Just how important is your wedding day? Or maybe a better question is, how much of a wedding day cost are you willing to stomach? It's no secret that some people are happy to blow a lot of cash on their big day, but a new survey of nearly 1,000 people from Comet, a financial intelligence website, found that weddings are so important to some people that around 60 percent of people are willing to go into debt for them.
But is it really necessary? Some savvy budgeting can save you from starting marriage off in the red. "It’s important for a couple to decide early on in their planning what details are the most important to them and what their overall wedding budget is. Once they have a list of what they want to spend their money on, they can allocate the necessary funds to those areas," WeddingWire trend expert Anne Chertoff tells Bustle. "Without an overall vision, a couple may spend money on elements that in the end they don’t need, want, or can use, so making decisions and setting a budget early will help keep a couple from going over budget or spending money unnecessarily."
But weddings weren't the only thing that people were getting into debt over — the survey found that we tend to make some pretty questionable financial decisions, often leaving us in a lot of debt. Here's what the survey found.
185% Of Us Owe Money On A Past Purchase
It wasn't just about weddings — the survey found that 85 percent of participants were in some sort of debt, whether it was credit cards, a student loan, a mortgage, or something else hanging over their heads. With many of us buckling under the weight of student loans, it isn't really surprising — though it is pretty depressing.
261% Of Men Would Take Out A Repayment Plan For An Engagement Ring
The marriage costs never seem to end. Over 60 percent of men said they'd splash really big on the ring — even if it meant having to finance it. Many of us wouldn't want our partner to feel that much pressure to deliver a fancy piece of jewelry, but clearly a lot of people are feeling the responsibly anyway.
3Student Loans Are The Biggest Regret
Only four percent of women and 10 percent of men regretting getting into debt for a house, but 45 percent of women and 46 percent of men regretted their student loans. And with the average graduate owing more than $37,000, it's easy to see why.
441% Have Been Delinquent On Medical Bills
The most common debt to miss a payment on? Medical bills, which over 40 percent of people had missed from time to time. Meanwhile 24 percent of those surveyed had been delinquent on student loans, 19 percent of people had done so with a credit card, and only 13 percent of people had done with house payments.
5Almost Half Of People Would Finance A Computer, TV, Pet, Or Vacation
One of the most shocking things about this survey was just how many things people were happy to finance or put on a credit card. Flights, new TVs, computers, pets — all of these came in with around half of people being willing to get into debt to finance them. It seems like there must be a real keeping-up-with-Joneses (or Kardashians) mindset at play here.
Debt is no joke. It's easy to pull out a credit card or take out a loan and feel like you can deal with the consequences later — but you can't ignore them forever. Before you choose to get into debt, make sure that it's worth it, because you the consequences can last a lifetime.
