4 Weddings in 4 States in Under $2,200

My husband and I received four wedding invitations for this summer, and we knew we wanted to do everything we could to attend each one. With some strategic saving, budget adjustments and frugal choices, we’ll be able to enjoy them for less than $2,200.

That may not sound like a deal, but we easily could be spending more. MUCH more. The weddings happen within eight weeks of each other (time is always a squeeze on money), and they’re in different states, only one of which we live in (though I suppose we can be happy that at least one is local).

We knew we needed to strategize, and here’s how we broke it down:

4 roundtrip plane tickets: $1,150
5 nights in a hotel: $465
10 days/nights of pet care: $341
6 gifts: $80
900 miles of driving: about $125 for fuel
TOTAL: $2,161

How We Did It

First of all, we started putting money aside for this summer as soon as we knew about the weddings. That was well before we received save-the-dates, but we could have saved plenty in a shorter period of time. If we hadn’t saved, we would have had to send some “No” RSVPs.

The biggest savings came in hotels, because even though my husband and I would love our own room, it wasn’t practical. Three of the five nights, we’re splitting with friends, and we opted to couch-surf other nights. This requires a lot of flexibility: Is it desirable to sleep on a futon with another person, as opposed to in a spacious hotel bed? No. Is it worth being able to go to my friend’s wedding? Absolutely.

Plane tickets account for half our expenses, and we’re only flying to two weddings. I spent a lot of time comparing fares (setting online price alerts helped), but the biggest savings came from credit card rewards. We always pay our credit card balances in full, allowing us to take advantage of rewards, and in this case, we used a travel card that allowed us to essentially get one plane ticket for free. We chose price over convenience, too.

Credit card rewards played another huge part in our savings, because we have a card that gives us cash back. We do a large part of our daily spending on this card, so we rack up cash back fairly quickly. That allowed us to spend very little on gifts without feeling like we were being cheap (and if you’re wondering why I listed six gifts, I included showers, because that impacted how much we spent on the “big” gift). Free shipping and deal hunting helped us secure presents for even better prices, as well.

There are little costs you should consider that I didn’t mention in my price breakdown (but here’s a list of what to think about when deciding to go to a wedding).

We didn’t buy any new attire for the weddings (with the exception of the one in which I’m a bridesmaid, but I bought that dress months ago and budgeted for it then). We also are working food expenses into our monthly food budget, meaning we’re cutting down on going out and frivolous treats at home to compensate. We’re not renting cars because we worked out carpooling, and our fuel costs include giving gas money to the people who drive us. We’re also having friends and family take us to and from airports (thanks, guys!).

Where I Could Have Saved More

Fuel costs were the toughest to cut, because the longest drive we have to make is for a family wedding, and we don’t live near family. We could have certainly saved money on pet care by having someone dog-sit or using an alternative service to our daycare, but our dog is a little … intense. Without going into details of his exceptionally high energy, trust me when I say it was worth the peace of mind to pay more and leave our dog somewhere he’s stayed before and gets the attention he needs.

We could have saved money by splitting the two hotel rooms we have to ourselves. We actually were going to split one, but our room buddies had a change of plans, and we honestly didn’t think about it with the other. It can be easy to reserve a room and forget about how much it’s going to cost later, because you’re often not charged when you book.

It was a lot of work, but it wasn’t that difficult, especially considering how much we wanted to attend all the events. As enjoyable as weddings are, they’re never worth going into debt or sacrificing important financial goals. If you don’t plan ahead, you might find yourself going into debt to join the party — and debt can negatively impact your credit standing, especially if you carry a balance of more than 30% of your limit on your credit cards, or if you’re late making a payment. You can see how your debt affects your credit by checking your credit scores for free on Credit.com, where you can also get an overview of your credit reports.

4 Weddings in 4 States in Under $2,200

How We Did It

Where I Could Have Saved More

More Money-Saving Reads:

You Might Also Like