Marriage and Debt

Falling in love and getting married is supposed to be one of the best milestones in your life. While that may be the case, it seems that many young couples are starting out life with debt, and this is putting pressure on them in ways that are not healthy.

Wedding Wire conducted a comprehensive survey, and based on the answers from 15,000 couples in the United States, the survey found couples are spending almost double on their weddings today as compared to 10 years ago!

This is an astronomical amount when you look at the numbers more closely and see that while the overall spend has almost doubled, the guest list has generally stayed at the same number of people. This means they are spending way more money than ever on one single day before they start their lives together.

It would certainly not be a problem if the money were there to be spent, but many couples are going into debt over their wedding. A survey was conducted by the wedding website TheKnot.com and electronic payment service PayPal, and it found an alarming trend.

36% of couples paid for their big day with credit cards. This means they are starting their life together on the back foot with extra bills to pay. The big wedding that they dreamt about will come at a serious future cost because they cannot afford it now. 32% of the couples surveyed said that having access to credit/loans meant that they were able to spend more than their allocated budget.

This spike in spending could have later effects on the marriage itself. A survey by Money Magazine showed that 70% of couples argue over money more than anything else in their relationship. Making sure that you have money set aside for the wedding of your dreams may be a better plan. One smart strategy would be to start a dedicated savings account for the special day instead of borrowing money you do not have and paying it back with interest over time.

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