I'm posting this in honor of Valentine's Day on Feb. 14.
Jun. 28, 2022 "Attending lots of weddings this year? Here's how to budget": Today I found this article by Leah Golob on BNN Bloomberg:
Talia Pankewycz, a 33-year-old living in Toronto, once received seven wedding invitations in one year.
To lower expenses, she attended five of them, but since she was in the wedding party for two and travelled to her hometown of Winnipeg for four, the costs were still significant.
"Saying `no' to things is really hard in the face of someone expecting a `yes' both because you want the people you love to be happy and because we grow up thinking we need to have good reasons to miss these events," she said.
While you don't have to attend every celebration you are invited to, figuring out how to incorporate these events into your budget can make wedding season easier on your wallet.
The cost of attending a wedding this year is expected to be even higher because soaring inflation has made everything from beauty services to air travel more expensive.
And as attendees budget to spend more on wedding costs, they also might find more celebrations in their calendars as COVID-19 restrictions lift.
Shannon Kennedy told The Canadian Press earlier this month that the 2022 season is forecast to see the largest number of weddings taking place worldwide.
"You have people who have postponed from 2020 and 2021 and then ... couples who just always intended to get married this year," said the owner of Ottawa-based Kennedy Event Planning.
Saijal Patel, financial wellness consultant at Saij Wealth Consulting, estimates that wedding goers can expect to spend $300 on a local wedding and $1,000 or more when heading out of town.
Attendees who find themselves part of the wedding party or travelling to destination weddings will pay even steeper costs.
If you know that you'll likely be attending two or more weddings in the year ahead, try to create a wedding attendance savings account or bucket so that you'll have a cushion built up, Patel said.
To get a head start, you might begin putting $50 away each month, or whatever number is feasible for you. Then, when wedding details emerge, you can start budgeting with concrete numbers to account for estimated expenses.
"My personal thing is I always add an extra 10 per cent of padding so it doesn't stress me out as much," Patel said. "There's always these little unexpected things that come up."
For example, you might not have accounted for taxes on an Airbnb rental for an out-of-town wedding or a surprise brunch the day after with the wedding party or other guests.
You'll also want to think strategically about what costs you can reduce.
When it comes to getting the best flight deal, book flights early, Patel said. And, when possible, try to split accommodation and travel costs with friends and family. This could mean sharing a car rental or carpooling to the big day.
The advice to get a head start also applies to gift registries.
"I always say pick early so you have choices within your budget," Patel said.
When it comes to outfits, many people have it in their minds to buy something new for each wedding. "It's a money waster," Patel said.
"Go classic and then change it up with accessories," she added.
That might mean switching up ties with your suit or for dresses, changing your hairstyle, shoes, jewellery and other accessories.
If you can borrow outfits from a friend, that's even better, Patel said.
"If I have multiple weddings in a year I'm not shy about wearing the same dress to multiple events, or pulling one out of my closet instead of buying something new," Pankewycz said.
Since many of the weddings she attends are in her hometown of Winnipeg, she'll also use a travel rewards credit card program so she can rely on the points to fly.
To cut expenses further, Pankewycz will also sometimes skip wedding associated events, like bachelorette parties, showers or socials, especially those involving travel and longer stays away from home.
"Invitations are just that: invitations," she said. "Any event or cost is, in the end, optional. It may not always feel that way but letting go of expectations can be really helpful."
Attending lots of weddings this year? Here's how to budget - BNN Bloomberg
Jul. 14, 2022 "Here are some money-saving tips for a busy summer full of events": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on BNN Bloomberg:
Shannae Ingleton Smith has a crammed calendar this summer.
The Toronto influencer known online as @torontoshay and co-founder of the Kensington Grey talent agency has two or three events scheduled every week, including some in New York and New Orleans.
"It's a lot in terms of budgeting," she said.
"Staying home during the pandemic was really great for wearing a lot of loungewear, not wearing a ton of makeup...It was great for my skin and for my pocket because I wasn't shopping too much, but as events have had this resurgence, I am finding myself spending more."
Where the last two years of the health crisis were spent cancelling or postponing weddings, showers, birthdays and other festivities, the decrease in severe COVID-19 cases and growing comfort with gathering is pushing many to make up for lost time by partying once again.
But at the same time inflation has reached a 39-year high, pushing up the cost of going out. Payments processer Moneris found the amount Canadians spent on beauty and barbershops alone in April rose by 67 per cent since last year.
Gayle Ramsay said the big question is: "How do you still get back to those — whether it's baby showers or weddings — and be able to provide a gift and have the things that you haven't done for a while and at the same time, how do you manage the costs with rising inflation?
The answer lies in a budget, said BMO Financial Group’s head of everyday banking.
If you have money set aside in advance for a packed summer, it makes handling the costs easier, but also reveals areas you might have to cut back on, if you're keen on making it to every event, she said.
To pick where to pare back, Ramsay noted some banks like BMO have services or account features that alert customers when they spend more than usual in a category.
