LIW...if you and your bf together have $30K in the bank

[Amys Bling]

I would spend about 20,000 towards the house downpayment, 5 for the ring, and 5 towards the wedding. Here in the NYC metro area, a wedding of 150 easily costs 30 even if you go "cheap" on many things, but I would keep the 5 towards the wedding and take a 1.5-2 yr engagment and spend that time banking money into the savings account and about a 1/4 in a wedding account. A wedding should not make you broke, neither should a ring. A house is an investment for your future...

 

[crossmyfingers]

I already have a home, and we already have the ring, and we're not having a wedding... So probably:

$5k on the honeymoon
$10k into savings
$15k to pay off his car and some of his student loans

 

[purselover]

Shockingly I wanted the downpayment (with a future upgrade) and DH wanted the wedding. We did things his way.

 

[MayFlowers]

Well my parents are paying for the wedding. So I will say 8k for the ring, 5k for the honeymoon and 17k for a house.

 

[lucyandroger]

We went with a house and a ring. We're having a pretty long engagement (14 months, 10 to go) so that we can save up some more for the wedding.

 

[CourtLynB]

There are two different ways I can answer this question:
1) In the figurative scenerio, BF and I have $30K and that's it. I would say the $30K goes for the house, we get engaged with a cheaper ring (maybe colored stone rather than diamond), and know in the future we'll get something nicer. And the parents would pay for a small wedding.
2) In reality, I already have the money saved for the house down payment. We're just waiting for the market to turn a little so my BF can sell his current home. He's got most of the money saved for the ring (I think). So if someone were to say here's a free $30k, I'd use it for wedding expenses and honeymoon and see what's left for some new furniture for the future house.

 

[Anonymous]

No longer a LIW, but I'll play!

We spent ~2k on my ring (got an AWESOME deal, tyvm PS!) but if we had 30K vs what we have, we probably would have spent closer to 3-4K on the ring TOPS. I'd also like to buy my FI a watch that he's been ogling that's about 2K

I've owned a home and all of the responsibilities that go along w/it, and am much happier renting a cozy duplex. So wouldn't spend on that...We have a small wedding (and small budget needed for it) so about 8K max to that.

We'd use 2-3K for a nice little honeymoon, and put the rest to a new car since both of ours are getting older. I know, I'm boring!

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Well, if he doesn't have $90k to buy me a house, ring, and a fabulous wedding then I don't want to be with him.

:snort:

ETA: To actually reply to the question... After spending 30k on a wedding and then entering the housing market two months later, I really wish we would have funneled all that money toward our down payment. OR- left our down payment as it was, saved the 30k "wedding money" and used it for immediate home improvements! What I wouldn't give for that 30k right now... As I stare out my front window at a huge tree that needs to be cut down, a front porch that needs to be re-done, and a whooole yard just waiting for some landscaping. Nevermind my 1970s kitchen, basement, and bathrooms

 

[Rhea]

That's about what we had. We spent a fair bit on visas, moving to another country, and keeping us housed while I was unemployed. The rest was spent on the weddings and honeymoon. The weddings (one in each country) were important to me since it was a way to have a going away party before I moved to another country. I wish I didn't have to have that, but I'm sure I would have regretted it had we just gone to city hall without a party afterward.

The e-ring cost around $1,500-$2,000. The the $30K at the time was about £16-17K, which is nowhere near enough for a down payment on a house in London!!!

 

[dawnabee]

If SO and I only had 30k in the bank between the both of us we wouldn't do any of these things. We would wait until we had more money! 30k is barely a downpayment on a house around us and then what would you pay the mortgage with?? Also, 30k isn't enough to cover the costs of a venue/photographer/flowers for the wedding. Plus, you still wouldnt have money left over for anything else. To spend the only 30k you have on a ring is just ridiculous unless you want to wait 30 yrs to have enough money for a wedding or a house.... just IMHO.

 

[rosetta]

I wouldn't spend any money on a ring if all we had was $30k. It's not even a decent house deposit around here. I wouldn't even have a wedding and would save the money for a house and for emergencies.

 

[kagordo4]

I'm going to cheat because we already have a ring.

But I would do about $10,000 for the wedding, $5000 for the honeymoon, and the other $15,000 toward rent for apartments/ lease. A house just isn't in the cards for us anytime soon and not because of money, but beacause we'll be moving a lot in the next few years.

 

[heyme]

I would definitely put all or most of it towards a house.