June 2010 - Financial Uproar » Financial Uproar

Frugal Wedding Planning – Tips and Tricks To Save On Your Big Day

Jun 302010

Coughing up the necessary funds for the biggest day of our life is tough for many people in view of the economy. Among battles for job security, paying our taxes and bills and having a little surplus money for living there isn’t much room for other expenses. Therefore it makes sense to employ some common sense frugal budget tactics to pay for your wedding.

If you are currently struggling with the idea of wedding finance you will love the tips outlined in this article as many of them can be adapted to your own needs. Having a frugal wedding doesn’t mean you have to feed your wedding guests on sandwiches and cups of tea, instead, there are a lot of cost-effective ways to plan a wedding so that you can enjoy your honeymoon guilt-free.

Frugal Wedding Finance Tips to Stretch the Budget:

Your dress need not be new

Contrary to popular belief it is OK to wear a secondhand dress on your wedding day. Why would you want to fork out an absolute fortune for something you only ever plan on wearing once? Unless you are planning to become a copy cat of Julia Robert’s Runaway Bride you can relax with a trendy vintage dress that will not chew up all of your savings.

These days a lot of retailers cater to the secondhand wedding dress market. You can pick up great bargains for under $500.

Inviting the clan

Traditional wedding invitations cost and arm and a leg, especially if you are using pre-made stationary for this purpose. If you are a whiz with paper and scissor if can be great fun for the soul and your frugal budget to make your own.

If you consider yourself an ultra-modern bride and groom you could even do this all with the help of technology. Admittedly email invites and RSVPs aren’t as prestige as the classic paper version, but then who said you have to do what everyone else does?

Flower power

Unless you get married in church and plan on spending a lot of your wedding budget on flowers you can get your friends to donate them to you. Another option is to buy flowers from a wholesaler to save money, or, for the very frugal among you, pick your own (hippie version).

Your wedding reception

Where will you tie the knot? If it’s a church wedding you’re planning you could save money for a more frugal reception by hosting your guests nearby.

Even better would be if you could do both in the same place. You’d save on travel costs, fees, and headaches by worrying if everyone got there alright. Once all your guests are in the same spot all that’s left to do is party on.

The wedding venue

You can expect to pay a fee for your wedding venue regardless where it is held. However, if you pick alternate spots like the beach, the park, a mountain top or similar you can dispose of that fee entirely, giving you a more frugal option to wed. You need to think outside the box when you are in the planning stages of your big day.

A lot of married couples swear by the alternative route; they were actually able to enjoy the day instead of worrying about catering, people, in-laws and what not. Plus they managed to save a ton of money to buy them a honeymoon of their dream.

Sweet indulgence

The wedding cake is one of the costliest parts of the event. To save money, why not get your family or some friends to make a cake for you and your guests? Alternatively you can bake your own selection of sweets, kind of like a mini desert buffet with cup cakes, slices, etc. This will present your guests with option without the costs of an expensive wedding cake.

Gifts of love

If money is tight, then your wedding wish list should include cash gifts to pay for your honeymoon, or a list of essential household appliances you need, but can’t afford to buy right now. You can circulate this list (or mini catalog) with family and friends and let them pick their own present. That way you get what you need and they are happy to be able to contribute.

Live happily ever after

Once the event has come to a close, all you want to do is relax. Trust me. You don’t have to spend all of your money for an all-inclusive honeymoon either. You can enjoy precious quality time together somewhere closer to home if your budget is tight.

A honeymoon is really about getting to know each other, cuddles, lots of romance and love. You can do this anywhere.

Frugal finance can rock

With a bit of creativity and planning you can have a fantastic frugal wedding of which your wedding guests will speak highly of for many years to come. Often the best weddings are those with the least expenses because there are no expectations. If you don’t expect things, you won’t be able to be disappointed.

I say this from personal experience. We got married on the beach in Australia. It was a beautiful winter’s day, and our guest list consisted of a few close friends and some family. It was the best wedding all of us have ever attended. Even years later we get told our wedding was a dream event by those who attended. No fuss, no problems. In August this year – 8 years after our event – our best friends will be married in similar fashion. They were inspired by our frugal wedding, and like us they much rather spend their money for travels around the globe than feeding a bunch of people we hardly know or have contact with on the wedding day. After all, it’s YOUR day, not the day of your in-laws!

