Your wedding day will be one of the most expensive days of your life. The average cost of a wedding in the UK is £20,000 but for what could well be the happiest and most memorable day of your life, who’s counting?

Of course, you don’t want to be preoccupied with cost cutting measures on such a wonderful occasion but on the other hand, neither do you want your honeymoon to be tainted with debt stress. Also, do you want to start your life together with the weight of a mounting debt? Instead of dashing the blushing bride’s dreams of a fairytale wedding with crippling frugality, simply making a few savvy selections at the planning stage can bring down your wedding budget without blowing the big day.

Debtsolver understand the effect that debt related stress can have on your relationships. Like all debt problems, you can minimise the stress by tackling any potential problems early. So, if you foresee difficulties in being able to afford the wedding you’ve always wanted, remain focussed on what’s important, plan the day carefully and draw up a reasonable budget. The more detailed your budget, the easier you’ll find it to manage your spending. To help with that, here are 5 areas that could potentially save you money on your big day.

The Invitations

When it comes to wedding invitations, drawing on the talents of your friends or relatives can be a charmingly personal way to save some money. If you know someone artistic, they will no doubt be touched by the thought and relish the opportunity to design your invitations.

The Venue

Of course, the venue will mean different things to different people. For many, a specific venue will have been an integral part of their dream wedding for a long time. If this is the case, it can be difficult to make a substantial saving in this area. If it hasn’t though, a village hall or even borrowing a big garden can be beautiful when they’re properly decorated. If you’ve got your eye on the ideal venue, consider a date out of season or even have the ceremony during the week, rather than at the weekend. Be prepared to haggle too; the best deals are worth working for.

The Flowers

If you discuss your needs with your florist, draw on their expertise and take their advice on seasonal options, you could make substantial savings. Like any other service, it’s important that you shop around and see who might be willing to do you a good deal. It could even be one of the areas that you can entrust to a talented amateur, like a friend or relative. When it comes to choosing the flowers, think seasonal but also think domestic.

The Dress

As you’re only going to be wearing it once, the dress can seem a hugely expensive outgoing. If you’re prepared to wear a second hand gown, there are some fabulous examples to be picked up quite cheap. Of course, this won’t be for everyone so you should also look down the high street as a great many of our old favourites have a bridal range that looks great without breaking the bank.

The Cake

The only real concerns with your wedding cake are that it photographs well and stretch far enough to give everyone a small piece. So, once again it might be time to draw on the talents of one of your guests. If you know someone who’s a keen baker, you should ask them to make you a cake rather than get you a gift. Otherwise, by plain iced cakes, tier them up and decorate them with fresh flowers.

Cutting your carbon emissions and your fuel bills at the same time? Where’s the catch?! Well, actually, there isn’t one. This is one of those things where a few small sacrifices can save you money and save the planet, all at once. If you’re trying to tackle a mounting debt problem, you might feel that you have to give up on the organics and fair-trade produce that comes at a premium. However, you can still do your bit for the environment while making a substantial saving in terms of your outgoings.

Accustomed to averting individual’s debt disasters, Debtsolver are keen to offer pointers on how you can save money on your fuel bills. Cutting down on your fuel usage is also great for the environment, so if you needed any additional incentive to go green, how about extra cash to put towards your debt repayments?

