5 Tips For a Debt-Free Honeymoon

Spring is an awesome time of the year. You can finally climb out of the 5 layers of clothes you wore during the winter and actually see more than the eyes of the people around you. This is also prime wedding planning time. One of our resident financial planners, Kelley Long, recently got married and shared her story of how to make sure a honeymoon does not follow you two years later in credit card bills:

“I recently returned from my honeymoon and while we brought home a few souvenirs and tons of great memories, one thing we didn’t bring home was a credit card bill to follow us into our first years of marriage. When most couples get engaged, they are quick to think about how they’ll foot the bill for a wedding, often receiving assistance from parents and other family members. However, the honeymoon often falls by the wayside and ends up being charged to a credit card. Here are a few tips for making the honeymoon happen without the lingering finance charges.

  1. Start saving right away. To celebrate your engagement, set up a joint savings account with automatic deposits from each of your paychecks ASAP. Even if it’s just $50 per check, it could add up to almost $1,500 if your wedding is the average engagement length of 14 months.
  2. Be realistic about the destination. My husband and I originally wanted to honeymoon in Hawaii but when we found the cost of flights to be close to $1,800, we had to find a more affordable option. Instead, we found an amazing tour of Panama that cost about $1,000 each and still provided us with an awesome adventure in a warm climate with gorgeous beaches.
  3. Set up a honeymoon registry. The average age of marriage these days is 29 for women and 31 for men, which means there’s a strong chance you don’t really need a lot of the typical wedding registry gifts like linens, dishes and kitchen appliances. Instead, set up a honeymoon registry that allows your guests to “sponsor” various aspects of your trip. There are a variety of services that provide this – do your research to make sure there aren’t hidden fees or restrictions to the gifts such as requiring you to only book certain hotel brands, airlines, etc.
  4. Don’t be afraid to delay. Weddings are expensive and stressful. These days it’s becoming increasingly common for couples to delay their honeymoon until the chaos of a wedding dies down and they can save the money to go where they want. Plus, if you live in a climate that has brutal winters like we do in Chicago, it may be preferable to take that tropical getaway during the nasty winter months while still having the wedding during the summer or fall.
  5. Check your credit card agreement if traveling internationally. If you honeymoon in a country that does not use the dollar as currency, you often receive the best exchange rate by using your credit card. (Just don’t spend more than you can pay off right away!) However, before you leave, make sure your card doesn’t charge a fee for this – I learned this the hard way on a trip to Mexico when I was very swipe-happy only to learn that each swipe had a 3% finance fee, which completely negated any benefits of a better exchange rate!

At the end of the day, the point of the honeymoon is to give you and your honey a chance to…well, moon over each other. While a visit to an exotic international destination is a romantic option, it’s not worth going into debt if you don’t have the money saved. As long as you find a spot that gives you a break from the daily grind and a chance to enjoy some quality time together, you can create memories that will last a lifetime without bringing home credit card bills for the next couple of years.”

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