Budgeting

A lot of Americans are feeling a bit uncertain about the future of the dollar and of the global markets in general. When confidence in stocks and paper currencies falls, people tend to turn towards physical assets, especially precious metals, with gold being the perennial favorite. There are lots of ways to invest in gold, but in uncertain times, direct ownership of this asset is best, so pay a visit to Golden Eagle Coins to start off your stockpile.

Why direct ownership is best

Direct ownership means that you’ve bought physical gold – whether it’s jewelry, bars or coins. Of course, there’s ETFs and shares in mining companies, but when the economic climate is looking gloomy, people feel safer holding their own assets than trusting a company that could fold at any minute.

The love of gold never dies

Gold has been our most prized, desired and treasured precious metal. As soon as humans worked out how to extract it from its ore or from its seams, it’s driven our appetites and we haven’t lost our enthusiasm for this metal millennia later. In fact, our love of gold has grown, especially now we know how to use it in science, medicine and industry.

It’s inflation-proof

Whatever you pay for your gold at any one time, you can sell it for its future price when the time comes. Gold doesn’t ever devalue; of course, its market value will take a dip every so often, but it always rises over time because supply never quite reaches demand. If you bought a car for $10,000 in 2012, there’s no way you’d get $10,000 for it now, even though all the new cars cost more due to inflation. With gold, you never have to worry about this sort of devaluation and depreciation.

It never loses its intrinsic value

As an element, gold will always have a high value to humanity because of its appearance, its rarity and its many other applications. It’ll always be in high demand and if there’s ever a financial or other sort of crisis, you can sell it or use it as currency no matter where you are in the world.

The biggest benefit of gold is that you can take physical possession of it – the old adage “If you can’t hold it, you don’t own it,” is very true. If you think about mutual funds, shares, ETFs and so on, all it takes is a big enough hack or a worldwide financial crash and your investments are all gone as they’re just theoretical digits in a program. Gold, on the other hand is portable and tangible. No-one can wipe it clean from a balance sheet as long as you can protect it.

Not many other assets and investments – physical or not – have these advantages; physical gold gives you a solid insurance policy against financial meltdown. Even better, it will carry on performing nicely for you when the going’s good as it only ever increases in value. What’s not to love?

The speeches have concluded, the music starts, and everyone leaves their seats to feast on the plethora of platters that you took five loans out to afford. Then, dessert comes and it’s time to cut the cake. The cake you spent hundreds of dollars on is now going to be devoured by uncle Steve’s five toddlers and aunt Sharon’s seven cousins who came uninvited. Nobody even bothered saying thanks.

Now you’re sitting and thinking, was it really all necessary? Of course not! You could do with a much more budget-friendly cake while still keeping your guests satisfied and adhering to the traditional ceremony of cutting it. By saving money on your wedding cake, you’re left with more money to put towards other aspects of your wedding such as the wedding venue, or simply more money to save for the future. After all, this is likely the time when you’ll need every cent you can get.

Tone Down On The Flowers

While tasty icing flowers may look great, each piece takes between 30 minutes and two hours to be completely created and implemented on your cake. Naturally, this will result in a hefty labor cost, especially if you decide to have a whole bouquet of the things stuck to your cake. Instead, you could use fresh, real flowers, provided they’re properly clean.

Of course, you could go the full frugal route and simply use fake flowers, but they likely won’t look particularly flattering. Another alternative would be to use simple sugar flower designs such as hydrangeas and calla lilies. More mainstream options such as roses and peonies aren’t nearly as affordable.

Skimp on Specialists

Chances are there’s a boutique or local baker nearby that can make your cake for even cheaper than a full-blown specialist would. Sure, it won’t look as intricate and extravagant, but the point is to save money. The catering service at your wedding location might also have some affordable options.

As a matter of fact, some caterers will even charge a fee if you decide to use another baker. Scummy, but that’s business. Take a look at allcakeprices.com to get a better idea of the options you have for each type of baker.

Watch Where You’re Putting It

Many couples often overlook other aspects of the cake, such as the stand, and end up wasting tons of money purchasing an unnecessarily extravagant one. After all, who’s going to look at the stand? Many bakers provide decorated stands and boards free of charge, so purchasing a whole tower is completely unnecessary.

If your cake is more on the bland side and you want to spruce it up with some nice accessories, consider adding some candles, linen, and repurposed bridesmaid boutiques to keep it looking as great as the rest of your wedding setup. There are numerous guides available that can help you decide which stand will work best.

Conclusion

If you’re skeptical as to how your frugal cake will be received, keep in mind that’s it’s just a tiny part of a huge event where most attendees will likely be so hopped up on emotions (or alcohol) that they seriously won’t even remember your cake.