The best advice I ever got is: “Marriage isn’t 50/50. Divorce is 50/50. Marriage is showing up for each other 100% of the time and making up the deficit when the other doesn’t have 100% to give” My uncle told me that on my Wedding day. Not sure if he read it somewhere or just learned it over the years.
My wedding was free at our family church and family baked the cake and cooked the food. We invested money into homeownership and invested time into counseling and preparing for a life together instead of focusing on a day together
Marriage with the right partner is the absolute best. Marriage with the wrong partner is the absolute worst. Being single is somewhere in between. Source: my experience
I knew I was going to marry my husband after a week. We dated 9 months and have been married 35 years. My parents married after knowing each other 2 months and were married until my dad died 2 weeks before their 46th anniversary! We’re not rich but have all we need and house and vehicles paid for.
Thank you George for your uplifting words toward those who are single (26:31). Being 47 and never married and no children, I get tired of hearing that married people are in better health, are in better financial shape, and have more satisfying social and family lives. I view this as an old myth that yesterday's society has been told to believe. Marital status might have a little bit, but doesn't have a lot of impact on having these benefits. It's what you do with your life that matters married or single.
Just because something has benefits doesn't automatically make the other choice bad. It's not just an old myth, though. As a general principal, marriage has been proven to improve financial, physical, and mental health, as well as provide a more satisfying social and family life - but you also give up a lot of spontaneity, flexibility, time, and energy for those benefits. It's almost like choosing a place to live. I used to live in the Northern US and now I live in the Southern US. I never have to wear a down coat anymore, or shovel snow before I leave, or spend half or more of the year with allergies and colds, or wonder if it will be in the 50s in July - but I gave up 4 distinct seasons, the beauty of a fresh snowfall, the brilliance of a winter sunrise, and the crunch and crispiness of a Northern fall, among other things. The benefits of each place are different, and it's the same for married vs. single.
I’m amazed that people put so much stock in the wedding ceremony. I got married in my dad’s living room. We push the furniture aside, my crazy uncle officiated, and I’ll never forget it. 😂 I was sad about not having my dream, dress and wedding of my imagination, but here we are, 10 years later with six kids. Wouldn’t trade it
I just got married and my wife and I are extremely frugal. We limited the guest count ect ect and bare minimum spent was 25k. That was with a 400 rehearsal dinner, 1200 florist, 500 dress, 0 tux. We also got in right before serious price increases.
In 2022 I had about 190-200 ppl at my wedding spent $5000 and the only help I had from family is money they used for the food at the rehearsal dinner. Everyone said it was beautiful and that they wouldn’t change a thing. 😊 My wedding is proof it doesn’t have to be expensive to be big. 😂 I wouldn’t be surprised though if we don’t go all out with our budget for our 25th wedding anniversary. 😁
I got married on a cruise ship and was too cheap to pay for the extended photo package and meals for the guests. I think we got to have maybe 10 photos printed, but they wanted like $700 for the CD of all the photos taken. We only invited immediate family and one close friend. After the ceremony, we had cake, and the ship decided to allow our guests to eat from the buffet at no additional charge. My parents years later sailed on the same cruise line, and they purchased our wedding photos for us at that time. It worked out in the end. I have no regrets saving so much on our wedding.
@matthill2957 Definitely not the case. The majority of our family sailed with us, so it was only 4 people that ate even though they didn't sail on the ship. The meal plan with the wedding package would have been a private dinner, while we ate from the main buffet.
@@debbiefried3533Well, if people work, read the books, go on dates, small trips, want to grow together, MARRY SMART, & have a Christ centered marriage…divorce rates don’t matter.
That show, on netflix i think, where they had couples choose if they want to use their savings on a wedding or a house downpayment was insane. I can't imagine spend 50k on one day, let alone spending it on one day when I can only pick one of the two
My parents went through a divorce, my dad took half of my moms retirement so I am all for a pre-nup. No one no mater what should have the ability to ruin my retirement. Also, he has been pulling it out for almost a decade and she isn't retired...neither is he. A prenup is not personal it is the equivalent of wearing a helmet when riding a bike. You don't intend to fall off and hit your head but its there for if you do.
My husband and I had a wonderful little wedding, married by the JOP outside a cute church in town, party afterward with live music and about 50 family members, bbq catered and desserts from HEB, less than $5000 and more to spend on the honeymoon, no regrets! Everyone I know that spent $20k+ on a wedding regrets it and was stressed out the whole time. We’re debt free and own our home outright so it’s not like we couldn’t afford it, it’s a choice to be frugal and know what’s important to you. The quality of a marriage has nothing to do with how much you spend on your wedding.
I think a simple explanation for why people are getting married later and later is that people now are more likely to think that they should feel like a functional adult before being married or even seriously dating. And in the past people thought that getting married was part of the path to becoming a functional adult or a necessary step to having sex (if concerned about premarital pregnancy) I honestly think that it’s good that the average marriage age has gone up, birth control has become more prevalent, and the negative stigma to not getting married or getting married later has lessened. I also think that we have learned more about brain development. One’s brain doesn’t finish developing typically until the mid to upper 20s. So getting married before one’s brain has fully developed is more of a risk.
My son (25) has just gotten engaged (20) and we have discussed with the couple that this will be a cash paid wedding. My husband and I are fortunate enough to be able to afford to help put on a beautiful wedding and great reception. That said we have offered the couple $5000.00 towards expenses. They are planning a fall 2025 wedding and have time to save themselves for expenses above this amount. Now I realize you mentioned the average wedding is $30000.00 but at that point I personally would say how about we make a significant contribution to your house payment. As Rachel mentioned this is only 18 hours of your life. I’ll expand that to say 48 hours of you decorated and clean up yourself. We are blessed that they want to marry at my family farm in our old barn so our venue will be amazing but not expensive and the reception hall is very affordable in our small community. I believe marriage is work but the benefits are amazing. My husband and I just celebrated 30 years and my parents celebrated 50 this year 🎉 Great show👍
Prenups are not just for what you own before marriage. It's also useful to decide on how a divorce split would be like ahead. It's healthier to make those decisions while still in love than when you hate each other. Plus, everyone has a prenup no matter what. The thing is do you want the government to decide for you or do you want to make that decision before hand?
