You Won’t Believe the Estimated Price Tag for the Upcoming Royal Wedding

Written by adminMay 23, 2018
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Americans are fascinated by the British royal family. To us, they are superstars and we follow them and their lives as closely as any other famous person.

On November 27th, 2017, it was announced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were engaged, and Americans couldn’t be happier. That meant another royal wedding was going to happen soon!

And now, that time has come! This weekend, the prince and his beautiful bride will tie the knot. Because this is a financial blog, we can’t help but ask the question: how much does a royal wedding cost?

The average American wedding can shoot upwards of $34,000! To us, that’s a lot of money, but it pales in comparison to the amount the royal family will shell out. Back in 2011, Prince William married Kate Middleton at an astounding cost of $34 million!

Let’s look at this year’s epic ceremony and breakdown what the royal family is expected to spend this time around.

1) Reception

This part of the celebration isn’t as expensive as it could be. Being the royal family has some perks, meaning they own a lot of gorgeous, historic castles and buildings. They also own fleets of cars, too. That means holding the reception at George’s Great Hall and using Queen Elizabeth’s fleet of Bentleys and Rolls-Royces for transportation won’t cost a dime.

Not every part of the reception will be free, though. According to sources, the cost of luxurious portable toilets will cost more than the average American wedding at $50,000! It’ll cost them $500,000 alone for the marquee. So, while they’re ‘saving money’ by not having to rent a place, the added costs are unfathomable!

2) Food and Catering

Could you imagine spending $70,000 on a wedding cake? That’s what the royal family just did, hiring the talents of famed pastry chef Clair Ptak from California. The catering for this event is estimated to hit nearly 700,000! That seems like a lot of money, but when you consider the bottles of Bollinger champagne, costing $115 EACH, then you start to see why it’s so expensive.

3) Entertainment

What’s a wedding with entertainment? And when you’re filthy rich as the royal family, you can virtually afford whoever you want. They’re expected to spend around $510,000 for various entertainment surprises. $129,000 of this is for the silver-plated trumpets, personalized for each guest.

They also expect to have choirs, photo booths, entertainment for the kids, a DJ, a band, and even a fireworks display worthy of royalty. For that much money spent on entertainment, let’s hope the band is good! (Rumors say Elton John is scheduled to perform)

4) Wedding Dress

We all know that the dress is one of the most important parts of the wedding. It’s also one of the most expensive. It can take a future bride several months to find the right dress for her. It’s unknown what the future princess paid for her dress, but estimates are up near the $500,000 mark.

5) Decorations and Favors

Another $700,000 was spent on the rest of the wedding, including the decorations, floral displays, invitations, seating, dance floor, security, party favors, lighting, photographers, and so on. I’m sure you can imagine a gorgeous Windsor Castle converted into a wedding palace fit for a fairytale.

The invitations alone were over $200,000 and printed in gold ink. Now that’s money!

Wedding Controversy

While the U.S. is anticipating this major event, a lot of U.K residents aren’t happy. A petition has been going around, stating that the royal wedding is nothing more than what should be a private event dressed up like a national occasion to justify spending tax dollars to cover the event.

While the royal family gets millions from the government, most of the wedding won’t be paid for by taxpayers. They will have to pay for the massive security to keep guests safe during a high-profile event, costing them $10 million.

The cost is also measured in economic output. During the 2011 royal wedding, there was a 1.6% drop in production, which amounted to $3.1 billion lost. We can expect the same to happen this time around, which makes a lot of people in the U.K. wonder why they still have a monarchy to this day.

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5 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Tight Budget

Written by adminFebruary 12, 2018
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If you’ve spent any time in college, then you know how to eat on a budget. Most of us can think back to Ramen-fueled study sessions and cold leftover pizza breakfasts. Even if you’ve never been to college, living on a tight budget makes it more difficult to get the proper nutrition we need to stay healthy.

As we get older, eating healthy becomes more important. The problem is, according to a Harvard study, eating green and clean costs about $1.50 more per day than buying garbage food. The food manufacturers love it! They can mass produce low-quality food at a cheap price, and when you’re on a tight budget, you might think that’s all you can afford.

There are ways to overcome this problem and still eat healthy, no matter your budget! With some planning and extra work, you can do it! Let’s dive right in.

1) Understand the Psychology of Food

This is a HUGE problem not many people know about. Food is big business, and like every other big business, they know how to get you to keep buying their product. They produce cheap products that offer little nutritional value. Have you ever sat down and mindlessly eaten a whole bag of chips while watching your favorite show?

These foods are cheap for a reason. Because they offer little nutritious value, they burn up quickly, send your energy levels plummeting, and leave you hungry. So, while it might not cost as much to eat this way, you’ll find yourself buying twice as much of it.

 

When you eat the right type of foods that nourish your body properly, you won’t be as hungry. You can eat less, spend less, and overall be healthier for it.

2) Follow the Seasons

Farmer’s markets in our local communities are becoming increasingly popular, and for a very good reason. You can get great produce at a cheaper price than you can find in the store. Why is it cheaper? It’s because the foods they sell are locally produced and are in-season. That cuts down on shipping costs and follows the law of supply and demand.

If there’s a certain food in-season right now, that means there’s an abundance of it and you can get it at a great price. On the flip side, it’s going to cost a store more money to ship in fresh strawberries from South America, so the price is going to be higher. Look up the seasonal foods in your area at any given time and enjoy the savings.

