Since getting engaged, spending has gone up up up.. so I haven’t made any progress.. just piled on more debt : x .. pretty much the opposite of what I wanted to do, and I was so close to paying everything off completely! Here’s what has been happening that’s causing extra $$$ to be spent:
1 – Roommate’s moving out in about a week. This means, roommate’s room and bathroom are going to be redone (paint/linens/towels/decorations, possibly remove linoleum and lay tiles down in the bathroom). I’m very excited about home décor projects, but they can be pricey. So far, I have bought bed linens(there is a bed in that room that we let him use), and a lamp for that room. I am hoping we can have recessed lights installed. I just need to buy paint for now, and then we’ll be doing some rearranging of furniture. The main problem is we’re on a time crunch to get this done—have to start working on this 5/19 once the roommate’s gone, and it has to be completed before 6/4 when my parents get into town. Because…
2 – On 6/5 we’re getting married in our house with our parents and some of Chris’s relatives. I’m paying for wedding-related expenses since Bf (fiancé actually) paid for my awesome engagement ring. This includes: buying a nice dress (non-traditional), getting the marriage license, paying the the officiant, covering dinner, and getting photos taken (ahead of time) at a studio. This will all be fairly inexpensive. The main expenses are going to come from the reception I’ll be paying for in fiance’s hometown in August. My parents are throwing us big to-do in Texas, but not until December. Since they are doing that, they have declined to put any funds towards the shindig here, and fiancé’s parents are strapped for $ and will not be contributing financially either. So, basically, that reception will be an informal gig, financed by myself.. more as a present to fiancé than anything else, so his friends can come by and celebrate with him. The majority of my friends are in Texas. The ones close by will be attending our informal party.
3 – Dental work. That dreaded expense I’ve been talking about for awhile is almost done. 2 crowns and 2 cavities taken care of (but not paid off) and 3 fillings left to go. Insurance is maxed out, but with the next appointment, I hope to be rid of them for a long time (with the exception of cleanings).
4 – Bridesmaid junk. I think this whole bridesmaid thing is ridiculous. I still have about $800 to spend on this. That includes ~$150 for a dress, $165 for a hotel room, and about $500 to fly fiancé and myself down.
5 – More weddings!! Since my last entry, fiancé and I have gotten invited to 3 more weddings (2 of which I will go to). One of these invites annoys me, because I know I’m a last minute invite(my friends got their cards awhile ago), I’m not that close to him (though he is the best friend of a best friend of mine, we are not in the same circles) and the person inviting me knows I won’t be able to attend. Does this mean I have to send a gift? I’m feeling tapped out, and getting a gift for someone who I am not close to, who is already having about 600 attendees to his wedding, is the last thing I want to do. What is the etiquette on this? Can I just send a congratulatory card? He is an engineer and his bride-to-be is a doctor, so a chintzy gift probably would be thrown out.
So, instead of paying off my credit cards as anticipated… I now owe a combined total of.. $3993. And I still have stuff to buy/pay for!
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