I've purchased Hobie's wedding band through an online retailer for about $100 less than what I would have paid at Kay Jewelers. I charged it to my Citi card (to earn the cash back). Last week I moved a bunch of money into savings to anticipate this expense, and I figured I'd move it back in time for the charge to come due. But now I'm looking at my budget for the rest of the month, and if I can survive on $152 dollars between the Sept 15 and Sept 30 paydays, I won't have to tap into the savings. It can stay there and earn interest and be used for other wedding expenses.

Speaking of the wedding expenses, I went through and tried to think of all the expenses that I would need to pay for or pitch in, and I came up with a total of $2500, estimating high. Ouch. That's including the ring (at $500 est.), so really I have about $2000 left to go. This does not include the honeymoon. If I make it through the end of the month (and stick to the above plan), I will have $900 in the bank and 4 1/2 months to save up the remaining $1100.

Doesn't sound too bad, right? That's about $250 a month, and I already have $200 direct deposited to the savings each month from my paycheck. Except winter is expensive. First, there are the ski passes and equipment that Hobie and I want to buy this month. Then there are Christmas presents. And travelling to California to see Hobie's family for Christmas.

And then there is the honeymoon. I got it stuck in my head the past few days that I'd really like to take a cruise with Hobie the week after our wedding. We can go right out of Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, and we won't have to purchase additional plane tickets (as opposed to if we took our honeymoon later). We'll wait to see if we can get a deal and how we look going into the holidays.