If someone has several invites and isn't able to budget for all of them, Shannon Kennedy recommends prioritizing events to attend based on location, which can cut down on travel costs.
Once one has figured out what invites to accept, there are ways to save on your outfit too, said the owner of Ottawa-based Kennedy Event Planning.
"There's no shame in the game of rewearing a dress or a suit to two different events," she said.
Ingleton Smith agrees.
"That dress you wore like three years ago, nobody remembers it," she said. "It doesn't matter if you posted it on Instagram or not."
She's been scouring her closet for outfits she can rewear but punch up with different jewelry, accessories and even hairstyles.
Others recommend raiding a friend or family member's closet, if you're keen on varying your look. Some suggest turning to dress or suit rental services, though consumers must watch out for membership fees and rental prices that can sometimes cost as much as a new dress.
If you're travelling for an event, consider carpooling or staying with friends or family to slash hotel and gas prices, Ramsay said.
If neither is an option, look at what discounts you can get through loyalty programs you already subscribe to and consider redeeming points you have racked up for gas or plane tickets, she added.
Ingleton Smith similarly recommended booking ahead, looking for deals and preparing for there to be more competition than there was in the last two years for flights, rental cars and accommodations.
While Ingleton Smith stresses no one should ever go into debt or sacrifice paying their bills because of their social calendar, she said it's important not to deprive yourself of fun either.
"Will you die happier knowing that you went to that villa in Mykonos with all your girlfriends and you created memories that will last with you forever? Yeah, you will," she said.
"If you come back with a little bit less money in your pocket, then maybe you work a little bit harder or do a few things extra to make some extra money to make up for that extra spending."
Here are some money-saving tips for a busy summer full of events - BNN Bloomberg
This week's theme is about planning and paying for weddings:
"Weddings don’t have to break the bank"/ "How to save on a wedding without looking like you're saving on a wedding"
"1 in 3 Canadian couples go into debt to get married; is that a good idea?"/ "The 2022 wedding boom: Budget 30% more amid inflation, shortages"
My week:
(49) Sabrina Carpenter - Nonsense (Official Video) - YouTube
Here she is performing on Jimmy Kimmel. I like the dancing. I also like how she ad- lib the last few lines of her song.
(49) Sabrina Carpenter - Nonsense (Live From Jimmy Kimmel Live! / 2023) - YouTube
JVKE "Golden Hour": I'm going to add this song I like too. It's a beautiful song. You can do a contemporary dance to it.
(49) JVKE - golden hour (official music video) - YouTube
Jan. 29, 2023 "YouTube star MrBeast helps 1,000 blind people see again by sponsoring cataract surgeries": Today I found this article by Zoe Sottile on CNN. I like this article because it's about charity and helping people:
YouTube superstar MrBeast is making the world clearer – for at least 1,000 people.
The content creator’s latest stunt is paying for cataract removal for 1,000 people who were blind or near-blind but could not afford the surgery.
“We’re curing a thousand people’s blindness,” says MrBeast – real name Jimmy Donaldson – in the Saturday video, which reached over 32 million views as of Sunday afternoon.
The video features touching before-and-after footage of patients seeing with clear vision after finishing the surgery. The YouTuber also gave cash donations and other gifts to some of the participants.
Jeff Levenson, an ophthalmologist and surgeon, worked with Donaldson to perform the first round of surgeries in Jacksonville, Florida. Levenson has coordinated the “Gift of Sight” program for over 20 years, which provides free cataract surgery for uninsured patients who are legally blind due to cataracts.
“Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10-minute surgery,” Levenson says in the video, referring to the cataract removal surgery.
Levenson explained to CNN he became inspired to help people access cataract surgery after undergoing his own cataract correction surgery.
“In the days and weeks after my own cataract surgery, I was stunned by how bright and beautiful and vivid the world was,” he said. “But I was shocked by the idea that there are hundreds of millions, probably 200 million people around the world, who are blind or nearly blind from cataracts and who don’t have access to the surgery.”
Levenson got a call from a member of Donaldson’s team in September. “I had never heard of MrBeast,” he said. “So I almost hung up. But I gratefully did not hang up.”
They started by calling homeless shelters and free clinics to create a list of patients in the Jacksonville area who needed cataract surgery but could not afford it. Eventually, they had a group of 40 patients – and Levenson performed all of their surgeries in a single day, starting at 7 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m.
Levenson said that patients were in “disbelief that somebody would actually seek them out to to rescue them from blindness, and then have the kindness and generosity of spirit to offer the surgery.”
The ophthalmologist also connected Donaldson’s team with SEE International, for which he serves as the chief medical officer. The nonprofit provides free eyecare around the world to patients in need. The organization helped Donaldson reach even more patients, for a total of 1,000 surgeries completed around three weeks. The video shows patients receiving the surgery in Jamaica, Honduras, Namibia, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam and Kenya.
Levenson said he hopes the video and Donaldson’s generosity inspire “a concerted effort to end needless blindness.”
“If MrBeast can light a fire, and if we can get governmental and private support behind it, we can end half of all the blindness in the world,” he said. “Without all that much cost, and with incredible gains in human productivity and human potential.”
