Last day I covered our wedding costs for the flowers, invitations, venue, guests and of course my second-hand wedding dress. Find out our total costs and final wedding tab right here.

6. Cut the cake.

Flour, sugar, eggs, and icing are cheap to buy. But as soon as you mix the lot together and call it a ‘Wedding Cake’ you’re on the hook for hundreds of bucks. I priced a few wedding cakes only to be shocked that bakeries charge a staggering $5, $15, and more per slice! Depending on your caterer or venue, you may have to pay a cutting fee to serve the dessert too.

Personally, I’m not a wedding cake person. I’ve never dreamed of sugary tiers of frosting with marzipan topping my wedding day. No, never, nope.

I wanted cupcakes.

Big tasty chocolate cupcakes topped with teal icing. Now that’s fun. I ordered the gluten-free variety since I can’t eat wheat, so even these mini cakes were a tad bit on the expensive side.

Total cost for cupcakes: $30.00

Bottom Line: Cut the costly wedding cake and choose another dessert option to save huge marital money. Mini cakes, dessert bars, fruit, and other treats can be purchased (or made) for hundreds less.

7. Food and booze.

Our marriage meal was a potluck lunch. We contributed salads, a fruit platter, and a cheese platter all bought at Costco. We dined on organic salmon caught fresh by the family men. ‘The Boss’ (that’s my father-in-law) insisted on supplying the wine, and he wouldn’t tell me the cost. He only would say that “We didn’t drink enough.”

The amazing Kate (that’s my sister-in-law) put together the delicious menu and brought a few homemade salads and side dishes.

Our total cost for lunch: $45.83

We had a lot of leftovers, for days.

Bottom Line: Opt for a tasty lunch over a hearty dinner to save big wedding dollars. Getting the whole family to pitch in for a potluck meal could save you hundreds (perhaps thousands) on food and liquor alone.

8. Your friends, the photographers.

I asked Kate about her wedding pictures. She doesn’t have any. Her mind blowing comment on the whole wedding photography issue is: “You only need one photo.”

She’s right.

So I asked my friends to earn their dinners. Reread this cost-cutting request from my Facebook wedding invitation.

Everyone MUST bring a camera though. We don’t have a photographer. I’d take photos but I’ll probably be busy, getting married or something.

My friends took amazing photos. I’m beyond thrilled.

Bottom Line: Lend out your camera gear and ask everyone to snap a few photos. They won’t be professional quality, but you’ll see yourself through the eyes of your family and friends.

9. Don’t get odd over the loose ends.

The odds and ends happen to everyone. Hair, makeup, vases, ribbon, gratuities, and tax all cost money, but don’t always fit into a tidy budget category since these purchases can appear sporadically. Do yourself a favour and keep all your receipts.

• Flower Vases: 3 X $5.99 (dollar store)
• Teal Ribbon: $7.69 (Costco)
• Shoe Polish: $6.95
• Music: $0 — Guests brought personal playlists on their iPods.
• Hair and Makeup: $0 — I did this myself.

Total Cost: $32.61

Bottom Line: Arrange your own flowers in dollar store vases, apply your own makeup, do your own hair, and ask your friends to create special music playlists to really keep your wedding day on budget.

10. Setup and Take Down.

Setting tables, arranging flowers, and packing the party up yourself could save you big moolah too. My friend Derek thought it was funny when the bride (that’s me) and groom (that’s Carl) hauled tables around the ranch. Our guests carried their chairs back into the kitchen too.

This is how it’s done on the farm, people.

Bottom Line: Do the work yourself and bank those precious bucks.

Wedding Budget Total

Carl and I got hitched for less. Here’s where the money went:

• Marriage Licence: $100.00
• Commissioner: $139.00
• Wedding Invitations: $0
• Venue — Farm: $0
• Flowers: $51.96
• Wedding Photographer: $0
• Wedding Attire: $191.72
• Hair and Makeup: $0
• Lunch: $45.83
• Liquor: $0 (Thanks to ‘The Boss’)
• Dessert: $30.00
• Odds and Ends: $32.61

Wedding Total: $591.12

Tip: Download my Free Wedding Budget Planner Spreadsheet to keep a close eye on your wedding costs.

Considering it only costs $239.00 to get married (in British Columbia), I guess we went $352.12 over our wedding budget.

Love,
Kerry

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I squawk you not.

To get hitched (legally) you generally only need to pay for a marriage license and the services of a marriage commissioner. In British Columbia, Canada, a marriage license plus commissioner cost just $239.00.

That’s it.

Everything else is just pomp and circumstance.

Did you hear me?

The flowers, the dress, the guests, the food, the bubble machine, and the horse drawn carriage won’t do a thing to get you hitched. Sorry to burst your wedded blissdom bubble, but it’s true. Getting married is pretty cheap. It’s all the other $hit the wedding industry sells that’ll cost ya.

Did you hear me?

The wedding industry — a massive money machine looking to part you from your cash by tying emotional strings around every purchase — will pitch wedding products you don’t actually need to tie the knot. Family and friends may also stick their noses into your wedding plans, and do their bit to inflate the cost, intentionally or not.

I should know. I just got married (to Carl). And I (well, we) managed to get hitched without a whole lotta hoopla, cost, and emotional downtime.

How did we do it?

We started with the premise that it only costs $239.00 to get married — everything else is extra. Yes, we threw in a bit of pomp and circumstance for fun. Here’s where we spent the biggest bucks, cut the biggest costs, and got hitched for hundreds, not thousands, of dollars.

1. The Wedding Attire.

Some women go wonky over the wedding dress. I don’t get it. But the number of reality TV programs documenting brides who scour the Earth in search of the ‘perfect wedding dress’ shows there is a market for white dress insanity. It’s JUST a white dress, people. Get over it.

My take? Skip the insanity, bridal stores, and fancy shops — there’s no such thing as perfect. Get real with your budget and check out the HUGE underground market of used wedding gowns online — perfect for those with the sense to save some big bucks.

Since many brides are desperate to sell their ‘worn only once’ wedding gowns to recoup some of the cost, it’s possible to score a designer gown for cheap. Sites like PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com, RecycledBride.com, and eBay.com boast bargain dresses in all sizes for all bust lines.

