How an Emergency Fund Saved This New York City Bride-to-Be
Elizabeth Harrison has been a client of the Financial Gym since October 2018. She lives in Brooklyn New York with her husband and 19 month old daughter. When Elizabeth isn't being an HR Partner to the Business, you can find her with her little family - traveling, trying new foods and working out (all about balance)!
After being with my then-boyfriend of 10 years, he finally got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Our engagement lasted longer than most (*cough, cough three years*) for many reasons such as moving, new careers, and the birth of our beautiful daughter.
However, the biggest reason we delayed solidifying our union was the huge ticket price that comes with a wedding. We had many conversations about the most cost-effective ways to get married but deep down we wanted a wedding. It was important for us to be able to celebrate our love in New York City, surrounded by our family and closest friends.
Given the national average cost of a wedding — about $39,000 — it felt like we were never going to get married and have our dream wedding. Until I joined The Financial Gym in October 2018.
Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harrison
Setting the groundwork
During my first meeting with my Financial Trainer, Crystal, we talked about my goals, one of which was getting married and having a wedding. Immediately, she helped me put together a plan to make this goal happen along with paying off debt, building an emergency savings fund and saving for an annual family vacation.
Six months of dedication to my Financial Plan, I had paid off debt, built a three-month emergency fund, and took a mini family vacation. My fiancé and I were also making progress on our $10,000 wedding budget so we decided to set a date and started planning.
A temporary financial setback but still with a plan
Two months into happy wedding planning, my fiancé was laid off. As you can imagine, this impacted our Financial Plan greatly. I immediately reached out to Crystal and we put together a plan that would help us transition to becoming a single-income household, temporarily.
This new plan included leaning on our emergency savings so we could continue paying our basic monthly bills such as rent, our daughter’s daycare, etc. Our other financial goals were put on hold - specifically we had to stop saving for our wedding.
We were at a crossroads, we had only saved up 40% of our wedding goal but had already set a date and made deposits. With Crystal we evaluated the options:
1. Move the date of our wedding date and lose deposits or
2. Take out an interest free credit card to help us cover the difference and have our wedding.
We decided on Option 2 — we really wanted to stick with the date we set and felt we could stay within our budget and pay off any debt within the interest free time frame. With Crystal’s support, we continued planning our wedding.
Three months later on September 1, 2019, we had our wedding ceremony at Central Park’s Cop Cot and then hosted a private dinner for 35 family and friends at a nearby restaurant. Our wedding was perfect but most importantly within the budget we set. Together with the money we saved and the 18 month interest free credit card, we finally got married and had the wedding we dreamed.
After coming down from the wedding clouds, I immediately regrouped with Crystal. After sharing pictures and celebrating the fact that I was finally a married woman, we took time to reset my Financial Plan. One month of being newlyweds and we now have a plan in place to be 100% debt free by mid next year while rebuilding an emergency fund. This wouldn’t have been possible without Crystal’s guidance. With her guidance we made a plan for my money that worked for my family while also being able to meet the goals I set despite some of life’s unexpected challenges.
If you’re facing a financial challenge that’s keeping you from your life goals or just don’t know where to start, our financial coaches would love to help.