I use the canned food containers to put my cooking grease in. Once it’s full of grease I throw it away. I used plastic shopping bags for bathroom garbage can liners and for picking up dog poop on walks. I don’t save plastic to-go containers because my cupboards are full of nicer storage containers that I don’t need them. I don’t want to hoard.
Two great items to reuse are Talenti gelato containers, and Classico sauce mason jars. The gelato containers for bathroom supplies or any little thing for your car like change. The sauce mason jars for shaking adult beverages at home instead of buying a drink mixer. Enjoy!
I see I’m not the only one. Those Telenti gelato containers are great. Very good ice cream as well. My neighbor collects those Classico jars for kitchen uses.
My parents are still together, but I've seen a lot of friends' parents and now friends get divorced and it's brutal. And if you're in a no fault state, the guys are the only ones who regret not getting a pre nup. The courts are so biased in favor of the women, it's insane. It's a concern when my girlfriend has health issues and finding a job or keeping employed is very troublesome. I have told her from the start I have no desire to be married to a stay at home mom, I want a partner. She already has a kid and can't have anymore, neither of us want more kids and the kid is almost 10 so there's no need for staying at home. I want to marry her, but I don't want to marry a 28 year old who I have to take care of forever. We're supposed to be partners, supposed to take care of each other. It's not supposed to be one sided, and that's what I'm personally worried about with my relationship.
I dont know if you will see this, but please dont get married. My husband's parents were like this but they got married and had my husband young. My mother in law couldn't work a typical 9-5 job due to medical reasons( he knew this BEFORE they got married) That led to resentment on FIL part and he ended up cheating. They got divorced and she ended up dating other men who shared the " I want a working partner " mentality. None of those obviously worked out. But now that those men are older and in their 60s and have medical problems of their own, they are starting to run back to her because she "could take care of them" and she's was a more "traditional woman". They are now asking for something that they couldn't give themselves 20-30 years ago but now that its them they want to be taken care of...You are are just another of those guys. You're right marriage is partnership...something YOU are not ready for.
Okay, but then you need to be partners in everything. Hire a cleaner or share 50/50, take care of the kid that does exist and needs to be taken care of 50/50 etc etc. Women traditionally and even now (as research shows) perform the majority of that invisible and unpaid labour. This is also why the courts seem biased toward women, they assume that her not working has saved the husband money by them not having to hire out cleaning, cooking and childcare (which costs more together than a lot of people have as income) and made it possible for them to have work and careers. Women then end up with a major gap in their resume, have no savings and no retirement money when they get out of that marriage if alimony and shared assets didn't exist. Many woman with deadbeat husbands and father's still do end up that way. I'm not saying that women that exploit their husbands don't exist, but it's not as simple as you seem to think. If you both want different things out of your relationship and marriage, don't get married. But please be aware that there is more work than just paid work.
I know because this is the Ramsey group that needs to be more wholesome content, but it's because of the cost of being married, not because the cost to get married. Anybody can get married for any price. It's what you end up having to give up when that person decides to leave.
My wedding total cost was. $75 in the local church. Our dinner was paid for by a friend (went to a restaurant) and no reception we spent $3000 on our honeymoon and it was wonderful. No fancy wedding. Just Jeans and Shirt attire just lobed casual. But we had all of our friends and family and we had a great time. We live a frugal lifestyle and love it. No credit cards here and no debt. My husband is a boomer and I am gen x. Married over 22 years. Love your show.
Been binge watching since we saw you at the marriage and money seminar. Love every episode!, been married almost 6 years and it’s only getting better !
These newer generations all experienced and saw what divorce did in the late 80's to 00's when it was just what you did. I'm in my 40's and remember that 95% of all my HS friends had divorced parents. its mind boggling how widely accepted it was. the "science" said, this is fine...you should be happy and people didn't take into account how absolutely screwed it makes your kids. So what came of all that is a healthy skepticism of marriage. people wait longer or don't participate at all now and its largely the fault of their predecessors. Great episode.
I save all of the costco dessert jars, too! I use them to make single serve desserts. I use the chocolate pudding ones as mini cups to make the kids feel fancy with their juice at dinners.
26:44 Exactly, don't marry someone for the primary reason for your financial goals to be met. I am intentionally staying single and working on boosting my income because I want to count on myself and not be desperate to marry someone for money purposes. Comes with the psychology of growing up in a single parent household.
I had been to several large drama filled weddings that were crazy expensive. When I got married I only invited immediate family and one friend each to avoid a drama filled day. I told the venue coordinator this. She laughed and told me there was no such thing as a drama free wedding. Truer words have never been spoken. Formal weddings are overrated 😂
25:06 That isn't consistant at all compared to what George usually says. He wouldn't say pull the trigger on a big luxury car and figure out the financial piece later. Why different with marriage? Marriage can completely financially destroy anyone if the wrong partner. As Dave says: just because of something doesn't mean you get a pass on math.
I just got married this last year at the age of thirty four. My wedding causes a total of nine thousand dollars and it was awesome. The honeymoon cost about seven thousand.
My husband and I got married young (22/23) and now after 7 years I can fully say marriage has nothing to do with the party you threw for your wedding. Do not go overboard because as soon as it’s over no one cares how much you spent😅Get married or don’t it’s your choice but don’t start your marriage😮 with a mountain of debt!!
I had a very cheap beach wedding in 2016. Some of the guests mocked our wedding. We are happy living in a beautiful home with two kids and a dog with no debt! I am able to stay at home with the kids. They can make fun of us all they want.
A lady i know put it the best ever. she said marriage is give and take, sometimes you've got to do a lot of giving and sometimes you've got to do a lot of taking.
George, my husband & I related to you hard with the Costco crème brueles (we have the jars too and my husband currently uses it for his coffee pour over discard but now we have another future use for it 😂). My husband is on a total George Kamel kick now ever since the Target receipt hack that you had shared! We say “the George Kamel hack” in our house 😂 You’re a big fan in our home now! My husband even listened to your show now too! Love this podcast! Keep at it!
