This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the full disclosure policy for more information.
Pin for later. Follow on Pinterest.
INTRODUCTION
As a single, engaged, or newlywed woman, you might find yourself torn between creating your dream wedding and keeping your financial future intact. When planning my wedding, I felt stressed because I watched my savings dwindle. However, my net worth was the surprising number that helped calm me down. Because I focused on my net worth, my finances improved while spending money on the wedding! By closely monitoring your net worth, you can manage your wedding budget effectively. Managing your finances ensure you are on the right path to building long-term wealth. Here are some compelling reasons why tracking your net worth is essential during this time.
WHAT IS NET WORTH?
Your net worth – the difference between your assets and liabilities – provides a clear snapshot of your financial health for you and your partner. Knowing your individual and combined net worth allows you to track your progress over time and set realistic financial goals. This number is also significant for monitoring your financial journey and creating milestones to mark, like when you pay off debt, make your first $100,000 net worth, or reach financial freedom. By tracking your net worth monthly or yearly, you can use money as a tool to create the future you hope for.
By lowering my debt and increasing my investments, my net worth grew while I was planning a wedding.
Start looking for budgeting or financial apps that track your net worth. A popular free option is Empower (formerly Personal Capital), which can track your net worth and offer projections for free. Another option for budgeting and net worth tracking is Simplifi, which I currently use. Using clear and helpful reports, you can link all your financial accounts onto Simplifi, which will tell you your “net worth” based on your bank accounts, credit cards, loans, savings, and investments. Another excellent website for couples is Monarch Money, a budgeting website that couples can use to track their net worth individually and together.
Now that you know your net worth and the options to calculate and track it, let’s look at 10 reasons why tracking your net worth can help you plan your future while planning a wedding.
10 Reasons To Check Your Net Worth While Planning Your Wedding Budget
1. ENCOURAGE MINDFUL SPENDING HABITS
Tracking your net worth creates a natural incentive to spend your money wisely. When you see the positive effects of saving and investing on your net worth, you're more likely to resist the temptation to blow your budget on unnecessary wedding expenses. Instead, you’ll prioritize spending on what truly matters to you for your wedding and financial future.
It's easy to get carried away with extravagant wedding ideas. However, seeing how overspending impacts your net worth can be a reality check. Do you want to buy the expensive venue that all your friends used, or would you rather have savings for a house? Tracking your net worth lets you see your overall financial progress and how your wedding spending affects your number.
Regularly reviewing your net worth makes you more conscious of every dollar spent and why. Do you need to pay off or limit your debt to raise your net worth? Maybe you want to invest more money in your 401K to increase your net worth. Perhaps you want to allocate more money towards your wedding and devise a saving plan to preserve your net worth. This mindset helps you make more intentional spending decisions, such as opting for meaningful experiences over costly decorations. It also encourages you to find creative ways to save, like DIY projects or choosing a more affordable venue that doesn’t compromise your vision.
2. IDENTIFY POTENTIAL WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR FINANCES
When you track your net worth, you become more aware of your financial situation. This awareness can highlight areas where you can save money, cut unnecessary expenses, or find more cost-effective options for your wedding. Tracking your net worth can help you find budget-friendly alternatives without sacrificing quality. For example, choosing seasonal flowers or negotiating with vendors can result in significant savings. You can redirect these savings toward other priorities in your wedding budget or financial goals.
Regularly updating your net worth statement at least monthly can reveal patterns in your spending habits. Recurring payments, such as subscription services or dining out, can be reduced or eliminated. You may discover you spend $1,200 eating out and $1,000 on groceries monthly. Or you have $500 on unused subscriptions draining your bank accounts and didn’t realize it. One app that can help you manage your finances and subscriptions is Rocket Money. Rocket Money will find recurring bills and subscriptions for you and help you cancel them to save money. Cutting unnecessary spending from eating out, groceries, and subscriptions can help you save money for your wedding.
3. UNCOVER FINANCIAL GAPS
Regularly reviewing your net worth can identify gaps in your finances. Whether you recognize the need to save more, pay off debt, invest more intelligently, or allocate funds differently, this insight is invaluable for your wedding planning and long-term financial strategy. Identifying gaps in your finances helps you take proactive steps to address them.
For example, if your emergency fund is lacking or you’re not investing enough for retirement, you can adjust your financial plan accordingly. You don’t want to use your emergency fund to finance your wedding. If you haven’t built up an emergency fund, start doing this now until you have 3 to 6 months of expenses. You can then comfortably save for your wedding. This insight ensures your wedding budget doesn’t derail your future family goals. It also allows you to prioritize debt repayment or bolster savings, providing a more secure financial future as you start your married life.
4. CREATE FLEXIBILITY IN THE WEDDING BUDGET
A clear understanding of your net worth lets you make informed decisions about your wedding budget. You can do so confidently if you have room to spend more on certain aspects of your wedding without jeopardizing your financial goals. If you want to learn more about creating a wedding budget that supports your future, check out this blog post.
Having a firm grasp on your net worth allows you to allocate funds where they’ll have the most impact. For instance, if you’ve been saving diligently and your investments are performing well, you might decide to splurge on a live band or an unforgettable honeymoon. However, if you identify areas where you need to be more frugal, you can adjust your budget accordingly. This flexibility ensures that your spending aligns with your wedding vision and financial well-being.
5. PROMOTE FINANCIAL INTIMACY WITH YOUR PARTNER
Sharing your net worth and financial goals with your future spouse can open up meaningful conversations about money. This collaborative approach helps in planning a wedding budget and lays a strong foundation for managing finances together in the future. Discussing net worth with your partner fosters transparency and trust. It’s an opportunity to align your financial goals and establish a unified approach to budgeting. These conversations include planning joint expenses, setting savings goals, and deciding investment strategies.