1. Growing your own can be a gateway to the good life. Even if it’s just a window box or a few potatoes, you could be save some money and cut down on the packaging and other little extras that come when you buy food at the supermarket.
2. Some surveys have suggested that half of your carbon footprint can be the result of a single long-haul flight. So, holidaying at home could cut your carbon emissions almost in half and no-doubt, save you a few quid at the same time.
3. Cut down on the amount of household waste that you’re producing by recycling as much as you can. Composting any food waste will help this too, as well as helping the garden. You never know, thinking economically could actually give you green fingers.
4. The first fuel bill that springs to mind will no doubt be the one you’re handed after filling up at the pumps. Cut down on the cost of petrol and your carbon footprint by walking, cycling or using public transport.
5. When it comes to fuel for heating your home, proper insulation will save you a substantial amount on your fuel bill.
6. Taking this to the next level, you might want to consider getting a quote from a green electricity provider. You’ll be surprised at how cheap you can make the switch and if you’re looking to save some money, it always pays to shop around.
7. There’s water to consider too. Taking showers rather than baths and putting a brick in your cistern are great, easy ways to use less water.
8. Reuse and recycle whenever you can. If you need to get rid of something, there are lots of websites that allow you to give things, get things and swap things. You never know what you might find for free.
9. Like we said, shopping for organic groceries in the supermarket can be expensive but farm shops and food boxes from local growers can give you the freshest of local produce for cheaper than you might think.
10. When it comes to reducing your carbon footprint, it’s quite often necessary to make an initial outlay in order to reap long-term benefits. Your financial situation, overall level of debt and monthly income will all be factors in deciding whether this kind of expense is a good idea. Get advice to help you work out whether an eco-investment will suit you.

Managing you debt requires you to take control of your finances and the first step to taking control of your finances is drawing up a realistic budget. This budget will take into account all of your income and your total outgoings. Once your budget has been worked out, you can use it to plan your way out of debt. Together with a specialist debt advisor, your budget will help you to find the best debt solution to suit your personal financial circumstances. When it comes to tackling debts, a thorough, reasonable budget will allow you to take them on with confidence.

There are other pointers that will help you to tackle outstanding debt in the early stages. Of course, it’s never too early to talk to a debt advisor, like Debtsolver. If the situation isn’t as bad as you think it is, they can simply provide you with a much needed confidence boost, letting you know that you’re moving in the right direction. On the other hand, it could well save you from an unforeseen debt disaster.

To start with, any savings that you’ve managed to accumulate probably won’t be earning you the same in interest as the outstanding debts are costing you; so pay off what you can afford. Same goes for any windfalls. If you’re facing debt problems, don’t just think about it as easy come, easy go; it’s a valuable resource in the fight against debt.

Of course, if you don’t have any savings, you haven’t been lucky enough for a windfall and you can’t find a second job, you need to cut down on your expenditure. Start with all of those little luxuries, like cappuccinos and dining out. If you’re looking to deal with your debt, try cutting out the credit and going cash only. Try putting yourself back on pocket-money.

If you feel that managing your debt is becoming more of a problem, you should take steps to bring your finances under control before you find yourself in severe debt strife. Sticking to a budget and using cash rather than credit will help you manage your budget more easily. Ultimately, your credit cards will be the most tempting credit stream in these circumstances. After all, it’s very tempting to give in to the buy now, pay later philosophy. Here are some tips to help you avoid the potential pitfalls associated with credit card debt.

• Obviously, your first step should be a straightforward one; stop using your credit card.

• We know it’s not that straightforward though, so destroy all but the one with the lowest interest rate and save for emergencies.
• Pay off anything that you do spend each month and avoid paying any interest.

• Stick to the budget you’ve drawn up. That means cutting out the impulse buys.

• Store cards are one of the most expensive ways to borrow. Any in-store discounts could be quickly off-set by high interest rates.

The first step to solving your debt problem is to face up to it. There are a staggering number of people who refuse to admit the extent of their debt problem to themselves, let alone to their friends and family. The act of burying your head in the sand is one thing though; what about those that just don’t know how close they are to the brink of a bad debt breakdown? That’s why the team at Debtsolver have drawn up this list of the top ten early warning signs that you are headed for financial trouble.