I don’t remember which episode George shared this in, but it’s regarding returns on the same day. George shared he purchased an item at a target but then went to a different target that same day to return the item due to not needing it. He was informed he couldn’t return it until 24 hours with his receipt because of the way their system works. So he ended up bypassing it by doing a “no receipt” return, haha. I believe those were the details!
I spent a little under $3000, and it was a simple but nice. Counting our wedding rings, it was probably $5000. You don't have to go into debt to enjoy the rest of your life with someone!!
@@tmi4507Lol huh? Winston directly benefited from Ramsey as he was on payroll for a while. He made what he was owed. He no longer works on Ramsey. He is owed nothing of RS.
I got married at 19, our wedding costs $3000, 300 people there, we had a party and made the invitations, a family friend took on the reception for us and church friends helped decorate, it was beautiful and memorable and did not break the bank!
@@westbccoast nothing... My dress cost $200, cake was $200, Flowers were $500, reception venue was $300, Wedding venue was $700 (It had basic decor that they set up I just added flowers) Favors were $50, Decor for reception and food were the other $1000ish. Food wasn't fancy, but it was good. It was a buffet with fresh fruits, a couple of my favorite soups, sandwiches, salads etc.... The officiant was my childhood pastor and didn't charge, I had some talented friends that did special music during wedding, Dad's friend was DJ at reception(it's his job), and Photographer was a gift. If I had paid for a DJ it would have added another $300 and photographer option I looked at if it wasn't gifted was about $400...
I also believe that marriage is declining because some/many people have been married and then divorced and have lost their belief in the institution. (I was married in 1986 (second marriage) and the costs was $7,000 (all cash.) I wrote and printed and mailed the invitations myself, (stamps) the license, married by our friend the judge, a friend took our photographs, another friend cooked the food and gifted us, $500.00 for the hall for four hours, my burgundy velvet dress and shoes, two $300.00 wedding bands (no diamond) my husband wore an existing suit. The biggest expense of all was to pay for the plane tickets for our two 20 something age sons to fly in for the event.
It’s best to talk like that when in your 70s or at one or the other bedside like my mom when dad passed away. Every single person I know who talked prematurely like that the past 25 years is divorced now.
Alas, not everyone ends up HAPPILY MARRIED, that is the gamble you take, and some of us aren't willing to take it!! I am older now and have some assets I don't want my future husband taking 50% of them should it not work out!
@@tjgolabek Is everything sad with you? No big deal to me who’s married or divorced. Just is what it is. My girlfriend and I been together since 2001without government contract.
I like James Sextons and Chris Rocks take on Prenups. It’s a hard conversation but people change and unfortunately marriages end. It’s like car insurance. I don’t expect to get into an accident but I’m covered if I do
Husband and I eloped. Wedding license was about $20. Our rings are plain gold bands ~$300. I wore a cute cocktail dress and bought a beautiful bouquet $400. We hired an officiant $500 and a freelance photographer from yelp $900. Went to Central Park for our vows and took some beautiful photos. Bought a nice bottle of champagne at a fancy restaurant $300 and ended up in a honeymoon suite ❤ $700
We got married in 2014. I planned it all myself and it cost $5000. It still had all the usual wedding itinerary. This price also included renting 5 cabins for our traveling family and friends and our 5 day cruise to the Bahamas for our honeymoon. Nobody needs to start a marriage in debt from the wedding.
When we got married, I feel like I was so immature. Things I thought were so important I don't even remember now. I think if we were to do it all over again, it would be such a simpler day. The best part of our wedding was marrying my sweet husband. 😋
My husband and I paid for a majority of our wedding and it was less than $15,000. We got some money from family to go towards the wedding, reception, and my wedding dress as a gift. We had a perfect wedding in the mountains! We had a small guest list, catered food from Famous Dave’s, I bought all of the decorations at Hobby Lobby on sale, I made our bouquets, the fine China was a beautiful looking plastic kit from Amazon, my friends and I did our own hair and make up. I think it’s worth it to spend a good amount of money on a photographer. Our other expenses were reasonably priced, including all of our dresses & alterations.
You've never seen Princess Bride?... Had to pause video to digest that fact! One of, in not my all time fave movies. At my house, when we watch that movie we can all recite nearly every single line (that includes our kids in their 30's if they are over!) 😂😂😂
I got married in 2012. I had just graduated from nursing school 6 months prior and we had our second baby a year prior, so we had a very low budget. I think we ended up spending about 2k with a 60-person guest list. Granted, we had a lot of help (physical help, not necessarily financial) from family and friends. It can be done on a low budget and still be beautiful. We had the most beautiful wedding and our friends and family said it was the most fun wedding they had ever been to. If I did it all again, I wouldn't have changed a thing.
I was 16 and my husband was 18 when we married in 1956. We knew each other 4 months when we married. Tomorrow will be our 67th anniversary. We both believe in marriage, we both believe in working through the bad times. Hang in there!
A lot of great info! The only thing I wish you had talked about was how in the US there is a tax incentive to getting married. This doesn’t exist in most other countries. I’m curious how this impacts the marriage rate. I follow a Canadian YTr that talked about this (not a financial YTr, actually a beauty YTr, but she worked at the bureau of Canadian statistics) and she talked about how in Canada there isn’t as much pressure to get married and she and her long term partner lived together. When I got divorced it was a shock to my taxes that first year when I had to file as single instead of married and it made a decent difference in my tax rate.
I sure hope George’s book will be on presale next month….I’m observing “no spend November” but if it’s still on presale, that will be the FIRST thing I buy in December!!
My nephew had a 5:00 p.m. wedding at a beautiful venue. My niece is getting married in Sept. at a different venue. And again, it is a 5:00 p.m. wedding. I recently asked a young man if 5:00 p.m. weddings was a new trend. He said it is so expensive to get married. 5:00 p.m. weddings are a bit less expensive.
The average woman has never been as interested in marriage as other objectives in life, and the average man is finally giving up on the pursuit due to lowered benefits relative to his inputs required, which remain unchanged.