MrBeast helps 1,000 blind people see again by sponsoring cataract surgeries | CNN
Feb. 4, 2023 "This 18-year-old is $48M richer after buying her 1st lottery ticket": Today I found this on CBC:
A first-time lottery player from northern Ontario has won an eye-popping jackpot with an eight-digit total.
OLG officials revealed Friday that 18-year-old Juliette Lamour of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., won a $48-million Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball jackpot draw that took place last month.
According to the OLG, no other lottery players have won as much money as Lamour has, at the same age.
Lamour, a biology student at Algoma University, bought her winning ticket at a convenience store after her grandfather gave her the idea.
"He said to me: 'You just turned 18, go buy a lotto ticket, test your luck,'" Lamour said Friday, when discussing her win at a media event announcing the news. "So, I did."
Lamour found out about her win the day after the Jan. 7 draw. She was at work and her colleagues were talking about reports that the jackpot-winning prize had come from a ticket bought in Sault Ste. Marie.
It turned out to be hers.
For now, Lamour said the plan is to invest the money and maybe use a bit to take a trip this summer, after the school year ends.
At this point, however, the first-year student intends to follow her long-term plan, which is to finish her program and then go to medical school.
This 18-year-old is $48M richer after buying her 1st lottery ticket | CBC News
"Closure of The Station on Jasper a devastating blow to local musicians": This is by Jessica Robb on CTV news. I'm posting this because here's another Edmonton company closing down:
On Jan. 13, Sierra Carter received a surprising phone call from her daughter's elementary school teacher. The fifth grader had drawn an "inappropriate" picture in class.
The drawing — a pink pig with a necktie in the shape of what could be interpreted as male genitalia — was brought to the teacher's attention by a classmate who'd informed them that Carter's daughter drew "boy parts on a pig."
The 11-year-old, according to her mom, told her teacher that she drew a "bow tie," not "boy parts."
"The social worker could have stopped this issue in seconds, shameful! The adults have their heads in the gutter," one comment read.
"Teacher here... bow tie, but woulda had to show my fellow teachers because it’s cute and funny," another read. "Nothing more."
"Glad you stood up for your daughter. That’s 100% a bow tie and she is so innocent. Sad this happened," a supporter wrote, with another adding: "I am a teacher. Definitely a bow tie. It is in the wrong place to be the other."
Mom calls out school officials for confiscating 11-year-old’s 'inappropriate' drawing (yahoo.com)
My opinion: That's a bow tie. This article was unintentionally funny.
Feb. 6, 2023 "Hudson's Bay to close two Alberta department stores this summer amid 'market changes'": Today I found this BNN Bloomberg:
Hudson's Bay is shuttering two department stores in Alberta, saying the decision reflects market changes and the company's vision for the future.
The retailer says its stores in Banff and the northeast Edmonton area of Londonderry will close in August.
Feb. 7, 2023 "Woman Whose Car Broke Down Finds Newlyweds' $15K Walking to Work and Returns It — Now She Has a New Ride": Today I found this article by Jason Duaine Hahn on People:
Diane Gordon's car broke down a year ago last February, and since then, the Michigan resident has walked nearly three miles to and from work five days out of the week.
But her luck recently changed after she did a good deed.
As she recalled to FOX affiliate WJBK, Gordon was walking home on Jan. 21 when she spotted something out of the ordinary on the ground while stopping at a gas station for a snack.
"I looked down on the ground and found a plastic bag with a large sum of money in it," she told the news station. "When you turned it over, there was even more money."
But Gordon, a grandmother of two, never questioned what to do next.
"This doesn't belong to me, I need to call a police officer," she remembered thinking to herself after finding the $14,780 in cash.
Fortunately, it didn't take long to find out who the money belonged to. When officers arrived, they found cards addressed to a couple whose wedding ceremony had occurred earlier that day.
"There were wedding cards with a name on it, and we were able to get the money back to them," Police Chief Dan Keller of the White Lake Township Police Department told The Washington Post.
"She didn't hesitate; she didn't question it," Keller said of Gordon. "This doesn't happen very often, that someone finds a large sum of money and turns it in."
But Gordon, 65, felt she didn't do "anything special" by not keeping the money for herself.
"All I did was return something that didn't belong to me," she told the Post.
Yet, there was one other person who did feel her kind act was special — Stacy Connell, whose husband is a police officer who responded to Gordon's call.
Connell set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Gordon in the hopes of raising enough to help her buy a new vehicle.
As of Tuesday afternoon, it has raised over $66,000.
On Feb. 3, Gordon received her new wheels: a green Jeep Compass from a local car dealership, Szott Auto Group.
"I am floored," Gordon told ABC affiliate WXYZ. "I am having a hard time keeping it in. I am just so excited."
"I absolutely love it," she added to the Post. "It's got a steering wheel warmer and a backup camera; all things I've never had before."
Gordon said she plans to offer rides to her co-workers who need them.
"I'll give them a ride home and pay it forward," she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment