emily being creative

There are so many options out there for bridesmaids gifts!

I loved finding gifts for my bridesmaids and trying to keep the cost low (since there were 6 of them!)

1. Personalized Robes

Something I knew I wanted to get each of them for sure was personalized robes.
When do you ever get something personalized for yourself? It was really important to me that everyone got something special to them. There were so many options to choose from but I really wanted to keep the cost low! Luckily for me I had a few options because I was buying them right around Black Friday - but!! the robes I bought are still on sale!

The Robes I Purchased:

From the Knot.com $17.99

Other Options

OurLoveStoryCoShop - Etsy.com $20-$25

2. Pashminas

Since I was getting married in December and I had picked out really strappy dresses for my girls, I knew I wanted to get them some kind of shaw for them to wear outside or if they got chilly etc. So I ended up buying pashminas from MiaKraftsShop on etsy & love it.

The Ones I Purchased:

From: MiaKraftsShop - Etsy.com $40 (with Shipping for 6)

3. Candles

A really cost-effective part of the box was the candles. I got each bridesmaid a mini candle to fill some space within their box! Guess where these candles were from ... the dollar store! The dollar store has awesome candles if that's your thing. I am not much of a big candle person now so if I could do it again, I'd probably include oil rollers because I LOVE my essential oils.

4. Candy

I just added some chocolates to everyone's box just to fill some space and add something sweet.

The box itself also came from the dollar store. They were selling Christmas gift boxes for the holidays and I noticed the bottom part of the box was white (score!) I bought 4 packs of 3 for a whopping $4. It was awesome.

I was on a serious budget - but I still wanted to make sure my girls knew that I appreciated them being a part of my wedding and this is what I could do.

Total for 6 boxes : $161.00

Yikes. It's true. We are newlyweds, 22, and $47500 in debt.

We decided after months of financial arguments in pre-marital counseling that we needed to be in control of our money and not let our money have control of us. In January we looked our $47,500 of debt straight in the eyes and said goodbye (with it went our comfortable lifestyle)!

Since then we traded my new fancy car, killed the credit card and its debt, and now are working our way through student loans.

When we got engaged, I was living my best life. Working full time at a job I didn't love for low pay and doing well saving. Except for the fact that I bought a car and still had a ton of student loans. I look back on that time and wish I would've put all of my money into loans while they weren't collecting interest.

Now we have to pay the price.

We read through Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" and started budgeting out how we'd make this work. We were scared of making such a big life change because Tom was in the first year of being self-employed and I was our primary provider making $35,000 a year in the # 1 wealthiest county in PA.

We started making changes.

We traded my car.

We started the envelope system.

We made a budget.

We started our snowball.

And now we're sharing our story and tips on how we're getting creative to save an extra buck. This is our journey. If you're in debt too, you're not alone.