My Mother in law wrote down every dime she spent for reception food and dress. Total wedding was under $1000, (1985). Nuts, home made mints, (my wife and I made them in her mom’s kitchen), cake and fruit punch. I was a chef at the time, and made a real nice sandwich buffet for the rehearsal dinner. We rented a condo in the Rockies for $35. Back then there was no Airbnb. We answered an ad in the Omaha World Herald and sent them a check. Talk about trust.
We got married when we were 19. Next month we celebrate our 50th anniversary! Started off with no money, and no debt. We are millionaires now. We have an amazing story!
I got married at 18 to my high school sweetheart and he just turned 19. We're approaching 15 years of marriage. It takes God being the center, work, and sacrificial love and it's worth all of it.
I loved my wedding. We got married in 2021 so there were a lot of covid rules that made planning a headache and cost us some extra money, but we invited about 300 people. We somehow managed to social distance everyone in a large church. In total we spent about $6,500. We paid for things we didn’t have to like all of the outfits for everyone in the wedding party and honorariums for musician friends because we didn’t want finances to keep people we loved from participating in our wedding. We focused mostly on the ceremony and had a to-go cake and punch reception (covid rules). We ended up receiving as much as we spent back in gifts. It was beautiful and we didn’t go into any debt. Good thing too, cause a month or so later my car died. But thankfully we had the money to buy another.
My brother and his fiancee found a house they wanted to buy. They got married by the justice of the peace and bought the house. Then, later in the year, they had a wedding ceremony and reception with family and friends. After the reception, people were invited back to the house. They had a big back yard and so different games were going on. And people could continue to eat and talk. It was nice.
Just worth it. Look on the bright side, they saving over 30k to 100k on a wedding Wedding is expensive And Marriage is also expensive. It's not always double income comming together. It can turn into 1 or finding out your spouse is way above head in debt .
George. Back in the way past day, those days where your family set up your marriage ( see Titanic) Fiscal Security in the spouse was a big thing families looked at.
To answer the question near the end. I keep bread bags and reuse them to store things in the freezer instead of using ziplock bags. They work just as good if you twist it up with the bread clip. You're welcome. :)
Sharon Ramsey's re-use item was dental floss. She gets the 1st place award. I get new floss with each visit to the dentist. I re-use plastic grocery stores like Rachel mentioned.
Marriage is about the stupidest financial thing a man could do. Getting married is signing a contract with a person whom has a financial interest in breaching it. It would be more financially prudent to find someone you hate and buy them a house. Marriage is even dumber than drawing down 8% of your investments in retirement.
@ why do they think it’s expensive to get married- being close with my children’s friends it’s typically a combination of their college debt, the overwhelming pressure of feeling as though they need to be able to provide a home and also of course the cost of a wedding ceremony.
I just got married and my wife and I are extremely frugal. We limited the guest count ect ect and bare minimum spent was 25k. That was with a 400 rehearsal dinner, 1200 florist, 500 dress, 0 tux. We also got in right before serious price increases.
I am going to leave this comment right here. I believe marriage should be easy on both ends in terms of navigating our differences to find common ground. We should complement each other in skills sets so that one can help the other as a team. I think if you have that part down the external challenges outside the marriage will be easier to navigate especially if God is centered around the relationship. Personally...if these qualities are not present...I will not give any dude the time of day. Neither should any woman for that matter. Just food for thought! : )
The best advice I ever got is:
“Marriage isn’t 50/50. Divorce is 50/50. Marriage is showing up for each other 100% of the time and making up the deficit when the other doesn’t have 100% to give”
My uncle told me that on my
Wedding day. Not sure if he read it somewhere or just learned it over the years.
He’s 💯 correct 👍.
That’s really good! I’m glad you posted it.
This is golden🌟
I love it. I have been married 7 years and I feel like that is the best marriage advice I ever got!
❤
If there was a dating app for fiscally proficient people, I wouldn't pay for it, but I'd use the free version!
Hahaha "use the free version"!! Yes. Like Every Dollar. Ha
That would be the first test lol
I can't see likes
😂
My wedding was free at our family church and family baked the cake and cooked the food.
We invested money into homeownership and invested time into counseling and preparing for a life together instead of focusing on a day together
This is my plan. But I do want a nice dress and a good photographer.
Family church free? Most churches charge a fee for the venue and the priest's time. They may call it a suggested donation but it is still a bill.
Marriage with the right partner is the absolute best.
Marriage with the wrong partner is the absolute worst.
Being single is somewhere in between.
Source: my experience
Yes! The right spouse is KEY. Everyone says marriage is hard…. This hasn’t been our experience at all. Same values are huge!
Well said
I have both and you are right.
Absolutely. A spouse can turn hell into heaven...or heaven into hell.
That makes sense to me.
George’s line about how people would rather plan a party than work on their marriage. 😂😅😂😅😂😅😂😅
at least planning a party is fun working on my lifeless marriage would have been an exercise in futility
@@cerbico12 sure, but you can plan a party for something other than a wedding if you just want to have fun planning a party with your friends.
If you can't say "Amen", then you ought to say "Ouch".
I feel like George would like Princess bride. He has to watch it!
Yes George you would like Princess bride
Because our parents’ relationships and divorces traumatized us
I knew I was going to marry my husband after a week. We dated 9 months and have been married 35 years. My parents married after knowing each other 2 months and were married until my dad died 2 weeks before their 46th anniversary! We’re not rich but have all we need and house and vehicles paid for.
Thank you George for your uplifting words toward those who are single (26:31). Being 47 and never married and no children, I get tired of hearing that married people are in better health, are in better financial shape, and have more satisfying social and family lives. I view this as an old myth that yesterday's society has been told to believe. Marital status might have a little bit, but doesn't have a lot of impact on having these benefits. It's what you do with your life that matters married or single.
Dave has even talked about the marriage advantage; it is real. By & large it tops the statistics of people who are single.
@@OopThereItIs77777I don’t care what Dave thinks, except when it comes to money.
Just because something has benefits doesn't automatically make the other choice bad. It's not just an old myth, though. As a general principal, marriage has been proven to improve financial, physical, and mental health, as well as provide a more satisfying social and family life - but you also give up a lot of spontaneity, flexibility, time, and energy for those benefits.
