Pay Debts or Get Married?

Beakatron

Thanks for the advice everyone! I really like the idea of getting married debt free, I think it would definitely be a good start to married life. I'm going to have a talk with the OH and arrange for him to finish with all clear finance, he's paying them about £30 a month!!

I do also like the idea of having a low budget wedding and going to Hong Kong for the honeymoon - you've definitely given me a lot to think about!!
:j

euronorris

Beakatron wrote: »

Thanks for the advice everyone! I really like the idea of getting married debt free, I think it would definitely be a good start to married life. I'm going to have a talk with the OH and arrange for him to finish with all clear finance, he's paying them about £30 a month!!

I do also like the idea of having a low budget wedding and going to Hong Kong for the honeymoon - you've definitely given me a lot to think about!!
:j

Sounds good Beakatron. And you got your first MSE star too!

Beakatron

euronorris wrote: »

Sounds good Beakatron. And you got your first MSE star too!

Woohoo - here's to debt freedom! :beer:

sunbeam82

Hey Beakatron
As a graduate who has a substantial amount of debt from studying and still not yet having landed the perfectly paid 'grad' job I can safely say I know it's hard when you think of a wedding and how much it'll cost and all the ifs and buts. However, I got married last year and it doesn't need to add to your debt. We managed to pay for our £12k wedding after one year of saving together! (believe me we don't earn much).
We got married in Barbados and had the most idyllic day imaginable and it didn't cost the earth! The day itself was £5,500, the rest was outfits, travel and spends and the honeymoon was the 2 weeks we had there for the ceremony. We worked out a budget in advance based on how much we could realistically afford to save each a month and that was all we had so that's what we used! I didn't want to put any more on my CCs so it was tight to say the least trying to put away £350 per month! Anything is possible though! Plus, you're in it together and that's the crux of being married. On the day, it's such a fantastic sense of achievement to see how far you've come on your own.
Yes, you will need to use an overdraft (and yes, I'm still in mine!!) as a backup but you needn't use the most expensive forms of borrowing if you stick to your budget (ie. loans, CCs).
It's so easy to cut out all the little extras that are customary at British weddings (eg. place settings, trinkets, menus etc) if you do it abroad - your guests will love being away with you both and the whole experience will be special because of the setting, not how much you've spent!
Just seeing all the amazing posts on MSE shows that money one of many things you CAN control and it WILL work for you! You can't control time-if you had won the EuroMillions jackpot I bet the first thing you'd do is get married! So if it's important to you, just do it! You can have a wonderful marriage and be debt free, no probs.
Good luck to you xxx:A

redlady_1

Marriage is about the union of two people, not about having a big bash which realistically is for everyone else. Personally, if I wanted to marry that much I would do it - but not for £5k. You can still have a church wedding but hire your dress instead of buying or see what you can find on freecycle or ebay. But cut out that big old reception. It depends on what you want more, to be married or to have a big old bash.

Good luck in your decisions. x

woody01

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

Sorry but its an INCREDIBLY EASY one to anser.
Pay your debts off first.

How on earth can you consider saving £400 a month when you don't even pay creditors on time>?
Not only that though......why would anyone want to start married life saddled with so many cash flow problems? Its a recipe for disaster.

immoral_angeluk

When I got married it costs us not far off £2000 all in, and that included a honeymoon, which was paid for (all bar our spending money and transport) by asking for travel vouchers from thomas cook.
You don't have to have a lavish ceremony. Marriage is about being together for the rest of your lives (or at least should be, I'm now divorced LOL!) and not the amount of money you spend on it.Personally I'd want to get the debt sorted out, even if it meant putting off the wedding for a few years until we were in a more manageable position.

immoral_angeluk

woody01 wrote: »

Sorry but its an INCREDIBLY EASY one to anser.
Pay your debts off first.

How on earth can you consider saving £400 a month when you don't even pay creditors on time>?
Not only that though......why would anyone want to start married life saddled with so many cash flow problems? Its a recipe for disaster.

Have to agree. Money and debt is one of the biggest cause of divorce and seperation out there.

westiedog

Just a thought for something different. I saw an article on our local news where a couple got married in a well known 24 hour supermarket. It looked really diffferent. They got married late on in the evening and walked down the wine aisle then the whole party had a meal in the supermarket restaurant. Sounds quite MSE to me.
Congratulations on your future marriage whatever you choose to do x :beer:

Beakatron

Thanks for the further comments. I am happy to let you know we talked about what to do last night and the decision has come to we will pay the debts off first! I do feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders already. I also think that we will try even harder to get rid of the debt so we can get married as soon as possible. Hong Kong is also still being thought about, I think we will see how we go this year and make a decision on that later.

I also rang Lloyds last night and they have agreed a full and final settlement offer of £3000 (so saving about £1500!!), I did my best to get them down to £2400 but they were having none of it. So, I'm £600 short - my aim is to have this within the next month to 2 months and then pay off the loan, so I will personally be debt free :T, then we'll start working on OH's debt's. Thanks for everyones advice it's been a great help.