3) Have a Plan and a List

One thing stores LOVE to make money on are impulse buyers. These are the people who run in with a few things on their mind, but end up leaving with much more than they intended on buying. It goes back to point #1 about the psychology of food.

The layout of grocery stores is not random. They’re carefully designed following the law of Power of Perimeter. If you haven’t noticed, most of the stuff we need on a regular basis is found along the outside wall of the whole store. If you need a gallon of milk, you’re going to the very back to find it. Meats, breads, etc, are also on the outer perimeter.

With the most common products at the back of the store, it forces you to walk through the Little Debbie aisle and the frozen food section. They count on you seeing that one thing you know you shouldn’t buy and tossing it into your cart. Then, when it’s time to roll up to an aisle, there are plenty of other impulse items there as well.

Don’t fall for it! Don’t go to the store hungry. Take your time and actively plan out your grocery list. Clip coupons. Find great deals. It will take extra time, but you’ll save money in the end.

4) Do Your Own Prep

One of the more expensive aspects of grocery shopping includes buying products that have been already cleaned, cut, and prepared for you. This includes meats, fruits, and veggies. A tiny container of pre-cut fruit, while convenient, is much more expensive than just buying the whole fruit and cutting it yourself.

Instead of hitting the meat section of your store, go to a local butcher. Not only will your food be cleaner and not sprayed with chemicals to help preserve it, you can get more of it at a cheaper price. As part of your grocery regimen (planning/shopping/couponing), take the time after you shop to chop, cut, and prepare the foods yourself. You’ll save a lot of money.

5) Grow Your Own

If you have the space for it, there’s nothing better than growing your own garden. Yes, it takes work, but can be extremely therapeutic. Even if you live in an apartment, you can find a way to grow your own fruits and vegetables. There are a thousand ways you can research online to grow in various types of light, space, and circumstances.

Also, learning how to can is a huge asset. It may seem like a practice from a bygone area, but it has been roaring back to life in the past few years. People actually desire to grow clean, healthy food and to can it themselves and spare the extra preservatives and chemicals food companies add in.

Grocery shopping is one of our biggest expenses, and food isn’t going to get cheaper anytime soon. By learning how to shop properly and by taking these steps, you can improve the quality of the food you eat on any budget.

 

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Overcoming Cost of Living Challenges

Written by adminFebruary 12, 2018
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Saving money is hard. It’s a reality most Americans have to contend with. In a perfect world, we’d all love to have a nice nest egg in case we need it. The problem is, the cost of living is way too high! It’s so high, that more than half of us don’t even have $1,000 in savings.

When asked, 36% of Americans claim their biggest regret in 2017 was not saving money, and they blame the high cost of living as the number one reason why. 20% blame their low salary as the reason why they don’t save. 15% don’t even budget, essentially throwing their financials together with duct tape and sawdust.

Everything Changes Except Salaries

The biggest culprit behind people not being able to save is how much things change from year to year. With every turn of the calendar year, it would seem as if prices continue to rise. The cost of rent goes up. The cost of food goes up. Gas prices fluctuate, but most often, go up. Insurance rates go up. Interest rates go up. Taxes go up.

 

While all these aspects of everyday living continue to grow more expensive, our salaries stay the same. If you’re lucky, you might get a $.50 raise, but that doesn’t go far compared to the other bills that keep stacking on top of each other. It’s no wonder more Americans are finding themselves struggling with debt.

Despite the Struggle, Saving is Key

No matter what our circumstances might be, we cannot afford NOT to save money. It’s crucial, essential, and may even be lifesaving! How would you be able to afford a major crisis happening? Most of us go through life as if nothing bad can touch us, so we don’t even worry about it.

Maybe we can get through until our golden years relatively untouched, but what happens then? We lived at or above our means for so long, did you have time to plan and save for retirement? This is one part of life that just has a way of creeping up on us. Americans are now working longer than they ever used to before due to the lack of financial planning.

You Must Become Debt Free

As difficult as it might sound, the only salvation for rising costs is to get out of debt, especially if you don’t anticipate your salary rising. Americans get caught in the trap of turning to credit cards and getting loans when they want something they can’t afford. But that’s the thing! They try to pay for things they can’t afford and it costs them in the long run.

Just assuming you’ll get things on track before retirement isn’t going to cut it. You need real change and to get ahead of the snowball running downhill. It will only grow larger and larger until you can no longer manage it. Having an emergency nest egg, saving for retirement, and ensuring you can live comfortably below your means is MUCH more important than buying that brand-new car or doing anything that incurs new debt.

If you’re burdened with lots of debt, the best course of action might be to consider debt consolidation. That will allow you to put all your loans and debts into one neat package to make the repayment process simpler, saving you money verses not getting a consolidation.

You can also try to do a debt settlement, which may even lower the amount you owe and can save you thousands of dollars. Whichever you choose, getting out of debt (and not adding on more) is the best way to improve your financial situation.

The best rule of thumb is to not pay for anything you can’t afford. If you’re in a dead-end job and you don’t see your salary going up anytime soon, there’s no reason to make your circumstances more difficult than you need to.

Make new goals and be smart with your finances. Then, you can celebrate being one of the few Americans who are debt-free and without the worry of having nothing to fall back on in case the worst were to happen.

 

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