It's almost like choosing a place to live. I used to live in the Northern US and now I live in the Southern US. I never have to wear a down coat anymore, or shovel snow before I leave, or spend half or more of the year with allergies and colds, or wonder if it will be in the 50s in July - but I gave up 4 distinct seasons, the beauty of a fresh snowfall, the brilliance of a winter sunrise, and the crunch and crispiness of a Northern fall, among other things. The benefits of each place are different, and it's the same for married vs. single.
I’m amazed that people put so much stock in the wedding ceremony. I got married in my dad’s living room. We push the furniture aside, my crazy uncle officiated, and I’ll never forget it. 😂 I was sad about not having my dream, dress and wedding of my imagination, but here we are, 10 years later with six kids. Wouldn’t trade it
Because weddings are all about her and not the groom. Most modern women only want the wedding not the marriage
I just got married and my wife and I are extremely frugal. We limited the guest count ect ect and bare minimum spent was 25k. That was with a 400 rehearsal dinner, 1200 florist, 500 dress, 0 tux. We also got in right before serious price increases.
In Iowa it's free to get married at the courthouse and 35$ for the license
In 2022 I had about 190-200 ppl at my wedding spent $5000 and the only help I had from family is money they used for the food at the rehearsal dinner. Everyone said it was beautiful and that they wouldn’t change a thing. 😊 My wedding is proof it doesn’t have to be expensive to be big. 😂 I wouldn’t be surprised though if we don’t go all out with our budget for our 25th wedding anniversary. 😁
I got married on a cruise ship and was too cheap to pay for the extended photo package and meals for the guests. I think we got to have maybe 10 photos printed, but they wanted like $700 for the CD of all the photos taken. We only invited immediate family and one close friend. After the ceremony, we had cake, and the ship decided to allow our guests to eat from the buffet at no additional charge. My parents years later sailed on the same cruise line, and they purchased our wedding photos for us at that time. It worked out in the end. I have no regrets saving so much on our wedding.
No the ship didnt decide to let you eat free, someone in your group secrectly bought the package but didnt wanna offend you so theydidnt tell you lol
@matthill2957 Definitely not the case. The majority of our family sailed with us, so it was only 4 people that ate even though they didn't sail on the ship. The meal plan with the wedding package would have been a private dinner, while we ate from the main buffet.
I signed our marriage license in Florida last week it was $85. They did offer a discount if you took a pre-marital class beforehand.
Filing divorce papers is a lot more expensive than the marriage license.
@@debbiefried3533Well, if people work, read the books, go on dates, small trips, want to grow together, MARRY SMART, & have a Christ centered marriage…divorce rates don’t matter.
That show, on netflix i think, where they had couples choose if they want to use their savings on a wedding or a house downpayment was insane. I can't imagine spend 50k on one day, let alone spending it on one day when I can only pick one of the two
My parents went through a divorce, my dad took half of my moms retirement so I am all for a pre-nup. No one no mater what should have the ability to ruin my retirement. Also, he has been pulling it out for almost a decade and she isn't retired...neither is he. A prenup is not personal it is the equivalent of wearing a helmet when riding a bike. You don't intend to fall off and hit your head but its there for if you do.
We were married at the court house for free because they had an emergency meeting and we had to wait 2 hours. It's been a wonderful 13 years so far ❤
My husband and I had a wonderful little wedding, married by the JOP outside a cute church in town, party afterward with live music and about 50 family members, bbq catered and desserts from HEB, less than $5000 and more to spend on the honeymoon, no regrets! Everyone I know that spent $20k+ on a wedding regrets it and was stressed out the whole time. We’re debt free and own our home outright so it’s not like we couldn’t afford it, it’s a choice to be frugal and know what’s important to you. The quality of a marriage has nothing to do with how much you spend on your wedding.
I think a simple explanation for why people are getting married later and later is that people now are more likely to think that they should feel like a functional adult before being married or even seriously dating. And in the past people thought that getting married was part of the path to becoming a functional adult or a necessary step to having sex (if concerned about premarital pregnancy)
I honestly think that it’s good that the average marriage age has gone up, birth control has become more prevalent, and the negative stigma to not getting married or getting married later has lessened.
I also think that we have learned more about brain development. One’s brain doesn’t finish developing typically until the mid to upper 20s. So getting married before one’s brain has fully developed is more of a risk.
My son (25) has just gotten engaged (20) and we have discussed with the couple that this will be a cash paid wedding. My husband and I are fortunate enough to be able to afford to help put on a beautiful wedding and great reception. That said we have offered the couple $5000.00 towards expenses. They are planning a fall 2025 wedding and have time to save themselves for expenses above this amount. Now I realize you mentioned the average wedding is $30000.00 but at that point I personally would say how about we make a significant contribution to your house payment. As Rachel mentioned this is only 18 hours of your life. I’ll expand that to say 48 hours of you decorated and clean up yourself. We are blessed that they want to marry at my family farm in our old barn so our venue will be amazing but not expensive and the reception hall is very affordable in our small community. I believe marriage is work but the benefits are amazing. My husband and I just celebrated 30 years and my parents celebrated 50 this year 🎉
Great show👍
Prenups are not just for what you own before marriage. It's also useful to decide on how a divorce split would be like ahead. It's healthier to make those decisions while still in love than when you hate each other.
Plus, everyone has a prenup no matter what. The thing is do you want the government to decide for you or do you want to make that decision before hand?
Congratulations George on your book!!! I preordered already❤ you both make money matters fun, informative and entertaining!!!!!
I use the canned food containers to put my cooking grease in. Once it’s full of grease I throw it away. I used plastic shopping bags for bathroom garbage can liners and for picking up dog poop on walks. I don’t save plastic to-go containers because my cupboards are full of nicer storage containers that I don’t need them. I don’t want to hoard.
Two great items to reuse are Talenti gelato containers, and Classico sauce mason jars. The gelato containers for bathroom supplies or any little thing for your car like change. The sauce mason jars for shaking adult beverages at home instead of buying a drink mixer. Enjoy!
I see I’m not the only one.
Those Telenti gelato containers are great. Very good ice cream as well.
My neighbor collects those Classico jars for kitchen uses.
Rachel’s hair is lookin fabulous this episode.
