Pay Debts or Get Married?

Beakatron

So this is the question I’ve been trying to answer but I just don’t know what to do. My partner of 9 years asked me to marry him last October and we have been talking a lot about planning dates for the wedding and are hoping to get married December 2011. We’ve decided we want to have the ceremony and reception all in the same place, so maybe somewhere like a hotel. But looking at the prices it’s going to cost about £5000+ plus honeymoon cost.

Well that’s the wedding part, now for the debt part. I’ve been chipping away at my debts for the last year and am now down to one debt for a Lloyds TSB loan which is about £5500. I’m currently paying £100 per month to pay this off and nearly half of that is interest!! So as you can understand I’m not seeing the balance go down.

My OH also has debts for about £13,000. Part of this is a loan which he is up todate with the payments. The rest are for old debts which he now pays for through all clear finance, a debt management company. I’ve told him it’s a waste of time paying through them but he thinks it’s ok as it takes the stress away from trying to pay each creditor separately.

So, at the moment we are aiming to save £400.00 a month (at a push) to save for the wedding but I feel guilty about this when we have so much debt. Should we just pay this money off debts and put the wedding date back? I really want to get married so putting the wedding back would be upsetting but I suppose it’s not everything.

We’ve also been offered the opportunity to go to Hong Kong this year, the OH’s brother is living there for the year with work so we would only need money for the flights and spends. I feel like it’s a once in a lifetime chance but again I don’t know whether I can justify it!? We currently have £2400 saved for the wedding (£2000 was from a bonus I received with work)..

Any advice and ideas welcome, I’m totally stuck what to do. So sorry to ramble on!!

P.S Ignore the footer the details are out of date

DarkConvict

Wedding don't have to cost a fortune, there are actually budget wedding packages for under £1000 for the clothes,cake,venue etc.

What you have to look at is how much the wedding will really cost. If you used the £5k to pay off the debt, that would be the end of it. However if you have the wedding your debt free date is going to be put back by many years.
Debts cost more than savings!

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Using £5500, at 10%, paying £100
It will take you 74 months to pay off these debts if you snowball correctly. During that time, you'll pay £1,811.00 in interest.

See how much interest you would be paying, if you paid the debt than saved you would be in a much better position for the remainder of your married life.

keza

hiya!

I see ur dilema and its not an easy one to answer. I think its a personal opinion.

For me, i want to clear the debts before we get married but our wedding is booked and the ball is more than rolling now so ive had to clear mine in a very small space of time and it can take its toll on you. i wish a little now that i had just let myself plod along a bit longer, but hey ho, im almost there now.

It is a toughy. i know u said u really want to get married but you have been together 9 years....will a few more out of wedlock really matter? only u can answer that and prioritise! xx

keza

DarkConvict wrote: »

Wedding don't have to cost a fortune, there are actually budget wedding packages for under £1000 for the clothes,cake,venue etc.

What you have to look at is how much the wedding will really cost. If you used the £5k to pay off the debt, that would be the end of it. However if you have the wedding your debt free date is going to be put back by many years.
Debts cost more than savings!

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Using £5500, at 10%, paying £100
It will take you 74 months to pay off these debts if you snowball correctly. During that time, you'll pay £1,811.00 in interest.

See how much interest you would be paying, if you paid the debt than saved you would be in a much better position for the remainder of your married life.

agreed! well said! :T your married life will be a much better fresh start without the debt and just think of the interest ur going to save clearing the debt first! xx

blue-bells_2

Is it important for you to have a big wedding, or would you be happy to have a smaller (and cheaper!) ceremony? I think it really depends on what you personally want and would be happy with. I was in a similar situation in that me and now hubby really wanted to get married- he however had old debt (from problems before he met me) and we just couldn't justify spending alot on a wedding so had a small (and cheap!) day. But that's us and to be honest we didn't want a huge deal anyway- we would have eloped if we could have got away with it!

camper_1982

Have a wedding, but invite as many people as you can and tell them you want money for a wedding present.

