Sorry about taking a moment to brag but I worked my ass off for this!!!! I got engaged at the same time I started a new full-time job (a private school teacher with a low salary & long hours but the pay was steady and I knew I was lucky to have any job at all). My fiance convinced me (I was being bratty and very unwilling) to have 50% of our income go in to a joint savings account. At 23 years old, having money for the first time in my life and watching my friends get apartments, go on vacations, shop for luxury items, etc. was torture for me. . Then this summer, my fiance changed jobs but could not start the new one for 3 months so I supported him in the mean time. It was rough, caused a lot of fights and we lived off of very little every week. However, we never touched the joint account and my pay continued to go in for over 2 years.
Now our wedding is drawing near and we sat down to calculate every expense and what we can pay for with the money in the account. We sat down with our budget and had the best moment ever - we are DONE!!!!! Everything can be payed for and we can even start to spulrge in some areas that we were cutting back on. Now, every cent we save until July can go towards a honeymoon. It feels like the weight of the world has lifted off our backs and I'm finally starting to see this as rewarding and not just a source of stress. Anyone who says it's "the happiest time of your lives" did not have to pay for their own wedding in New York City haha