I bought my used Nicole Miller wedding dress for $100 on eBay (price included shipping and dry cleaning). Retail price for this 100% silk, fully lined, ivory dress is around $750 new. Silly.

What about tuxes, cummerbunds, and bow ties? Nope. Carl wore the one suit that’s been hanging in his closet for the last ten years. I’m not adding his suit cost to our wedding tab since it’s reused, and I’ve long lost the receipt.

Carl did buy a teal silk tie though for $50.40. He needed the tie, badly.

And that funky handmade silk flower on my head? That’s a fascinator. For $31.32 I stuck a fun hat on my noggin, covered a thinning hair spot (hair loss happens), and saved a bundle of bucks by opting out of the expensive veil action. Later in the day I wore a little teal bolero jacket that cost $10 on sale.

We wore the shoes sitting in our closets. Both the bride and groom wore Fluevogs, of course.

Bottom Line: By reusing our clothing and buying a second hand dress, we managed to spend just $191.72 on our wedding attire.

2. Cut the guest list. Be ruthless.

Nothing inflates your wedding costs more than guests. The venue, food, and decorations all need to grow bigger to accommodate a larger audience. Inviting more people also spawns the strange phenomenon of growing the size (and cost) of ‘The Wedding Dress’ — apparently, a big audience and venue require a bigger, showier gown.

Few couples can downsize a wedding guest list without worry and heartache. I hear ya. But we (Carl and I) did it without batting an eyelash. We had two simple rules for building our wedding guest list. You probably won’t like them.

Wedding Guest List Rules:

1. Guests must be local.
2. Guests must have invited us for dinner over the last year.

Do you hate me? Are we arguing?

The rationale for these rules is simple. Carl and I wanted a simple, afternoon wedding on the family farm. Inviting out-of-town guests meant we couldn’t fit everyone together at the kitchen table.

Also, inviting out-of-town guests requires accommodations, travel, and time. Your out-of-towners will likely have to take time off work and spend some cash to get to your nuptials. An inflated out-of-town guest list also spawns the strange phenomenon of growing the size (and cost) of your wedding — apparently, you may feel obligated to give your distant guests a bigger, showier wedding.

The second rule is fun, ’cause really, why would you invite someone to your wedding dinner if you haven’t dined with them over the course of a year?

Download my Free Wedding Budget Planner Spreadsheet — it’s an all-in-one guest list worksheet and budgeting tool.

Bottom Line: We invited four friends and four family members to our wedding. Everyone was local and had invited us over for a nosh in the previous 12 months.

3. Say ‘I Do’ with Digital Invitations.

We didn’t hire a printer, pay for acid-free paper, or write an elaborate scripty message using romantic tear-based ink. Formal invitations and postage can be pretty darn expensive, and it’s not really my style. I mean, who wants to spend the time, effort, and cost to write, proof, and edit freaking wedding invitations? I don’t.

So I invited the guests to our wedding on Facebook.

Bottom Line: A digital invitation is free on Facebook. Responses can be immediate. Just be sure invitees don’t forward the invite to everyone on the planet.

4. Get hitched at home.

Venues can cost big cash. Time of year, location, and room size absolutely play a role in price too. Plus, you may need to rent tables, chairs, linens, china, and other stuff.

I wanted to get married in front of the family barn.

Our barn is a great back-drop for photos, a warm place for a gathering, and a happy spot where I normally hang out with family and friends. Besides, getting hitched at home is free.

Bottom Line: By hosting the nuptials in our backyard we spent zero bucks on the venue. We also used our everyday tables, chairs, table cloths, and china to save money.

5. Skip the florist.

I bought all my flowers at Costco. A mixed bouquet of seasonal flowers costs between $9.99 and $15.99 at my favorite club store, so I picked up four bunches to arrange my own fall wedding centerpieces.

But that’s not all. I snipped a sunflower from one arrangement and fashioned myself a homemade bridal bouquet.

Finish the stem with a little ribbon and a clear hair elastic and you’ve got a flower bouquet that costs pennies.

Just be sure to make the bouquet the night before your wedding. Refrigerate the bouquet in water over night. The milk is optional.

Bottom Line: We shopped and Costco and spent just $51.96 on four mixed bouquets of fresh seasonal flowers. This cost includes my bridal bouquet.

But wait, there’s more! Check out Part Two: How to get married for $239.00 for the final wedding tab.

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There are two parts to the Wedding Budget Planner. The first is a guest list, the second tallies your planned and actual wedding costs.

Don’t become a BROKE bride and groom. Use this essential planning tool to track your spending and keep an eye on your total wedding costs. Don’t say I DO to debt on your big day.

Instructions:

Step 1: Make a list and cut it twice. Nothing increases the cost of a wedding more than a large audience. Use the Guest List Worksheet to create an affordable guest list. You can’t invite everyone.

Step 2: List your planned expenses under the Budget column in the Detailed Wedding Budget Worksheet. Tally your expected costs. Yes, you may have to cut both the horse-drawn carriage and bubble machine. Sorry.

Step 3: As you pay your vendors, enter all final expenses under the Actual column. This spreadsheet updates automatically and warns you if you’re over budget.

For a few frugal wedding ideas, read:

• Part One: How to get married for $239.00
• Part Two: How to get married for $239.00

Your Turn: What was your biggest wedding expense?

Love the blog? Get the book: 397 Ways to Save Money

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• How to make a budget (series with downloads)
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• Credit Card Calculator
• Download your free 92-page eBook: The Insider’s Guide To Frugal Food & Fitness

Since I like Stu, I went ahead and built him not one, BUT TWO expense tracking downloads. The first is a simple printable worksheet for carrying around in your purse or wallet. The second is a full-on spreadsheet that does the math for you.

The only problem with Stu is every time I reply to his super nice email, my response bounces. It’s a bummer for this blogger ’cause I’d like to thank him for his idea.

How to Track Your Spending

Step One: Download!

Download your preferred tracking method — the worksheet (PDF), spreadsheet (XLS), or both.

Fill in your spending categories across the top.