I love so much how george makes the WHOLE team belly laugh and its so effortlessly
"Why is that my band?" And "Fiscal hot guy" You both are so fun to listen to. Keep it going!
I think most people are realizing sooner than later that marriage isn’t for them compared to previous generations.
My parents are still together, but I've seen a lot of friends' parents and now friends get divorced and it's brutal. And if you're in a no fault state, the guys are the only ones who regret not getting a pre nup. The courts are so biased in favor of the women, it's insane. It's a concern when my girlfriend has health issues and finding a job or keeping employed is very troublesome. I have told her from the start I have no desire to be married to a stay at home mom, I want a partner. She already has a kid and can't have anymore, neither of us want more kids and the kid is almost 10 so there's no need for staying at home. I want to marry her, but I don't want to marry a 28 year old who I have to take care of forever. We're supposed to be partners, supposed to take care of each other. It's not supposed to be one sided, and that's what I'm personally worried about with my relationship.
I dont know if you will see this, but please dont get married. My husband's parents were like this but they got married and had my husband young. My mother in law couldn't work a typical 9-5 job due to medical reasons( he knew this BEFORE they got married) That led to resentment on FIL part and he ended up cheating. They got divorced and she ended up dating other men who shared the " I want a working partner " mentality. None of those obviously worked out. But now that those men are older and in their 60s and have medical problems of their own, they are starting to run back to her because she "could take care of them" and she's was a more "traditional woman". They are now asking for something that they couldn't give themselves 20-30 years ago but now that its them they want to be taken care of...You are are just another of those guys. You're right marriage is partnership...something YOU are not ready for.
Okay, but then you need to be partners in everything. Hire a cleaner or share 50/50, take care of the kid that does exist and needs to be taken care of 50/50 etc etc. Women traditionally and even now (as research shows) perform the majority of that invisible and unpaid labour.
This is also why the courts seem biased toward women, they assume that her not working has saved the husband money by them not having to hire out cleaning, cooking and childcare (which costs more together than a lot of people have as income) and made it possible for them to have work and careers. Women then end up with a major gap in their resume, have no savings and no retirement money when they get out of that marriage if alimony and shared assets didn't exist. Many woman with deadbeat husbands and father's still do end up that way. I'm not saying that women that exploit their husbands don't exist, but it's not as simple as you seem to think.
If you both want different things out of your relationship and marriage, don't get married. But please be aware that there is more work than just paid work.
I know because this is the Ramsey group that needs to be more wholesome content, but it's because of the cost of being married, not because the cost to get married. Anybody can get married for any price. It's what you end up having to give up when that person decides to leave.
My wedding total cost was. $75 in the local church. Our dinner was paid for by a friend (went to a restaurant) and no reception we spent $3000 on our honeymoon and it was wonderful. No fancy wedding. Just Jeans and Shirt attire just lobed casual. But we had all of our friends and family and we had a great time. We live a frugal lifestyle and love it. No credit cards here and no debt. My husband is a boomer and I am gen x. Married over 22 years. Love your show.
Been binge watching since we saw you at the marriage and money seminar. Love every episode!, been married almost 6 years and it’s only getting better !
That was SO much fun! We don’t think we’re going next year as think it will be repetitive but definitely the following year!
Rachel is so gracious and generous with kindness.
These newer generations all experienced and saw what divorce did in the late 80's to 00's when it was just what you did. I'm in my 40's and remember that 95% of all my HS friends had divorced parents. its mind boggling how widely accepted it was. the "science" said, this is fine...you should be happy and people didn't take into account how absolutely screwed it makes your kids. So what came of all that is a healthy skepticism of marriage. people wait longer or don't participate at all now and its largely the fault of their predecessors.
Great episode.
🎯
George is right! Those Costco creme brulee glasses are awesome!
Talk more about Prenups please
I save all of the costco dessert jars, too! I use them to make single serve desserts. I use the chocolate pudding ones as mini cups to make the kids feel fancy with their juice at dinners.
26:44 Exactly, don't marry someone for the primary reason for your financial goals to be met. I am intentionally staying single and working on boosting my income because I want to count on myself and not be desperate to marry someone for money purposes. Comes with the psychology of growing up in a single parent household.
Yay!! You should totally have Winston and Whitney on the channel!!
Each person to be a giver, and each to stay humble and give each other grace
What you Just explain, is one of the main foundations of a good marriage to make it remain as the ultimate team.
I don’t buy a lot of books, but I’m really considering George’s book cause he’s so knowledgeable and funny too.
Thank you!! I’m really proud of it. I think you’ll enjoy it immensely. Appreciate the support.
Congrats George on the book! I can’t wait to order it!
George, did you know you can dilute regular soap to be the foaming soap? And we use the creme brule glasses for sipping glasses or votive candles.
I had been to several large drama filled weddings that were crazy expensive. When I got married I only invited immediate family and one friend each to avoid a drama filled day. I told the venue coordinator this. She laughed and told me there was no such thing as a drama free wedding.
Truer words have never been spoken.
Formal weddings are overrated 😂
25:06
That isn't consistant at all compared to what George usually says. He wouldn't say pull the trigger on a big luxury car and figure out the financial piece later. Why different with marriage? Marriage can completely financially destroy anyone if the wrong partner. As Dave says: just because of something doesn't mean you get a pass on math.
I just got married this last year at the age of thirty four. My wedding causes a total of nine thousand dollars and it was awesome. The honeymoon cost about seven thousand.
App filter for which stage you're on and looking for 😂😂 would be great
Congratulations, George, on your book. I'll pre-order your book as a reward to paying off my next "TD" (Target Debt) in my Debt Snowball
Thanks for the support!!
My husband and I got married young (22/23) and now after 7 years I can fully say marriage has nothing to do with the party you threw for your wedding. Do not go overboard because as soon as it’s over no one cares how much you spent😅Get married or don’t it’s your choice but don’t start your marriage😮 with a mountain of debt!!
I had a very cheap beach wedding in 2016. Some of the guests mocked our wedding. We are happy living in a beautiful home with two kids and a dog with no debt! I am able to stay at home with the kids. They can make fun of us all they want.
