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Post Wedding Spending

You’ve just got married and moved in together to a new place: would you splurge on buying new furniture, like sofas, or try to fit the old stuff in?

When my husband and I got married, we never bought new stuff at first; in fact we spent the first few weeks on huge pillows on the floor! However, that was 13 years ago, when sofas were much more expensive than they are today. There were hardly any sales on back then, like today for instance everywhere you look there is a half price sale or some trade in offer. Also £500 13 years ago was a lot of money, today it is virtually nothing.

If I were to get married today I think I would purchase new items more so than years ago, these would include items such as a sofa, because you can get some good deals. Television would be new because of the new up and coming change over to digital. Electrical equipment was all new because of the good deals today including the guarantee. In fact the only time I wouldn’t buy new items for the home is if an item was handed down to me from a family member, and even then it would have to fit in with my home.

Most Kitchens today are fitted; therefore it is unlikely your old cooker or fridge freezer will fit into the allocated kitchen space, so their maybe a need to buy yourself new kitchen facilities. And the temptation of cookers being removed and CORGI fitted free of charge is a temptation to purchase a new one. All of my pots and pans would of course come with me.

I think with all the offers and new technology today, more and more people are choosing new items, and selling on their old items. It is unfortunate as soon as you buy an upgraded item; it is outdated within a year. But at least you are secure with the knowledge most new items have a two plus year guarantee and will last you for many years.

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Getting In To That Dress

Six months to the big day, and one two three – panic!

No, it doesn’t have to be like that!

It may be tempting to fling yourself into a crash diet, join a gym, buy brand new gym wear and flog yourself half to death on the treadmill, or even opt for the surgeon’s knife in an attempt to get into shape for that big day, but unless you have allowed yourself to develop seriously bad habits, it’s hardly essential.

Instead, with a generous six months to play with, there’s plenty of time to tone up. Start by taking a long hard look at your current diet and level of fitness. It may be that simply cutting out cigarettes and alcohol, or at least, cutting down, can make an enormous difference to the overall level of fitness. Worried about having bingo wings or a less than flat tummy? There’s still plenty of time to do a spot of toning and exercising to pep up those areas of the body that you may be less than proud of.

This doesn’t even need special equipment – doing arm curls with a bottle of water in each hand, or a series of sit ups and stomach flattening exercises can make big changes to your body shape with little real effort. In between booking the reception and choosing the bridesmaids, a few brisk walks in the fresh air really help to boost circulation and get that peaches and cream complexion. Try a deep muscle massage or a body wrap to improve the look of the skin – with no effort at all required on your part!

Do bear in mind, though, that making any kind of drastic changes to your body shape once you’ve chosen your dress will probably mean a few extra trips for additional dress fittings. Better, then, to tone up sooner rather than later, and you’ll walk down the aisle looking and feeling a million dollars.

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Expensive Jewellery Is Not For Me!

Ah, the joys of planning a wedding! So many things to think about: the venue, the guests, the date, the cake and, of course, the bride. In fact, she gets a whole list of worries all to herself. Who is going to be her bridesmaid? What dress will she wear? How will she style her hair? But, I’ll be honest; I’ve never considered the choice of jewellery as another bridal worry.

I’ll admit I’m not the most traditional person out there. In fact, the idea of a white wedding makes me come over all sweaty and a little bit nauseous. So the question of how much I would spend on bridal jewellery is a simple one – not a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I love jewellery but I would much prefer to wear something that perhaps belongs to my mother or grandmother than go out and spend an extortionate amount on a new piece for the day. Sentimental value far outweighs actual value, as far as I’m concerned.

It just seems like yet another excuse to spend money and, bearing in mind today’s climate of easy debt and high interest payments, spending a lot of money on something that is not entirely necessary just seems a bit stupid. I would rather spend a little on the dress, shoes, hair etc for the big day and have a lot more to put towards a wonderful honeymoon. For me, it’s all about priorities and, unfortunately, bridal jewellery is not one of them!

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Bridal Jewellery and How Much You Should Spend

Buying jewellery for what might be the most important day of your life won’t always be easy, especially when trying to decide how much to spend, but there are a few points you should always consider.

Never spend what you know you cannot afford. While wedding is your big day, you don’t want to be worrying about how you’re going to pay off debts while you’re on your honeymoon!

Shop around. You might find a piece you like and have your heart set on it, but often the same piece or one very similar can be found for much cheaper. Leave plenty of time to shop so you have time to compare prices. The internet can be really helpful in searching for great deals.

Try to find jewellery you would love to wear again, especially if you’re stretching your budget when buying certain pieces. It’s not worth spending a large portion of your budget on a piece that you will likely only wear for a few hours. Think about the future and shop for jewellery you can wear again and again!