Download: Expense Tracker Worksheet (PDF)

Download: Expense Tracker Spreadsheet (XLS)

Step Two: Track your daily spends

Save your receipts and tally your spends every day. It may seem like a lot of work at first, but over time you’ll find that a daily money tracking system is an easy habit to keep. Just be sure to track all your cash, credit card, and debit card purchases to see where you’re blowing your dough.

Step Three: Add spending totals to your budget

Tally your expenses during the month and add them to the Free Budget Spreadsheet under the right category. I’ve written a whole series on budgeting called: How to Build a Budget. There are a dozen free downloads, worksheets, and spreadsheets throughout this series to help you get your money on track, so go check it out.

Final Steps: Improve your personal savings rate

I want you to Fall in love with your Personal Savings Rate and increase the percentage of your saved income by not consuming it. GULP!

Yes, you can do this. I have a hunch that after tracking your expenses, you’ll see the shopping patterns and spending places where you can cut back. So cut back, and use that found money — which is YOUR MONEY — and save it in an emergency fund, reduce debt, and increase your net worth.

Happy tracking, and thank you Stu!

Love the blog? Get the book: 397 Ways to Save Money

Top Squawks

• How to make a budget (series with downloads)
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• Frugalicious Recipes
• 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year
• Credit Card Calculator
• Download your free 92-page eBook: The Insider’s Guide To Frugal Food & Fitness

If you (or a savvy student in your life) is bound by a student budget and needs to hit the books for less, then send them to the head of the class ’cause I have ten ways to keep textbook costs under control. I’ll leave cramming for that final exam up to you though.

1. Search Online Marketplaces and Booksellers.

Skip the college and university bookstores, kiddies. Seriously. To save real money — up to 90% — on required reading materials always grab an advance copy of your course booklist (email your profs repeatedly until they cry) and search online book retailers and marketplaces for used copies. Sites like Amazon.com Textbooks, Half.com, Alibris.com, AbeBooks.com, BetterWorldBooks.com, and ThriftBooks.com all have virtual bookshelves loaded with used textbooks ready for your cost-conscious studies.

The trick is to have your required textbook’s ISBN number handy so you get the right book for your class. Just because a particular book has the same title or author doesn’t mean it’s the right edition for your course.

2. Use a Textbook Comparison Engine.

When bagging a bargain book price is more important than the name of the retailer, use a textbook comparison engine to search for the lowest priced texts from around the world. Sites like BigWords.com, Bookfinder.com, and
LocAZu.com (Canadian Only) let you search hundreds of stores, retailers, and private sellers to score that new or used textbook for a super low price. Just be sure to calculate shipping costs before checking out — some sellers may offer a book for a few bucks but charge students excessive shipping rates that quickly kill the savings.

3. Find an Online Student Exchange Network.

School is a social place, so why not tap into a social network where students swap, sell, and exchange used books at budget prices? Finding a student exchange can be as simple as logging on to Facebook, locating an online school forum, or seeking a class chat room where students are eager to swap texts for far less than bookstore prices.

For example, by searching Facebook for a few minutes, I quickly found the University of British Columbia Textbook Trade Center with over 700 members looking to buy and sell used books. Need Chemistry, English, Economics, Anatomy, or Computer Science books this fall? It’s all there!

4. Borrow from the library.

Does a free textbook help balance your strained student budget? If you answered Yes then you get an ‘A’ in frugality and an ‘F’ in consumerism. Kudos. Now go check out your school or local library to see if they shelve anything on your reading list. Many school libraries carry a few copies of each course textbook, so be sure to check the shelves for the expensive texts each semester before buying. Just watch out for the late fees — those can cost you dearly!

5. Share textbooks with friends.

Don’t be afraid to make a few bookworm friends the first day of class. You may just find a fellow cash-strapped classmate looking to share a textbook to help lower costs. Better yet, form a study group where multiple copies are available for sharing.

6. Rent a textbook?

OK, textbook rentals didn’t exist back when I was dining on Kraft Dinner, but today students can pass on owning textbooks outright by renting them for a semester. The biggest players in the rental field are BookRenter.com and Chegg.com. Chegg claims that renting books can save you anywhere from 30% to 80%, with the most common texts saving you a whopping 50%. Sure, both BookRenter and Chegg offer a sweet compromise between buying an expensive new textbook and shopping for a used tome of dubious quality, but the biggest advantage may be not having to find a buyer when you’re done with the book. Don’t rent these books for too long though — rental fees add up fast and can quickly make a rental more costly than purchasing a book outright.

6. Rent (or buy) a digital textbook.

Want to save a few trees? Buying or renting a digital textbook can not only save you around 30% to 55% off the cover price, but this reading method could save you bookshelf space too. Amazon Digital Textbook Rentals and Chegg.com are popular digital rental options, while eCampus.com and Zino are happy to sell you a digital copy.

Be sure to read the fine print before buying and downloading digital textbooks though — not all mobile devices are supported, and not all sellers allow you to access your copy from more than one device.

For digital renters: I’d be wary of renting over longer periods of time (let’s say 120 days) since the price goes up prohibitively as time moves on. For example, the rental price of Amazon Digital Textbooks in the $100 to $120 price range starts at around $40 for 30 days — that cost can easily double for a semester-long rental to $80. Used books can often be found for cheaper, and unlike rented digital editions, you get to keep the book after the rental period.

7. Shop after classes start.

College and university professors often pad their class reading lists with optional (and expensive) textbooks. Buying every book on your list before class starts might help you make the grade (nerd!), but it could also be an expensive mistake if only a few titles are required reading. To save big bucks, talk to students who have taken the class, or wait until classes start and buy only the essential textbooks for each subject.

8. Get real with your student budget.

It makes little sense to shop for any back-to-school supplies without knowing how much money you have to spend. Maybe you can afford that new textbook? Or maybe you’d rather spend that textbook cash on a nicer apartment! The thing is, you won’t know until you add up the numbers and do the math.

Download my free Student Budget Planner to tally your tuition costs and calculate your campus expenses. You may just find some additional moolah in your budget for that $300 Computer Science book after all.