1. For starters, are you able to write down how much you owe and who you owe it to? Well, if you can’t, you’d be better to find out and make sure you keep that figure in mind. Basically, if you know that you’re in debt but can’t really keep track of how much, you’re either heading for debt trouble or you’re already there. Maintaining control of your finances is key to avoiding debt.
2. Is your monthly budget working? Wait, you don’t have one? Again, this about control over your finances. You need a budget to make sure that you’re not spending more than you earn. If you don’t know whether or not you are spending more than you earn, you could be heading for debt problems.
3. Only making the minimum repayment on your credit card? You may be keeping your head above water right now but only paying the minimum is a risky business. It does little to tackle the actual debt and really just knocks off the interest. That means you’ll be working on the debt for a long time.
4. For anyone who regularly uses their credit card to pay for those everyday items, including things like filling up the car or the weekly food shop, the habit could point to overspending and financial mismanagement of the sort that leads to serious debt problems.
5. Likewise, if you’re using your credit card to make repayments on other debts you could be caught up in an ever-worsening spiral of bad debt that it’s hard to escape.
6. Has making the odd late payment become a bit of a habit? How about charges for going over your credit card or overdraft limit? These charges can mount up quickly and will make a difficult debt situation even worse.
7. Any rainy day savings left? Your financial situation can change without warning and it helps to have a cash cushion to fall back on. If your employment circumstances change, you can quickly find yourself facing severe debt problems if you don’t give yourself a debt safety net.
8. You’ll find it very difficult to pay off your outstanding debt if your total debt, excluding your mortgage, exceeds your yearly income. You should be considering debt solutions now.
9. If thinking about your finances is difficult and talking to anyone about them even harder, the odds are that things aren’t going well for you financially. Debt denial is extremely dangerous though, so talk to a specialist debt advisor and solve the problem.
10. If the stress of mounting debt is affecting your health or your relationships with those close to you, you must do something now. The sooner you tackle the problem of mounting debt, the easier it is to solve. That doesn’t mean that it’s gone too far though. There is a debt solution to suit everyone.

For those of us who strive to keep up with the Jones’, recent figures suggest that we could be about to enter an era of heightened repossession risk. The warning comes as in the better-off parts of the UK, Credit Expert, the online credit monitoring service, has shown that individuals are under significant pressure to keep up with the extravagant purchases of their peers. Sadly, this is a damaging cycle that stretches our finances to breaking point. Debtsolver know the effects of this irresponsible spending can be severe and long-lasting.

The statistics, released in the Scotland on Sunday, have shown that about £45billion is being spent on expensive cars, designer fashions and big ticket appliances each year, with the Scots the most image conscious in the UK. This trend translates to a marked increase in financial pressure among Britain’s middle classes though, brought about by increased borrowing. So, even in times of austerity, we seem to find it difficult to maintain a responsible attitude to spending. The desire to better our peers and maintain the irresponsible spending habits that became ingrained pre-credit crunch is putting homes at risk in some of the most affluent areas in the UK.

The number of repossessions looks likely to increase before the end of the year and the trend will continue if we don’t do more to tackle reckless spending habits. We all know the theoretical perils associated with ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ but it’s important to understand that the threat of severe debt problems, bankruptcy and repossession is real and in some cases, imminent. Put simply, there are a lot of Brits living beyond their means and if their behaviour doesn’t change, they’re in serious financial trouble.

Peer pressure is something that we commonly associate with teenagers trying to fit in but it seems that roughly a fifth of us admit to irresponsible spending in an effort to compete with our friends and neighbours. A quarter of us will dip into our savings to boost our image in front of our friends and half of us often feel compelled to make gestures like buying expensive rounds if drinks.

Of course, the epitome of overspending to impress will always be when we’re out on a date but there are other situations when common sense takes a back seat to our ego. Parting gifts for colleagues, friends’ birthday presents and the latest designer fashions are just some of the areas where we are likely to spend far more than we are actually comfortable spending – but we do it anyway.

There has been much written about a sea-change in the stigma surrounding our spending habits. On one hand, we have this bleak picture being painted of a nation of image conscious, reckless over-spenders; on the other, being thrifty is cool, with clever insights into the best ways to reuse and recycle being regarded as the most valuable social currency. This is certainly better for your financial well-being and could have a significant impact on your health too; the stress of debt and compulsion to conceal our financial troubles can put us under a lot of strain.