When two people date each other and are in love, spending money on dates is effortless. The money we earn early in our working life is spent mostly on maintaining our "single" lifestyle.
Then a time comes when getting married becomes a serious proposition and discussions of money matters would follow (and so it should!).
Here is a shortlist of the financial considerations you need to make before saying "I do":
1. Are you both willing to sacrifice some of your previous lifestyle, so that you can begin to save for the future?
2. Can you both afford the basic household necessities, such as rent, groceries, utilities, transportation, laundry, etc? Ideally, you might want to live independently from your parental units and so all the basic necessities that were once provided and taken for granted will no longer be available to you unless you paid for it.
3. Are you able to foot the bill for your wedding party? Sure, it would be great if you had someone who is willing to spend on your party, but in case you don't, you might want to consider the size of your party so that you don't live on bread (or rice) alone after it's over.
4. Are you able to fund long-term financial obligations like car ownership, home ownership, children's education and insurance?
Having considered your financial needs and your affordability in marriage, do you then postpone if you both feel there is not enough in the kitty to start a life together? Or should you proceed in any case and believe that love alone will sustain you?
If you choose the perfect financial moment, meaning that you have a house, a car, investments for future children, then that moment will likely leave you in a situation of so much independency that it wouldn't even be necessary for you to think twice about getting married. But getting married is not a decision to make lightly. When love is all you have, let it grow as you make the sacrifices to pursue the goals you both aspire to achieve together.
Photography: Izabela Habur