9. Keep your receipts for tax season.

Depending on your citizenship or country of study, your textbook and student expenses may qualify you for a juicy tax break. Be sure to keep those receipts and read up on the tax rules in your area — both the IRA (United States) and the CRA (Canada) can call you up for proof before handing you a tax refund.

For example: Canadian students can claim the Textbook Amount, a federal non-refundable tax credit which allows full-time students to claim $65 for each eligible month of study, or $20 per month for part-time students.

10. Photocopy, scan, and hide?

Photocopying or scanning a textbook is generally illegal — it’s stealing, really. While paying up to $300 for a single textbook may seem like robbery, making a copy of a textbook could land you in big legal do-do. The Toronto Star recently reported on how textbook piracy is thriving due to the massive price increase on college and university texts over the past few years. There’s no doubt that at $0.10 a copy, a 100 page textbook costs a mere $10 — a $290 savings over buying the real deal for $300. The solution? Well, re-read options 1-9 before even thinking of breaking the law.

Love, Kerry

Love the blog? Get the book: 397 Ways to Save Money

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• How to make a budget (series with downloads)
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• Download your free 92-page eBook: The Insider’s Guide To Frugal Food & Fitness

Anynofunblogger, marketers like to sell us stuff in volume — it’s good for business, right? I mean, who hasn’t flipped on their TV and heard the marketing message “Call now to collect the whole set!” at some point during a commercial interruption. Exactly!

And so, without thinking (hey, it happens), I went on Twitter and tweeted:

The response was immediate. People connected with the need and desire to collect crap. Some people emailed about the horrors of hoarding. Others defended their Royal Doulton figurine collections, calling them “art”. One woman argued that her collection of Barbie doll heads is priceless. Priceless? Really?

“More like hilarious, and kinda creepy,” I replied. She defriended me immediately.

Then came a challenge from a fellow named Fred. Fred, not unlike many faceless humans who occasionally take jabs at me, wrote:

“Come off it Kerry. We all hunt and gather something. Open your closet. What have YOU collected over the years?”

Me? A collector? Nooooo. Never. Nope.

Fred, the faceless jabber, intrigued me. Not only did he mock my Twitter squawk, but he challenged me to survey my stuff for a sign, any nuance, of a collection. By his rules, a collection isn’t necessarily a traditional accumulation of coins, comic books, stamps, or figurines from a series with uniquely minted numbers. Nope. According to Fred, a collection could be a stash of similar clothing, a bevy of books, maybe even yards of yarn. So really, a collection could be anything you’ve amassed over time. Interesting, right?

Game on, Freddie!

And so I strutted to my bedroom and peeked into my dresser, glanced over my shelving, and swung open my closet. I looked, I scrutinized, and then I fainted. No, I didn’t find a box of severed Barbie doll heads. But I did see a sizable stack of …

JEANS! OMG! Welcome to my wacky stack of denim. SHOOT ME! I counted my neatly folded pile of delicious jeans, all 31 pairs of them.

I hated Fred. Stupid, snotty, ohh sooo smarty-pants Fred. Over the span of eight years I have spent (by rough calculation) nearly $1,600 on indigo cotton fabric. At around $50 a pair (most less, some more), my lovely Levi’s collection was busted by a dude whose name rhymes with dread.

Now, like other types of ‘collectors’, I have my reasons (*cough* excuses) for amassing mass amounts of ass-enhancing pants. Over the years my weight has fluctuated (what, your’s hasn’t?), styles have changed, and washes have worn. Back in the day I started with straight legs, then flares; I loved boot cuts, boyfriends, skinny jeans, and today matchsticks are cool. Many women buy jeans with varying inseams for flats and heels, so I’m guilty of owning regular and tall lengths too. Now add in a few different washes, rises, and shades and suddenly I’m the wearer of 31 pairs of blue pants. Smurfy.

Horrified by my hoard (which I secretly love), I emailed Fred with my results, and asked what he collects (besides bloggers’ egos). Half expecting Fred to reply with photos of severed Barbie doll heads, I was instead issued another smack down, a second challenge. Our emails went something like this:

Fred: What does your husband collect?

Me: Who, Carl? He’s German, so probably beer cans.

Fred: Beer cans?

Me: Yah. Well, no. He’s thrifty, so he returns those for the deposit. Gawd I hope it’s not Barbies, or discombobulated heads, or jeans. Letmethinkforabit.

And so I thought about it — for two seconds. GOT IT! Carl’s collector tick is different from my own. Rather than amassing a bunch of useful (*cough*) wearable items, he’s more likely to ‘save’ old deprecated things for ‘later’. Case in point:

Hello, Carl? It’s the 1990s calling! They want their technological junk back! I’ve been squawking at Carl for nearly 10 years about that danged green phone. I hate it. So he loves it.

And then there’s this:

Do you think the man likes wires? Yeppers. A lot of wires. There must be three boxes of wires, cables, cords, and other coiled doodads stockpiled in the man’s closet. But the worst of the technical junk has been removed from our humble home — ’cause I made him ‘get rid’ of it. Or so I thought.

Let me introduce you to The Barn.

Back in the 1920s The Barn was home to the charming Christensen family — the early settlers who owned the farm where I live now.

Today The Barn is home to Carl’s relic computer collection.

Hello, Carl? It’s the 1990s calling! They want to know where you’re storing the floppy disks, dial-up modems, and ‘high speed’ CD-ROM drives. Crap, looking at this junk reminds me of the day I met Carl at school. The year was 1999, he was tuned in to the radio station 99.3 The Fox, listening to Ace of Base, and coding something cool on his state-of-the-art almond colored tower computer. Yes, the man was a sexy beast. If I could replicate the sound of an old skool modem connecting to surf the information superhighway I would. But I won’t. Promise.

Feels just like yesterday eh? Yes, that sticker really says The Fox. No, I can’t make this s$it up.

So where am I going with this?

Well, collections scare me. They don’t have to be branded, numbered collectibles that are part of a special set. A collection can really be anything you’ve stockpiled over time. The cost can include the price paid for buying the crap, or the fees surrendered for storing the stuff. If you don’t own a family barn then you’ll need to own a bigger house or rent a storage locker off-site to contain the crappy costly situation.

So just as Fred challenged me, I’m challenging you. What do you collect? Look under your bed, search your closets, and admit to yourself the crazy stuff you store. You could save a little (or a lot) of money by knowing your spending triggers and reducing your stockpiling habits.

Now excuse me while I slink into my skinnies and head over to The Barn for a little archeological clean-up action. While I don’t covet computer relics, I most certainly have the perfect pair of jeans to wear.

Love the blog? Get the book: 397 Ways to Save Money

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• How to make a budget (series with downloads)
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• 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year
• Credit Card Calculator
• Download your free 92-page eBook: The Insider’s Guide To Frugal Food & Fitness

I don’t fall in love often. The last time I succumbed to Cupid’s danged arrow was in 2001, when I met ‘The Carl’. Oh gush. Anyways. Fast forward 10 years and I’ve got the gush again, but this time it’s for a little calculation called the Personal Savings Rate (PSR).

Now, I’m the first to admit that comparing Cupid with a mathematical calculation is weird. But by the end of this article, I want you to see the value of knowing your personal savings rate and loving the idea of raising it high into the skies. Schwing!

Most of us are lousy savers.

You may be great in bed, but are you a great saver? Years of data suggests that North Americans are lousy at saving money (I can’t find any decent data for what happens between the sheets). Anyways, over the past 20 years Canadian households have seen a steady decline in savings, according to a recent study by the Vanier Institute of the Family. In 1990, the average Canuck household saved $8,000, for a savings rate of 13.0%. In 2010, that number dropped to 4.2%, averaging just $2,500 per household.

And Americans are just as lousy — at saving. Looking through the vast data published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, American personal savings rates peaked in 1975 at 14.6%, hit rock bottom in 2005 at 0.8%, and sit at 5.5% today.

Really? Sure, times are tough and the economy stinks, but I think we all could do a little bit better, right? Knowing your own personal savings rate is a great place to start. Ready to get a little naked with your finances? Take these five steps for a spin to get up close and personal with your savings rate.

Step One: Total your monthly income.

Gather up your paystubs and take a good hard look at what you bring home every month. Add up your after tax income, bonuses, tips, commissions, and any other money you earn from a second job or a side-hustle gig. I work a few odd-ball jobs at the local farmer’s market over the summer months, so I use my Extra Income Spreadsheet to keep track of this cash.

When Carl and I first started this exercise, he got a little lazy by just adding up one month’s income. The results were bunk since he makes more some months, and less others. So add up at least three months worth of income (more is better) to get a good view of what you really make on a monthly basis.

Mathy Math: Add up three months income (after taxes). Divide by three to get your monthly income total.

$2,600 + $3,120 + $2,200 = $7,920
$7,920 / 3 = $2,640

Total Monthly Income = $2,640

Yeah, I love adding up my income too. This was the lovely part.

Step Two: Total your spending and expenses.

This is the part where Cupid’s arrow goes a little limp. Sorry to be a mood killer, but it’s time to be very very honest about your spending habits. How much money do you spend each month? What are your expenses? What do you spend your cash on? Are you hiding purchases from your spouse? Do you have a secret stash of cash for buying s$it? Yeah, raise your wallet if your halo slipped and your wings are clipped. Poor little Cupid.

Over the years I’ve written reams of stuff on how to track your spending and tally the costs. For an angel’s eye view, tally at least three months worth of credit card bills, bank statements, mortgage payments (or rent), and shopping receipts to get your monthly spending total. Don’t forget to include debt repayment costs, and semi annual (or annual) expenses like home insurance, life insurance, dentist visits, and trips. The real angels in this exercise will tally six months of bills for a realistic spending picture.

Mathy Math: Add up three months of bills and receipts. Divide by three to get your monthly expenses total.

$2,500 + $3,200 + $2,100 = $7,800
$7,800 / 3 = $2,600

Total Monthly Expenses = $2,600

Download the free Budget Spreadsheet to help total your expenses. The Debt Reduction Spreadsheet is a handy tool for those who need to track their debt repayments.

Step Three: Calculate your savings.

With the tougher math behind us, it’s time to calculate your savings. The real test is how well you tallied your income and totaled your expenses. Not sure? Then review steps one and two before moving on!

Mathy Math: Subtract your monthly expenses from your monthly income.

$2,640 – $2,600 = $40

Total Monthly Savings = $40

Are you feeling the love yet? Those with positive bucks in the bank may be feeling smug at this point, while those sitting in negative territory are down in the dumps. Either way, don’t rejoice or dismay too much — the real value in this number is what you choose to do with it in the future.

Step Four: Find your Personal Savings Rate.

Time for the magic moment, people. Are you flying high with halos glowing or digging in the dirt with a pitch fork? Go ahead and plug your numbers into the Personal Savings Rate (PSR) equation:

Monthly Savings / Monthly Income = Savings Rate
Savings Rate x 100 = Personal Savings Rate

Mathy Math: Divide your monthly savings by your monthly after tax income. Take the result and multiply by 100.

$40 / $2,640 = 0.01515
0.01515 x 100 = 1.5%

Personal Savings Rate = 1.5%

Do you have a positive number, a negative digit, or the big goose egg? Regardless of your result, keep moving forward.

Step Five: Improve your score.

Ok, so why the heck should anyone love this dang number? This math stuff doesn’t exactly send the sparks flying. And eating chocolates, smelling flowers, and blowing kisses into the wind is way more fun, right? Well, think again. Turns out that the winged boy slinging arrows in all directions should really slug us with a balance statement every now and then, ’cause nearly half of all couples fight about money.

The New York Times reports that Money Fights Predict Divorce Rates, CBS says 45% of all couples fight about money, and Glamour Magazine (cough) says the proportion of couples who dish about dollars is closer to 43 percent.

So maybe, just maybe, taking the time to tally all these simple calculations could give you a shot at saving Cupid? And perhaps including your spouse (or partner) in the number fun would improve your relationship too. Did a bell ring? Did an angle get its wings?

Could greater savings increase a person’s happiness, and keep a couple closer together? Sure, why the heck not?