A lady i know put it the best ever. she said marriage is give and take, sometimes you've got to do a lot of giving and sometimes you've got to do a lot of taking.
George, my husband & I related to you hard with the Costco crème brueles (we have the jars too and my husband currently uses it for his coffee pour over discard but now we have another future use for it 😂).
My husband is on a total George Kamel kick now ever since the Target receipt hack that you had shared! We say “the George Kamel hack” in our house 😂
You’re a big fan in our home now! My husband even listened to your show now too!
Love this podcast! Keep at it!
What's the target receipt hack??
I don’t remember which episode George shared this in, but it’s regarding returns on the same day. George shared he purchased an item at a target but then went to a different target that same day to return the item due to not needing it. He was informed he couldn’t return it until 24 hours with his receipt because of the way their system works. So he ended up bypassing it by doing a “no receipt” return, haha. I believe those were the details!
Best show i had so much fun!
I spent a little under $3000, and it was a simple but nice. Counting our wedding rings, it was probably $5000. You don't have to go into debt to enjoy the rest of your life with someone!!
35:32 I don’t get plastic grocery bags anymore because I have to pay ten cents per bag.
Thank you please do a video specifically on marketing.
Dave said there is a prenup with Rachel & Winston though; if they divorce, nothing of Ramsey goes to him. That’s a prenup.
Good idea. In today's society, I'd do one too.
Wow how godly of him 😂
@@tmi4507Lol huh? Winston directly benefited from Ramsey as he was on payroll for a while. He made what he was owed. He no longer works on Ramsey. He is owed nothing of RS.
Not true. The money is in a trust that would not be considered marital assets. That’s not the same as a prenup.
I got married at 19, our wedding costs $3000, 300 people there, we had a party and made the invitations, a family friend took on the reception for us and church friends helped decorate, it was beautiful and memorable and did not break the bank!
Sure $3k for 300 people lol What are you leaving out ?
Same! Friends and family did so much for us.
Same, except we had about 100 people there
@@westbccoast nothing... My dress cost $200, cake was $200, Flowers were $500, reception venue was $300, Wedding venue was $700 (It had basic decor that they set up I just added flowers) Favors were $50, Decor for reception and food were the other $1000ish. Food wasn't fancy, but it was good. It was a buffet with fresh fruits, a couple of my favorite soups, sandwiches, salads etc.... The officiant was my childhood pastor and didn't charge, I had some talented friends that did special music during wedding, Dad's friend was DJ at reception(it's his job), and Photographer was a gift. If I had paid for a DJ it would have added another $300 and photographer option I looked at if it wasn't gifted was about $400...
I also believe that marriage is declining because some/many people have been married and then divorced and have lost their belief in the institution. (I was married in 1986 (second marriage) and the costs was $7,000 (all cash.) I wrote and printed and mailed the invitations myself, (stamps) the license, married by our friend the judge, a friend took our photographs, another friend cooked the food and gifted us, $500.00 for the hall for four hours, my burgundy velvet dress and shoes, two $300.00 wedding bands (no diamond) my husband wore an existing suit. The biggest expense of all was to pay for the plane tickets for our two 20 something age sons to fly in for the event.
Love this show, you two are so fun.
It makes me sad that people don't want to get married. I am happily married and feel so much peace knowing we have each other to lean on.
It’s best to talk like that when in your 70s or at one or the other bedside like my mom when dad passed away.
Every single person I know who talked prematurely like that the past 25 years is divorced now.
@@blackworldtraveler37111:26 I'm 60. I don't think that is prematurely. I'm sad most of the people you know are divorced.
Alas, not everyone ends up HAPPILY MARRIED, that is the gamble you take, and some of us aren't willing to take it!! I am older now and have some assets I don't want my future husband taking 50% of them should it not work out!
@@tjgolabek
Is everything sad with you?
No big deal to me who’s married or divorced. Just is what it is.
My girlfriend and I been together since 2001without government contract.
@@blackworldtraveler3711 good luck to both of you
I like James Sextons and Chris Rocks take on Prenups. It’s a hard conversation but people change and unfortunately marriages end. It’s like car insurance. I don’t expect to get into an accident but I’m covered if I do
Love your show
Husband and I eloped. Wedding license was about $20. Our rings are plain gold bands ~$300. I wore a cute cocktail dress and bought a beautiful bouquet $400. We hired an officiant $500 and a freelance photographer from yelp $900. Went to Central Park for our vows and took some beautiful photos. Bought a nice bottle of champagne at a fancy restaurant $300 and ended up in a honeymoon suite ❤ $700
We got married in 2014. I planned it all myself and it cost $5000. It still had all the usual wedding itinerary. This price also included renting 5 cabins for our traveling family and friends and our 5 day cruise to the Bahamas for our honeymoon. Nobody needs to start a marriage in debt from the wedding.
When we got married, I feel like I was so immature. Things I thought were so important I don't even remember now. I think if we were to do it all over again, it would be such a simpler day. The best part of our wedding was marrying my sweet husband. 😋
George you have to watch the Princess Bride!!! SOON!
My husband and I paid for a majority of our wedding and it was less than $15,000. We got some money from family to go towards the wedding, reception, and my wedding dress as a gift. We had a perfect wedding in the mountains! We had a small guest list, catered food from Famous Dave’s, I bought all of the decorations at Hobby Lobby on sale, I made our bouquets, the fine China was a beautiful looking plastic kit from Amazon, my friends and I did our own hair and make up. I think it’s worth it to spend a good amount of money on a photographer. Our other expenses were reasonably priced, including all of our dresses & alterations.
You've never seen Princess Bride?... Had to pause video to digest that fact! One of, in not my all time fave movies. At my house, when we watch that movie we can all recite nearly every single line (that includes our kids in their 30's if they are over!) 😂😂😂
It is very easy for George and Rachel to wax philosophical about how "love is out there for you." when they have never been divorced.
Guilty as Charged: I keep m&m mini tubes to store quarters in.
What are your thoughts on prenups if one person has a substantial amount of assets before marriage
After watching my parents spend >$1million on a divorce after a 12 year marriage, I couldn’t ever allow myself to have the same problem
That seems excessive
@@mulletsquirrelI was there. It WAS excessive.
