Edvinas Jurevičius, Head of Retail Banking at Luminor Bank, shares some useful tips that will help you solve financial issues of the holiday.
When preparing to organize a larger celebration for the first time, E. Jurevičius recommends consulting with friends and relatives who have organized such or a similar celebration – this will help you to foresee the necessary budget and avoid mistakes when planning it.
Personal archive photo/Edvinas Jurevičius
“Critically evaluate your plans, are they not too big, unrealistic?” If you see that you will have to save for a very long time or even borrow money for the celebration, maybe it’s worth thinking about a more modest option, giving up unnecessary attributes or inviting fewer guests?”, notes the representative of Luminor Bank.
In such cases, there is no need to think that a lower budget does not mean lower quality, says E. Jurevičius. According to him, in most cases, the quality of the celebration depends on the mood of the most important people participating in it.
Plan and plan again
According to the expert, when planning expenses, you should first make an estimate, estimate what and how much you will need to purchase or order, and then proceed to the second step – see what expenses could be creatively reduced.
“After making a list, it is easier not to give in to impulsive purchases and not to load unnecessary things when you come to the store or order goods online. If you intend to rent a special space for the celebration, you should analyze what prices are applied to different rooms and try to reserve the option you like as early as possible – when the choice is the largest”, says E. Jurevičius.
Weddings or other big celebrations are often planned six months or a year in advance, so savings can be made by looking at various sales, for example, summer goods are usually sold out in autumn, so when planning a holiday in the coming summer, you can buy the necessary goods at a 40 or 50 percent discount.
E. Jurevičius adds that when planning in advance, it is always good to check the possibilities of finding the same product abroad and how much it might be possible to save by ordering in advance.
“Finally, after assessing all future expenses, setting a budget for the holiday and reviewing your financial situation, make a savings plan: decide how much time and how much you need to save, how much money you need to set aside for saving every month, and stick to this plan purposefully,” advises E. Jurevičius .
The expert reminds that various mobile apps that can record existing savings and incurred expenses can help save and control the holiday budget.
Cut costs creatively
E. Jurevičius advises that you can reduce the costs of the celebration by using creativity and the help of relatives: perhaps you can make the decorations for the celebration yourself, and some of the dishes can be helped by relatives?
In addition, creative solutions are not only financially beneficial, but often also less damaging to the environment, for example, when paper invitations are replaced with digital ones or balloons are abandoned. Sustainable ideas can be implemented by giving things a second life: reuse glass bottles instead of vases or make a photo wall from multi-colored pages of read newspapers.
Those who organize a celebration and want to reduce costs are recommended not to forget to negotiate – both with food suppliers and with room renters, etc. It is also possible to reduce the estimate if the holiday is not the most popular time, but another day, for example, Sunday – usually the rates are lower on such days.
The expert also advises never to spend all your savings on the holidays, because additional expenses may be needed for unforeseen cases: maybe at the last moment you will remember that you did not buy an important attribute of the holiday, maybe something will break or break down or you will need to order additional services.
Wedding: What will you prioritize?
A wedding is a celebration of love between two people, so they, according to E. Jurevičius, have to decide what is most important to them on that day.
“Perhaps you will decide that the most important thing for you is a big celebration with friends and relatives, or perhaps you will choose a more modest celebration and spend the money better on a post-wedding trip or allocate this amount to a down payment on the purchase of a home. Only after you have clarified your priorities can you start to specifically plan the holiday budget,” the expert claims.
A common tip for those planning a wedding celebration is to choose wedding rings and a wedding photographer responsibly, because both the rings and the photos of the celebration will bear witness to an important life event for a long time to come. Other important wedding expenses are the groom’s attire, venue rental, snacks, drinks, wedding officiant, venue decor, etc.
“Often, their relatives tend to contribute financially to the celebration of the young people, and the expenses incurred during the wedding are partly paid off by receiving monetary gifts from the guests. However, you should not count money that you do not have yet and organize the holiday “in debt” – the most unexpected situations happen in life, so you should not risk such an important day for you”, E. Jurevičius is convinced.
The highlight of the birthday party is entertainment
Those preparing a birthday party are advised to focus on the two most important highlights – the cake and fun entertainment. Maybe it would be enough for you to pay for these things and for the guests to provide drinks and snacks instead of gifts?
A communal dining table can be a lifesaver and not only will help you experience less costs and worries, but also allow the participants of the celebration to reveal their culinary abilities and surprise each other.
“When planning birthdays and similar celebrations for gatherings of family or friends, you should calculate the costs per guest and set a budget for food and entertainment. In addition, it is useful to remember that the celebration is intended to gather together and have a meaningful and interesting time together, and not to overeat, so do not overdo it with the amount of food”, – advises E. Jurevičius.
Those who want to save money are advised not to be afraid to use last year’s decorations for home decoration, but to use non-perishable food products for the holiday table or to look for various promotions and sales in advance.
