They believe that gifts from their guests (normally in the form of cash) would be able to cover a major portion of the dinner costs.

Adam also accounted 10 per cent under “Other surprises” to cater for any other incidental and unforeseen expenses like costume jewellery, facial, hairdo and so on. commonly applicable to weddings. It’s only prudent that we allocate such an amount for such contingencies.

A common legendary French proverb quotes, “Love makes passion, but money makes marriage”. As much as we hate to admit it, money will somehow affect our relationship with each other.

For couples intending to tie the knot, it is best to have a firm standing on our expectations of the wedding plan. Otherwise, you may end up getting entangled with money issues which may eventually strangle the love you have for each other.

(Look out for the sixth story in this series of 12 tomorrow, September 28, 2016)