Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Set aside an emergency fund!



With the wedding plans in full swing, you might be looking at your bank account and credit cards, maybe your tax refund check, as your All-Wedding-Access-Cash. But be careful...

Take a bunch of your money and put it away, safely in an emergency fund. There's no protective bubble that forms around brides and grooms the minute you get engaged. Since we live in a world where anything can happen, you have to make sure that you have a nice chunk of change available to use if any emergencies come up.

Right now, I'm sitting in a tarped-off room while plumbers jackhammer my foyer floor away, looking for a pipe problem under the house. If this had hapened last year, while my husband and I were planning our wedding, we would have lost our minds.

An emergency doesn't have to involve plumbers. It could be a new tire that you have to get for your car to replace a flat. A co-pay at the doctor's office for an antibiotic. Your dog's vet bill. Small or large, you need that money set aside so that you have peace of mind as well, and are not fighting with your groom-to-be about money.

So stash some cash away, and if you have it leftover when the wedding arrives, that's Play Money for the Honeymoon (or a smart start on your married life emergency fund.)

Get your copy of The Bride's Survival Guide to find out how else you can save your wedding, your sanity and your relationship!