by Nicole Ouellette | Aug 14, 2009 | Personal Finance Tips
I’ve always wanted to do a series about inexpensive but great weddings and since it’s a busy end of the week, I thought you’d appreciate getting to know a few more cool people. The following three days will feature three couples and how they had the day of their dreams without sticker shock.
The Happy Couple: Cherie and Michael
Location of Wedding: Jordan Pond, reception at Hulls Cove Schoolhouse (on Mount Desert Island, Maine)
Date: October 4, 2003
Total Cost of Wedding: around $3000
Tell us about your wedding day. (How many people were there, what was the ceremony like, overall impressions, etc.) We got married outside on the lawn at the Jordan Pond House, with about 80 people watching. The wedding was officiated by the Deputy Town Clerk using our own twist on a traditional secular ceremony. We chose October with the hopes that we would have good foliage (we were actually a little early for it that year, but it was still pretty). We didn’t have a wedding party, so we picked our witnesses by drawing random numbers (we had numbered everyone’s programs). We purposefully kept the ceremony short and personal. I wore a simple blue silk dress; Michael actually agreed to wear a suit–which we had to buy because he didn’t own one. That was actually the second most expensive part of the wedding.
by Nicole Ouellette | Aug 10, 2009 | Personal Finance Tips
Why I’m Keeping My Old Car
In the middle of this winter, on a sad day, I looked down at my odometer which was at roughly 95,000 miles. I vowed to myself I would be in a really interesting place when it turned 100,000. That event should be happening sometime in the next month.
I have the quintessential Maine car: a 2002 Subaru Forrester. It has taken me up mountains and through snow storms. It is an unassuming silver color, a great hider of dirt. And when you open the door, it smells slightly like a mixture of slightly stale coffee and my dog. It is not beautiful but certainly functional.
I would like to say I am not particularly attached to this car. I bought it after the car I actually loved plowed into a moose about four years ago. I still haven’t forgotten what it’s like to plow into 700 pounds of massive animal going 60 miles per hour. My car was of course totalled.
I was moving the week after the accident though and if I wasn’t going to buy a car before I moved, it would take me awhile to get one after. The nearest car dealerships were over an hour from my new island home and as anyone who visits Maine knows, there is almost no mass transit here. In short, to be independent outside of Portlant, you need a car.
I’ve considered Cash for Clunkers (CARS as the acronym for the Car Allowance Refund Program). I’ve ultimately decided against it. Here’s a few reasons why:
by Nicole Ouellette | Jun 8, 2009 | Personal Finance Tips
This weekend, I was in Québec City with Beth, a woman I tutor in French. Her husband and her were kind enough to offer me the trip. Beth proceeded to pay for everything while on the trip (Tom stayed behind, probably to revel in bachelorhood and let us speak French all...
by Nicole Ouellette | May 31, 2009 | Personal Finance Tips
This week, after realizing I overspent my grocery budget, I decided to not to go to the grocery store and live exclusively on what I had in the house.
Additional observations (see yesterday’s post for part one):
by Nicole Ouellette | Jan 12, 2009 | Personal Finance Tips
Living Small Forces Means Thinking Different About Saving Money When I lived in a house (or really a multi-room dwelling). I was a big fan of money saving practices like buying in bulk, making food ahead of time, and holding onto things for future use. Moving from...
I’ve always wanted to do a series about inexpensive but great weddings and since it’s a busy end of the week, I thought you’d appreciate getting to know a few more cool people. The following three days will feature three couples and how they had the day of their dreams without sticker shock. 