How to increase your savings rate

You know your score. You may even know your partner’s score. So now set yourself the goal of exceeding it by aiming a little bit (or a lot) higher. For example, a Personal Savings Rate of 1.5% is a start, but cut a little spending to raise that sucker to 2.0 percent. Download these Three Financial Goals Worksheet for some direction on how to set money goals.

Lastly, this whole blog is about cutting costs and finding savings. Pick any post, and save a few bucks. Pick this post: 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year, and save a lot more. I’ll leave the Cupid stuff up to you.

Your Thoughts: Do you keep track of your savings? How?

Love the blog? Get the book: 397 Ways to Save Money

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• Credit Card Calculator
• Download your free 92-page eBook: The Insider’s Guide To Frugal Food & Fitness

Stretching a whole organic chicken into 22 healthy servings for $49 bucks is easy. It’s the meat measuring, food photographing, blog writing, and penny counting that nearly killed me. Unless you scrapbook every morsel of food you eat, stretching a chicken shouldn’t be this onerous for you. Promise.

Anycrazyblogger, so why did I attempt such an arduous frugal food experiment? Easy. I wanted to prove that eating healthy, organic food on a budget is possible when you take the time, put in the effort, and have a plan.

Yes, I am certain you can make these healthy meals cheaper by using a non-organic chicken. So if an organic chicken is not in your budget, that’s OK. The point is that eating healthy food is not as expensive as so many people often whine about. Buying packaged products and eating out is what kills the family budget, not healthy meals made at home from scratch.

Now, before taking on this task, I laid a few ground rules just so you know I didn’t wing it. Here goes:

Squawky’s Chicken Stretching Rules:

1. Rule One: Must use a whole organic chicken (read why).
2. Rule Two: Meals must be healthy and frugalicious. No deep fried battered chickens on a stick.
3. Rule Three: Most food must be from fridge or pantry. No big shopping trips!
4. Rule Four: Each meal must feed at least two people, leftovers are encouraged.
5. Rule Five: Meals must have some variety.
6. Rule Six: Meals must all be made in my slow cooker. I’m lazy, busy, and I love coming home to a hot meal.
7. Rule Seven: The cost must be reasonable — I’m not trying to out cheap the internets, but rather have an honest go at making healthy meals with the food in my house while using mostly organic ingredients. Cheapest isn’t always bestest, anyways.

I’ll stop flapping around now. Here’s how I stretched a single organic chicken into 22 healthy meals for $49 bucks — this includes side dishes too people!

Day One: Oven Baked Whole Chicken Dinner

I started this frugal adventure with a single 6.28lb organic chicken for $21.92. Not so frugal you say? Admittedly, this chicken was by far my biggest expense.

I used to be scared of baking a whole chicken. Not anymore. Follow my instructions and you’ll be fine.

Dinner Details:

• Recipe: Oven Baked Whole Chicken
• Meals: 2 servings
• Chicken consumed: 1/2 breast, 1 leg, 1 wing, 1 thigh
• Sides: spaghetti squash, salad, roasted vegetables, quinoa.

I prefer light meat while Carl enjoys dark. And yes, Carl got a little annoyed (and hungry) while I photographed his meal. Being married to a blogger can be brutal.

Why only 1/2 breast and a few chicken pieces? Well, the amount of meat on this organic chicken was mind boggling. I took the time to measure just for fun. Each chicken breast measured about 8 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 1.5 inches thick. That’s bigger than any boneless non-organic chicken breast I’ve bought from the grocery store. Plus, the amount of meat from the carcass, legs, thighs, and wings was astounding.

It sounds funny, but I think our organic chicken yielded far more meat than the non-organic birds I’ve bought in the past. So I deem this pricey poultry a winner!

Homemade Chicken Stock

After our baked chicken dinner, I removed most of the meat from the leftover chicken carcass and made homemade chicken stock in my slow cooker. The idea was to further stretch this chicken by making healthy soups and stews with homemade chicken broth.

Making chicken stock is very frugal and super simple. I basically used ingredients I might have otherwise discarded, such as: the chicken carcass, past prime carrots, celery, and onions.

Chicken Stock Details:

• Recipe: Homemade Chicken Stock
• Meals: see below
• Chicken used: 1 chicken carcass

If you’re new to slow cookers or crock pots, check out 6 Reasons to use a Slow Cooker and then see How to Buy a Slow Cooker for a few frugal buying tips.

Day Two: White Chicken Chili

The White Chicken Chili feast was easily my favorite meal of the slow cooked bunch. Perhaps I was in the mood for something spicy, or I just love beans — either way this one was a winner. I had to invent my own version since most chicken chili recipes call for raw chicken. I also wanted to make do with the ingredients I had on hand.

Dinner Details:

• Recipe: White Chicken Chili
• Meals: 4 servings
• Chicken consumed: 1 whole massive breast, 1 cup homemade chicken stock
• Sides: salad and a wrap

The most expensive part of this recipe were the two cans of chopped green chilies totalling $3.98. I couldn’t find a fresh alternative where I live, hopefully you can (and skip the cans).

Day Three: Chicken Noodle Soup

By day three of this frugal food experiment my gorgeous homemade chicken stock was ready. On this day we also experienced a cold snap and Carl got a case of ‘the sicks’. A sick man stuck inside a cold house is a grumpy (and sad) scenario, so I fired up my slow cooker and made a whole lot of chicken noodle soup.

Dinner Details:

• Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup
• Meals: 4 servings
• Chicken consumed: 1/2 chicken breast, 1 leg, 1 wing, 6 cups homemade chicken stock
• Sides: quinoa, salad, and a wrap

I enjoyed this recipe. But since I cannot eat gluten, I made my own helping with quinoa — a tasty gluten-free alternative. Learn how to cook quinoa for the details.

Day Four: Chicken and Chickpea Stew

For this frugal chicken-stretching recipe all you need is a little leftover cooked chicken, a slow cooker, and some chickpeas. Easy, tasty, frugal, and good.

Dinner Details:

• Recipe: Chicken and Chickpea Stew
• Meals: 6 servings
• Chicken consumed: 1 cup chicken, 1 thigh, 1 cup homemade chicken stock
• Sides: salad and a wrap

This recipe really stretches leftover chicken since it contains chickpeas and potatoes. We dined on this stew for two lunches and one dinner. I was thrilled to cut costs further by using tomatoes frozen from my summer garden.

