Saving for something big - 7 top tips.

I always think it's very unfair how your mid-twenties are normally the time you need to buy your 'biggest' things. Getting married and buying your first home require big savings and unless you have money tucked away somewhere, this means saving for a long time. Not just saving here and there, big HEAVY saving.

Tom and I have been putting money aside each month properly for about a year now, but it's only when we got engaged it all became very real and we fully realised how much money we needed. I have set us a pretty small budget for our wedding. Humongous when you think how much is going on one day, but pitiful in the wedding world. If we already had our own house then I imagine it would be different and obviously we still want to have an amazing day and not look back with regret, but we feel uncomfortable throwing all our savings on one day, then heading back to our rented house and starting from scratch on a deposit. It would be so easy to spend £20-30k though and still not even have gone that mad.

But saving IS hard, when you're already paying so much on rent and bills it hurts to put all the rest into your savings account. I'm 24, I want to go on holiday to Bali and buy a Mulberry handbag from Selfridges and buy ALL the Jo Malone candles. But I want a house more, because those things in this house would be wasted. The feeling of knowing we're renting our house drives me mad, I can't cope with how temporary it feels. I want to get stuck in and make my own home and that is impossible when it's someone else's house. It's just uncomfortable all the time.

Happy Weekend!

Happy weekend!

I have been counting down to Friday this week.

It’s not even been a particularly bad week, the last few days have just seemed such a struggle. Thank god it's here now! We’re driving back to Lincolnshire tonight for the weekend to see both families, so it should be a busy but nice few days.

I’ve got a mixture of posts ready for the next couple of weeks; some food recipes, top tips for hardcore savings, the truths of living with a boy and our week in Kefalonia last year.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and make sure you hug your Mum.

I have armfuls of tulips for mine!

Gemma

xXx

Religious vs. Civil Ceremony

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When it comes to arranging your wedding, the most important part should really be the actual getting married bit.

That's the whole point of it all apparently.

When I was younger I had always assumed I would get married in our local church. The village I grew up in is very pretty, with the River Chater running right next to the church and it's where my Mum and Dad got married. I went to the Church of England Primary School in the village as well and it was where the teachers would take us for bank holidays and special services.

It'll all be alright in the end.

I'm not feeling particularly dreamy today.

Everything seems to be on hold at the moment. The new build house we're waiting for, work contracts, elderly cars and being in full-on saving mode.

The house is the worst part. I can never really relax and feel at home in a rented house, it's temporary and it feels it. We've still actually got things in boxes from the last move. There's only so much planning and forward-thinking you can do until you have to just stop and wait.

But sometimes you just have to suck it up and really think about the good things you have in your life.
We're getting married, we've got the dog, we both have jobs and we have savings ready to be spent.
It'll be alright in the end!

Waiting is rubbish, so I guess I'll have to keep myself busy in the meanwhile!

Gemma
xXx

Boys. Yak!

I'm going to talk about a boy. Ewie.