A great way to cultivate financial intimacy with your partner is to have regular money discussions or money “dates” or “meetings.” Having a weekly or monthly time to talk about money can decrease the stress around your finances. I wrote a blog post about starting money meetings with your partner here. Establishing open communication about finances early on helps prevent misunderstandings and ensures both are on the same page, making financial planning a team effort.
6. SET FINANCIAL GOALS FOR YOUR FUTURE WHILE PLANNING YOUR WEDDING
Seeing your net worth grow can be incredibly motivating. It encourages you to set and achieve financial goals, such as paying off debt, building an emergency fund, saving for your wedding, or planning retirement. Watching your money work for you towards your goals is empowering to create more money goals for your future. Whether you aim to save a certain amount by your wedding date or pay off a portion of the debt, these targets provide direction and purpose. It also sets a precedent for future goal setting, making it easier to tackle more significant financial milestones together, such as buying a home or starting a family.
7. BOOST CONFIDENCE IN YOUR FINANCES AND WEDDING BUDGET
No matter how positive or negative the number may be, tracking your net worth gives you a snapshot of your current financial foundation and ways to improve it. Knowing your net worth can boost your confidence in wedding budget planning because you understand how your budget will impact your finances. This confidence allows you to enjoy the process more and reduces the anxiety that often comes with managing a significant event on a budget.
Financial confidence spills over into other areas of your life, including wedding planning. You can improve your net worth and save for your wedding. Understanding your financial standing allows you to make decisions and enjoy the process without constant worry. This confidence is empowering and contagious, positively influencing your partner and those around you. It lets you focus on creating beautiful memories rather than stressing over costs.
8. ENHANCE FINANCIAL LITERACY
Tracking your net worth requires you to stay informed about your finances. This continuous learning process improves your financial literacy, equipping you with the knowledge to make better financial decisions during your wedding planning and beyond. You’ll naturally become more engaged with your financial situation as you track your net worth. Truly understanding your net worth involves understanding different types of investments, recognizing the importance of diversification, and learning about tax implications.
Educating yourself about personal finance is a great way to improve your finances. Reading or listening to books helped empower me to take control of my finances and encouraged me to grow my net worth in multiple ways. The most significant factor that increased my net worth was decreasing my debt. Reading the book “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey helped me create a plan to crush my debt. The second most significant factor that helped me grow my net worth while planning a wedding was investing. “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” by John Bogle helped me build confidence to invest and grow my net worth with index fund investing. By lowering my debt and increasing my investments, my net worth grew while I was planning a wedding!
There are so many personal finance books and audiobooks that can help anyone in any situation take control of their finances. Find resources that resonate with you and your situation. Educating yourself in financial literacy by reading or listening to audiobooks empowers you to make informed decisions, encourages you to negotiate better deals, and encourages you to plan confidently. It’s a skill set that will serve you well long after the wedding bells have rung.
9. PEACE OF MIND WITH YOUR FINANCES
Knowing your net worth gives you a clear picture of your financial health. Seeing your net worth increase due to your savings, paying down debt, and investments guarantee you stay financially secure. This peace of mind can alleviate some of the stress of wedding expenses.
Imagine the confidence that comes with knowing you have a growing nest egg. This financial security means you can focus more on the joyous aspects of your wedding planning, like choosing your venue or dress, without the constant worry about money. When you track your net worth, you also clearly understand your financial progress over time, which can reduce anxiety and allow you to enjoy this particular time more fully.
10. BUILD TOWARD FINANCIAL FREEDOM
Ultimately, tracking your net worth helps you build wealth beyond your wedding on your financial journey. It lets you balance enjoying your special day and staying on track with your long-term financial goals. Your wedding is a significant milestone, but it’s just the beginning of your financial journey. Tracking your net worth helps you remember your broader financial objectives, such as home ownership, retirement planning, and wealth building.
By maintaining a balanced approach, you can celebrate your special day without compromising your future. This long-term perspective ensures that your financial health improves, setting you and your partner up for a prosperous life together.
CONCLUSION
Tracking your net worth while planning a wedding can be a powerful tool for achieving financial freedom. It's a strategy that helps you budget wisely for your big day and sets you up for a prosperous future together. By integrating net worth tracking into your wedding planning process, you can enjoy your special day without compromising your financial future. This proactive approach helps you manage your wedding expenses and establishes a healthy financial foundation with your partner.
IN SUMMARY
Tools To Help You Track Your Net Worth
- Empower– Comprehensive and user-friendly platform for tracking and analyzing your net worth.
- Simplifi– Intuitive and streamlined tool for budgeting and net worth tracking and sharing profiles with your partner.
- Monarch Money– Collaborative platform tailored for couples, enabling joint budgeting and net worth tracking.
10 Reasons To Check Your Net Worth While Planning Your Wedding Budget
- Encourage mindful spending habits.
- Identify potential ways to improve your finances and save for a wedding. Try Rocket Money to help save money by removing unnecessary subscriptions.
- Uncover financial gaps.
- Create flexibility in the wedding budget. Read about creating a wedding budget that supports your future here.
- Promote financial intimacy with your partner. Read how to start money meetings with your partner.
- Set financial goals for your future while planning your wedding.
- Boost confidence in your finances and wedding budget.
- Enhance your financial literacy by reading Dave Ramsey's “Total Money Makeover” and John Bogle's “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.”
- Peace of mind with your finances.
- Build toward financial freedom.
Are you ready to start tracking your net worth and build wealth beyond the wedding?
Pin for later. Follow on Pinterest.