They were litigating over the divorce and custody for more than 10 years
@@nonope4390 holy balls that's insane
George...we already think you're the coolest guy on earth!!!
I got married in 2012. I had just graduated from nursing school 6 months prior and we had our second baby a year prior, so we had a very low budget. I think we ended up spending about 2k with a 60-person guest list. Granted, we had a lot of help (physical help, not necessarily financial) from family and friends. It can be done on a low budget and still be beautiful. We had the most beautiful wedding and our friends and family said it was the most fun wedding they had ever been to. If I did it all again, I wouldn't have changed a thing.
I was 16 and my husband was 18 when we married in 1956. We knew each other 4 months when we married. Tomorrow will be our 67th anniversary. We both believe in marriage, we both believe in working through the bad times. Hang in there!
A lot of great info! The only thing I wish you had talked about was how in the US there is a tax incentive to getting married. This doesn’t exist in most other countries. I’m curious how this impacts the marriage rate. I follow a Canadian YTr that talked about this (not a financial YTr, actually a beauty YTr, but she worked at the bureau of Canadian statistics) and she talked about how in Canada there isn’t as much pressure to get married and she and her long term partner lived together. When I got divorced it was a shock to my taxes that first year when I had to file as single instead of married and it made a decent difference in my tax rate.
I sure hope George’s book will be on presale next month….I’m observing “no spend November” but if it’s still on presale, that will be the FIRST thing I buy in December!!
It will be! Get it when it’s in the budget! Thanks for the support ❤
Good luck on no spend November!! I did it in February because it’s shorter 😆
My nephew had a 5:00 p.m. wedding at a beautiful venue. My niece is getting married in Sept. at a different venue. And again, it is a 5:00 p.m. wedding. I recently asked a young man if 5:00 p.m. weddings was a new trend. He said it is so expensive to get married. 5:00 p.m. weddings are a bit less expensive.
LOL George calling out the male marriage cynics in the youtube comments
And I was 1000% right.
The average woman has never been as interested in marriage as other objectives in life, and the average man is finally giving up on the pursuit due to lowered benefits relative to his inputs required, which remain unchanged.
What if you feel no desire to get married?
My Mother in law wrote down every dime she spent for reception food and dress. Total wedding was under $1000, (1985). Nuts, home made mints, (my wife and I made them in her mom’s kitchen), cake and fruit punch. I was a chef at the time, and made a real nice sandwich buffet for the rehearsal dinner. We rented a condo in the Rockies for $35. Back then there was no Airbnb. We answered an ad in the Omaha World Herald and sent them a check. Talk about trust.
Ha ha love it! I believe you found the title of your next book George...Fiscally Hot People. Could be a dating app too... ha
We got married when we were 19. Next month we celebrate our 50th anniversary! Started off with no money, and no debt. We are millionaires now. We have an amazing story!
I got married at 18 to my high school sweetheart and he just turned 19. We're approaching 15 years of marriage. It takes God being the center, work, and sacrificial love and it's worth all of it.
Also each person to be a giver, and each to stay humble and give each other grace
You are spot on. A Christ centered marriage is more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. That was not the case with my parents
Princess Diaries and Princess Bride are actually both brilliant movies. Not ashamed to say it.
I loved my wedding. We got married in 2021 so there were a lot of covid rules that made planning a headache and cost us some extra money, but we invited about 300 people. We somehow managed to social distance everyone in a large church. In total we spent about $6,500. We paid for things we didn’t have to like all of the outfits for everyone in the wedding party and honorariums for musician friends because we didn’t want finances to keep people we loved from participating in our wedding.
We focused mostly on the ceremony and had a to-go cake and punch reception (covid rules). We ended up receiving as much as we spent back in gifts. It was beautiful and we didn’t go into any debt. Good thing too, cause a month or so later my car died. But thankfully we had the money to buy another.
My brother and his fiancee found a house they wanted to buy. They got married by the justice of the peace and bought the house. Then, later in the year, they had a wedding ceremony and reception with family and friends. After the reception, people were invited back to the house. They had a big back yard and so different games were going on. And people could continue to eat and talk. It was nice.
Just worth it. Look on the bright side, they saving over 30k to 100k on a wedding
Wedding is expensive
And
Marriage is also expensive.
It's not always double income comming together. It can turn into 1 or finding out your spouse is way above head in debt .
George. Back in the way past day, those days where your family set up your marriage ( see Titanic) Fiscal Security in the spouse was a big thing families looked at.
To answer the question near the end. I keep bread bags and reuse them to store things in the freezer instead of using ziplock bags. They work just as good if you twist it up with the bread clip. You're welcome. :)
Will it be available as an Audio Book?
Yes! You get the enhanced audiobook for free when you preorder. Thanks for the support!
Sharon Ramsey's re-use item was dental floss. She gets the 1st place award. I get new floss with each visit to the dentist. I re-use plastic grocery stores like Rachel mentioned.
George ascending on his Kirkland cloud crasked me up 😂
Marriage is about the stupidest financial thing a man could do. Getting married is signing a contract with a person whom has a financial interest in breaching it. It would be more financially prudent to find someone you hate and buy them a house. Marriage is even dumber than drawing down 8% of your investments in retirement.
Thanks for be a pro Marriage!! we need more families in our country.
I definitely *didn’t* get on just to say you have to watch the Princess Bride….I also wanted to say hi 3:48
@ why do they think it’s expensive to get married- being close with my children’s friends it’s typically a combination of their college debt, the overwhelming pressure of feeling as though they need to be able to provide a home and also of course the cost of a wedding ceremony.
I just got married and my wife and I are extremely frugal. We limited the guest count ect ect and bare minimum spent was 25k. That was with a 400 rehearsal dinner, 1200 florist, 500 dress, 0 tux. We also got in right before serious price increases.
I am going to leave this comment right here. I believe marriage should be easy on both ends in terms of navigating our differences to find common ground. We should complement each other in skills sets so that one can help the other as a team. I think if you have that part down the external challenges outside the marriage will be easier to navigate especially if God is centered around the relationship.
Personally...if these qualities are not present...I will not give any dude the time of day. Neither should any woman for that matter.
Just food for thought! : )