Day Five: Chicken and Lentil Soup

On my final chicken-stretching day I really didn’t feel like eating chicken. Carl still had a bad head cold so I made chicken soup for him, and added lentils for me.

Dinner Details:

• Recipe: Chicken and Lentil Soup
• Meals: 6 servings
• Chicken consumed: 2 cups chicken, 2 cups homemade chicken stock
• Sides: salad and a wrap

I enjoyed this simple soup. Next time I’ll make it with less onion though. Or maybe next time I’ll just make another batch of White Chicken Chili.

Final Thoughts, Master Grocery List

Adding up my frugal food budget the total cost for all 22 healthy meals (including side dishes) came to $48.60, or $49 bucks if you prefer a nice rounded-up number. That’s a frugal $2.21 per meal for healthy, organic food — less than the cost of a single fancy latte coffee thinger at your local coffee shop. Here’s the budget breakdown with a master grocery shopping list:

Master Grocery List:

• 1 whole organic chicken, 6-7lbs: $21.92
• 1 spaghetti squash: free from garden
• 2 romaine lettuce, 2 leaf green: $3.97
• 8 carrots: $1.49
• 8 celery stalks: $0.73
• 7 medium onions: $1.51
• 3/4 cup mushrooms: $0.58
• 1 cup green beans or broccoli: $ 0.79
• 5-6 cups fresh spinach: $1.49
• 4 large tomatoes, or 1 28-ounce can: free from garden
• 2 medium potatoes: $0.34
• 1 garlic bulb, 5 cloves garlic: $0.23
• 2 cups dried quinoa: $1.82
• 1 cup dried white kidney beans: $0.53
• 1 cup dried green lentils: $0.51
• 1 cup dried chickpeas: $0.54
• 1.5 lemons: $1.05
• 1/2 lime: $0.25
• 1 small bunch fresh thyme, rosemary, sage, or mix: $1.79
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley: $0.13
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander: $0.18
• 3 bay leaves: $0.17
• 2 tsp ground coriander: $0.16
• 2 tsp ground cumin: $0.16
• 2 tsp dried basil: $0.15
• 1 tsp dried oregano: $0.10
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder: $0.12
• 1/2 tsp paprika: $0.07
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme: $0.10
• 2 cans chopped green chilies: $3.98
• 4 cups egg noodles: $1.15
• 1 bag of wraps: $2.49
• 1/2 tsp olive oil: $0.03
• salt and pepper (to taste): $0.07

TOTAL COST: $48.60
PRICE PER MEAL: $2.21

There you have it — 1 snarky blogger, 1 sick husband, 1 organic chicken, 22 healthy meals, all for $49 bucks. Yes, you might dine on fewer meals if you’re a construction worker. And perhaps you could stretch this cluck even further if you eat like a little person. Regardless of your caloric needs and consumption, I deem this frugal chicken-stretching experiment a success!

Squawkback: How many meals can you stretch out of a single whole chicken? (and how did I do?)

Love the blog? Get the book: 397 Ways to Save Money

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Over the last few years I’ve had knee surgery, totaled my auto in a freak car accident, and have pounded the pavement (without a car and with a new knee) in search of work.

I doubt my streak of bad luck is unusual, and I bet you’ve had some tough times during this recession too. So unless you’ve got a horseshoe permanently lodged up your a$$ (and you don’t, ’cause no one designs pants to accommodate equine footwear) then you’d better build yourself a financial safety net and start an emergency fund. Here’s how to do it on any budget.

Step One: Stop Whining

Now don’t go and pull a fast one by telling me you don’t have an emergency fund because you’re broke. I don’t like whiners, and I know The real reason you’re broke, so it’s time to cut the crap and accept that saving something for a bad day is a surefire way to stay afloat. And since I want you to have a personal flotation device (that’s a life jacket), it’s time to silence that pesky voice telling you that saving something is impossible. It’s possible. Believe it.

Step Two: Know what you need.

I have a sizable emergency fund. I have zero debt, no kids, a frugal husband, and a dog. So why do I keep six months worth of expenses in a safe place? It’s simple. I’m a freelance writer with highly variable income — some months I write a bunch and earn the bucks while other months I write a little less. Knowing my income on a month-to-month basis is impossible and I sleep better at night knowing I’ve got the moolah socked away in my emergency fund to make it through the less busy months. I’m also very clumsy (knee surgery, car accident, random acts of falling on my face) and highly retentive — so it’s my style to save big.

Your situation may be similar, or very different — and that’s OK. The amount of money you keep in your safety stash must be an amount that makes sense for you. Do you have debt? Kids? A mortgage? An illness? Are you single or married or supporting an Ex? Do you live in a single or dual-income household? Are you worried about losing your job? Do you have variable income? And are you clumsy?

Knowing the answers to these questions is a start, but the point here is to get a grasp of your expenses and know how much money you need on a monthly and yearly basis. Download the free budget spreadsheet to figure out your finances and better understand your household costs. Once you know your financial needs, it’s far easier to set your financial goals and aim for a modest emergency fund.

How much is enough? What the gurus say!

In The Total Money Makeover, David Ramsey advocates taking baby steps towards financial fitness. His first baby step is to start a $1,000 Emergency Fund.

“This beginning emergency fund will keep life’s little Murphies from turning into new debt while you work off the old debt. If a real emergency happens, you can handle it with your emergency fund. No more borrowing. It’s time to break the cycle of debt.”

Ramsey’s later steps include building 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings. “Use this money for emergencies only: incidents that would have a major impact on you and your family,” he says.

In The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton writes, “I’m not against emergency funds, but I do feel that $2,000 to $3,000 is much more realistic than $10,000. If you’re afraid that an expensive emergency looms in you future, establish a $10,000 credit line at your bank.”

Gail Vaz-Oxlade, author of Debt-Free Forever and host of Til Debt Do Us Part, says saving up six months’ worth of essential expenses in an emergency fund is a key component of any sound financial plan (source). And she is no fan of people taking “The Easy Way Out” by tapping a line of credit for emergencies.

“Bah! How is going into debt on a line of credit during an emergency a sensible solution? It’s not. It’s the excuse people use for not saving! Plain and simple, it’s the lazy man’s solution. And it’s expensive, soul stealing and bad planning (or would that be ‘no planning?’).”

There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to building an emergency fund. Personally, I’m a huge fan of sleeping at night and keeping a sizable safety stash on hand for a bad day. Being prepared for the bad stuff makes me feel pretty darn good.

Step Three: Open a dedicated savings account.

I know you want to be a sneaky sneaker by keeping your emergency fund in your checking account. That’s not going to work, people. It’s just too easy to spend that cash when it’s not isolated, cloistered, and hidden away from sulfurous spend-thrift ways. To do this right, you really must open a dedicated account earmarked for emergency savings.

But where do you park these savings? Most checking accounts pay peanuts on on balances and interest rates are still near record lows. One of your best safety net bets is to find a high-interest savings account that’s easy enough to access, but out of reach enough to leave be. To find one with a fair interest rate, check out CANNEX, an independent company that compares interest rates and other financial data, and pick Canada or the United States to locate an account close to home.

If you find a financial institution offering a better interest rate than your current account, use the Switch Bank Accounts Checklist to help move your money to a more competitive place.

Step Four: Find strategies to save.

I’m not leaving you alone, sitting at the computer, with an empty account boasting a decent interest rate. Ah shucks, that would suck. I can just see the emails flying in now: Gee, Thanks Kerry!, Now what?, Is that all there is? To keep my inbox a happy place, here are five common sense strategies to help fund your new emergency savings. No, they don’t suck, and yes, they do work.

1. Start simple, start small. Rome wasn’t built in one day, and your emergency fund won’t be either. So take a breather and start small by squirreling away $10, $25, or $50 each paycheck. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but this cash will add up.
2. Schedule your savings. One financial guru calls it an automatic deduction, I just call it scheduling in some common sense. Many bank accounts let you transfer money at regular intervals on a schedule. If you automate the process you won’t hesitate to pull the savings trigger. Pick a day each month, automate the money move, and watch your emergency savings grow.
3. It’s a bill, so pay it. You pay your bills, right? Treating your fledgling emergency fund as a bill could help you to boost savings faster. You wouldn’t want to skip paying rent, phone, or internet, so don’t skimp on paying your savings fund. Changing your mindset from should do to must do is how to make it work.
4. Hit your pay before it hits your hands. Some people just can’t resist the call of cashing in a crisp new paycheck. If you’re one of these people (be honest), contact your human resources department and ask about setting up a payroll deduction directly into your savings account. If you can’t touch the money, it won’t run away from you.
5. Slash, cut, and save. This is where I get mean and tell you there’s money leaking out of your life — you just need to know where to find it. Downgrade your TV package, cancel that gym membership, and try any of these 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year to make that emergency fund a reality. You have the money, you just have to want to save it.

Got another strategy that works? Go ahead and share your thoughts in the blog comments. There are a lot of ways to trick your mind into saving — let’s hear yours!

Step Five: Ne pas toucher.

That’s French for: Do not touch. If you’re an English speaker, then you’re not allowed to tap your emergency fund either — unless it’s a REAL emergency. And a shoe sale is not a Squawkfox-sanctioned four-alarm emergency (even though I do love shoes).

An emergency is an unforeseen circumstance that leaves you up the creek without a paddle. Since you have that life preserver (your emergency fund) you won’t tap your credit cards and drown in debt, you won’t miss a mortgage payment, and you’ll have some wiggle room to rejig your budget until the emergency passes. And when you’re back on your feet, it’s time to start saving again to replenish your emergency fund.

Are emergency savings idle funds? I don’t view my six months worth of savings sitting in a high-interest savings account as a waste or as a poor investment. Since I’ve needed that cash on several occasions over the last few years, I think funding my safety is the best investment I can make. Sleeping well at night is nice too.

Your Turn: How much do you keep in your emergency fund? Do you have one? Ever use it?

Love the blog? Get the book: 397 Ways to Save Money

Top Squawks

• How to make a budget (series with downloads)
• How to write a resume (series with downloads)
• Frugalicious Recipes
• 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year
• Credit Card Calculator
• Download your free 92-page eBook: The Insider’s Guide To Frugal Food & Fitness

Reader Question: Kerry, I’ve been following your budgeting series — where’s the best place to record my medical expenses? Right now I just stack everything in a pile. But by tax season I’ve often misplaced a few receipts and have lost track of what was reimbursed by my medical expense insurance plan. Got a spreadsheet or medical record form for someone like me? — Jen

Download: Medical Expense Tracking Spreadsheet

Answer: If you need to keep additional records on medical expenses, go ahead and download the Medical Expense Tracking Spreadsheet. Over the years I’ve used it to track various doctor, dentist, and physiotherapy costs, and a few non-traditional health care costs as well (acupuncture, anyone?). Anyhoo, if you have prescriptions, lab tests, glasses, and other related medical expenses, indicate those costs in the Medical Professional Paid column.

This spreadsheet is just a starting point — a guideline of sorts — so feel free to add columns or change headings so they work for you and your family. And if you’re not a fan of spreadsheets, print out this download and use it as a simple medical record form. Easy.

I added a column for Mileage, just in case it’s a tax-deductible expense in your neck of the woods. The columns Date Submitted and Insurance Reimbursement are for families paying medical bills before submitting claims or paying the differences not covered by insurance and needing to keep this information separate.

Keep all your receipts in a safe spot, and during tax time this spreadsheet should help you save a lot of time. I know it helped me when I needed knee surgery. Cheers, Kerry.

Got a spreadsheet or worksheet request? Leave your asks in the blog comment section. I love reader requests!

Squawkback: What’s your tip for tracking medical expenses?

Love the blog? Get the book: 397 Ways to Save Money

Top Squawks

• How to make a budget (series with downloads)
• How to write a resume (series with downloads)
• Frugalicious Recipes
• 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year
• Credit Card Calculator
• Download your free 92-page eBook: The Insider’s Guide To Frugal Food & Fitness