Get the money and pay your debt back.

Or, pay the debt of, savea little at the same time and doing it in a few years time.
You will be glad you did wait another few years.

savingmummy

I woiuld become debt free and then get married!
We had a bit of debt following marriage so would of been a nightmare for us if we had debt and then got married too!
Whilst saving for your big day that £400 a month could be going to a debt.

Weddings dont have to be expensive as pp has said so maybe reconsider the budget for this too!

The trip i would do after imo

euronorris

Beakatron wrote: »

So this is the question I’ve been trying to answer but I just don’t know what to do. My partner of 9 years asked me to marry him last October and we have been talking a lot about planning dates for the wedding and are hoping to get married December 2011. We’ve decided we want to have the ceremony and reception all in the same place, so maybe somewhere like a hotel. But looking at the prices it’s going to cost about £5000+ plus honeymoon cost.
Congratulations to you both! But, remember, it is entirely possible to get married for much less than 5k! This is a personal decision, however, you should also take into account your current financial position when making this decision.

Well that’s the wedding part, now for the debt part. I’ve been chipping away at my debts for the last year and am now down to one debt for a Lloyds TSB loan which is about £5500. I’m currently paying £100 per month to pay this off and nearly half of that is interest!! So as you can understand I’m not seeing the balance go down.

I would suggest increasing the payments (if possible without penalty) so that you can free of this debt a lot quicker and stop losing so much money in interest.

My OH also has debts for about £13,000. Part of this is a loan which he is up todate with the payments. The rest are for old debts which he now pays for through all clear finance, a debt management company. I’ve told him it’s a waste of time paying through them but he thinks it’s ok as it takes the stress away from trying to pay each creditor separately.

I assume that your OH is paying the company for this service? If so, tell him to stop! He can get the same service, for FREE, from the CCCS or PayPlan. Then, the money he's currently paying to the debt management company can be used to pay his debts and therefore clear the debt far quicker.

So, at the moment we are aiming to save £400.00 a month (at a push) to save for the wedding but I feel guilty about this when we have so much debt. Should we just pay this money off debts and put the wedding date back? I really want to get married so putting the wedding back would be upsetting but I suppose it’s not everything.

We’ve also been offered the opportunity to go to Hong Kong this year, the OH’s brother is living there for the year with work so we would only need money for the flights and spends. I feel like it’s a once in a lifetime chance but again I don’t know whether I can justify it!? We currently have £2400 saved for the wedding (£2000 was from a bonus I received with work)..

OK, I'm sorry to be harsh, but you simply cannot afford to do all three at the same time. Either the debt repayment schedule needs to be pushed back (therefore increasing the amount you pay in interest), the wedding needs to be pushed back (or done much cheaper) or you don't visit his brother.

Any advice and ideas welcome, I’m totally stuck what to do. So sorry to ramble on!!

P.S Ignore the footer the details are out of date

I've made some comments above.

What I would do:

Do the wedding for under 1k and have it later this year (you already have sufficient funds in your savings account).

Increase your debt repayment amount to 200pm

And save up 300pm for your honeymoon to Hong Kong!

That way, you get married, your decreasing your debt AND you can see his brother whilst he's still there, but combine it with your honeymoon and have the time of your lives!

Hope that helps. x

savingmummy

euronorris - well done spot on imo x

euronorris

savingmummy wrote: »

euronorris - well done spot on imo x

Thank you muchly. I, occasionally, have moments of clarity! lol x

Want2beFree_2

I agree. I mean i've just put my and OH story on here and right now we're living with my family - i wanted to rent a place of our this year but now with the debts i doubt we'll be able to do that it's driving me mad being back here but what can you do.
There's things we want, haven't been on holiday in years and everything.
We can't even think about a marriage right now, debts put a lot of stress on you and that on top of the whole wedding and cost, well if it were me then i would get the debts cleared first, the trip does sound nice but then again when debt is there you can't always have the things you want. The chance might come around again.
And i agree a wedding can be done for a lot cheaper than that.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.