Have fun!

This article was written by Timothy Ng who is a regular writer and part of the team at Credit Card Finder, a 100% free Australian credit card comparison and application service. Visit the Credit Card Finder website for more information on wedding finance tips, or subscribe to their RSS feed for more practical articles.

Menu Foods: No Longer Killing Pets

Stocks 1 Response »

Jun 282010

Menu Foods is a maker and distributor of private label wet pet food products in Canada and the United States. Their products are sold in grocery stores, big box retailers, drugstores, as well as to veterinarians and farm and feed operations. Menu Foods is most famous for a March 2007 recall of over 60 million containers of pet food due to animals getting sick and dying. Has the hangover of the recall worn off enough to make the stock a buy?

Why Is It Cheap

There was a bit of a recall back in 2007 I think. I can’t really remember what exactly happened, but I seem to remember it was kind of a big deal.

Seriously now, the company had a huge charge on the books back in 2007 to deal with the recall. This levered up the balance sheet, leading to the company being in a worst financial state.

Industry Outlook

People love their pets and aren’t about to stop spending money on them. Wet food is more expensive than dry, leading to better margins for Menu. Pet owners are, as a group, likely to spoil their pets and buy them things like wet food and treats. The company will have to join every other income trust as a corporation in 2011, a conversion made much easier considering the company no longer pays a distribution.

On a negative side, there is still a great deal of negativity surrounding the company. The same passionate pet owners who spoil their pets have long memories and have moved onto other forms of food.

Dividend

The company paid a distribution of 10.5 cents per quarter upon their IPO in 2002, eventually cutting the distribution to zero in late 2005. Note that the company didn’t pay a distribution upon the recall of 2007.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is only is fair shape. The company has a book value in the $1.45 range per share. At a current price of $3.61, the company is trading at more than twice book value. This is typically a larger premium than what we usually look at. The company is sitting on approximately 90 million in debt, a large number considering market cap is 78 million.

Earnings

2009- $0.47

2008- ($0.33)

2007- ($3.24)

2006- $0.22

2009 earnings were downright decent. The company continued their solid results in the first quarter of 2010, earning 19 cents per share fully diluted. It appears the company is past the recall. It trades at just 8 times last years’ earnings.

Insider Activity

I still cannot find a good site to find this info on Canadian companies. I should really spend some time on it one of these days.

Price Appreciation

As you can see by the chart, the company spent considerable time at much higher levels. I think there’s potential for a price increase over time, however I don’t see it happening unless a considerable part of the debt is paid off. The company has actually done quite well since the lows hit after the recall.

Summary

I think the company will trade at a discount for the next while. Investors haven’t forgotten about the recall, since they’re not giving the stock the love it deserves after posting such good earnings lately. Revenue has recovered from the 2007 lows, but not back to the highs of 2006. The high debt level also scares me, and I’m not sure if there are any lingering lawsuits from the recall. The company has earned a spot on the watch list, but I’m not too excited about the prospects.

Disclosure: I do not own shares in Menu Foods.

Short Sunday Post: G20

Sunday Posts No Responses »

Jun 272010

Tweet When are we going to learn to have these things on military bases in the middle of nowhere?

At What Point Does A Return Policy Become Too Generous?

Big Picture Stuff 1 Response »

Jun 252010

Tweet Canadian Capitalist loves Costco. In a recent post, he tells a story about how Costco gave him a cash refund on a pressure washer he purchased 15 months ago. This is definitely a generous return policy. Costco has an advantage over other retailers, a point CC made in the comments. Because you have to present your membership card with Read More [...]

Book Giveaway!!!!!!!! Garth Turner’s Money Road!!!!!!

Giveaways 4 Responses »

Jun 242010

Tweet That’s a lot of exclamation points kids. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m pretty excited. Here’s the deal: While in the flat wasteland of Saskatchewan a few weeks ago, I picked up a copy of Money Road by Garth Turner. I read it on the way back to Alberta, and I kinda liked it. Garth has some Read More [...]