Saving for a Loved One's Big Occasion
If you know you’ve got a big event coming up for a loved one, it makes sense to start doing some monetary planning as far in advance as you can. Even if it is a year or eighteen months away, budgeting and saving makes sound financial sense and avoids last minute panics about covering costs.
Planning Your Event with Other Family Members or Friends
If family and friends are involved in the organising of the event, then you need to implement a saving system that everyone can contribute to with as little fuss and difficulty as possible, either by online money transfers, or a cheque to your nominated ‘treasurer’, in other words, a central kitty you can all add to.If your event is some time away, at least a year or so, then a high interest savings account could be a good idea as you’ll make some extra money on top of your initial investment, bearing in mind any tax implications to the account holder of doing this and any restrictions on withdrawing the money within a certain period of time. Ask your bank or building society to advise on an account that would offer you the highest return.
Raising Money
If raising money in the first place is an issue, you could set up ‘party collection fund’ to help save towards the event - this could be as simple as putting all your pennies and two pence pieces in a bottle, or implementing a swear box or ‘fines’ box at home! Children could help add to the fund by searching out all that loose change that accumulates down the backs of chairs and sofas or in drawers! It will all add up in the end!Think of ways to make some money to boost your savings - car boot sales, garage sales and auctioning unwanted items online are all sure-fire ways to raise a bit of extra capital for your party, and are all things the entire family can become involved in.
You could also add any unexpected ‘windfalls’ into your kitty - i.e. those £10 lottery wins, unexpected bonuses or pay-outs, returned deposits and so on - in other words, any ‘unexpected’ money you wouldn’t have otherwise had and so won’t miss!
Other Ways to Save
Clip Coupons
Get your friends and family on a coupon cutting drive - cut out all the money saving coupons you can find for food stuffs and supermarket deals - you could save pounds when you come to cater for your party!Loyalty Cards
Convince your planning team to forgo the benefits of their supermarket loyalty cards (be they in store vouchers or special ‘deals’) for the duration of the party planning and use the funds to pay for something for the party - you could net enough to cover your drinks costs or to pay for a personalised cake!BOGOF
Make the most of buy one get one free items to squirrel away, particularly on bottles and cans of drink and buffet snack foods.Savvy saving over a period of time will really take the heat off your party planning - start today, and watch your thrifty ways pay dividends on your loved ones big day!
