The cost of attending your bestie's wedding

Is your bestie getting married this season? If so, you probably heard her complain about how expensive her dress, makeup and decorations are. Plus, add elaborate jewellery, gifts for her in-laws, and the cost of her dresses for dinner parties to that too- which amounts to Rs. 800%$#@%%!

Wait!!! Before you breathe a sigh of relief that this is not you, as her best friend, you are in for a bite-sized investment yourself. Think about this, if she is having three events and you are invited to all of them, you will naturally need 3 dresses, 1 pre-event parlour visit for basic things like wax, eyebrows, facial, manicure and pedicure, then makeup and hair done on event days, transport to and from the venue (if you aren't using your own car) and her gift.

Here is what prices look like nowadays.

• Basic parlor services (package) - PKR 5,000- PKR 10,000

• 1 formal dress- PKR 8,000-20,000 (obviously you can go as high as you want, this is the average)

• Party makeup from a good salon- PKR 5,000- 20,000

• Hair from a good salon- PKR 2,000- 5,000

• Transport- PKR 3,000 for three days (obviously depends on the distance and the service you are using)

• Gift- PKR 3,000 and above (it depends on how generous you are)

Even if we accumulate the bottom bracket of all of these services, you need approximately PKR 50,000 to attend a close friend's wedding comfortably and the sky's the limit after that. It obviously depends on your tastes and preferences. However, it is a considerable expenditure that you need to prepare for.

No, don't bail out on her. Start saving with Oraan in a committee. It won't seem like a big deal if you save a little at a time. We promise.

Join a committee here!

Travelogues I- Before you Go, Get the plan going

Photo by ian dooley on Unsplash

A dream vacation may sound perfect at first, but without the right budgeting and planning, it can turn out to be as good as your phone’s alarm going off or an early morning wake up call from your boss. Below are some tips and tricks on how to plan a real life vacation without any nasty alarms or surprises.

The price of dreams — Travel Budget

Before taking any real financial action, you should decide not only on a destination that will fit with your vacation plan but also your budget. If you are on a tight budget, avoid costly destinations. Once your next adventure has been picked, the next step is to set up a budget! When preparing a budget, do not underestimate the expenses you will be occurring in order to make yourself feel better. Be realistic and do your research when you are trying to come up with a budget, this will help you get a better idea of how much you will have to save.

Budgets must include items such as flight tickets, food, accommodations, transportation and activities. If you are at the beginning of the process in deciding what you will do during your next adventure and need to estimate some costs, it is always better to overestimate the costs and plan ahead! If you end up by paying less than planned, that is money that can do directly towards your savings account.

Just In time — Planning before for a journey forward

Just like when a financial advisor is trying to guide you about investments, the most important thing when it comes to planning a trip is time. The earlier you plan your trip and start saving for it, the easier (and less painful) it will be to reach your savings goal. Also, should you decide to go on a more expensive trip or decide to spend more during your getaway, proper time management will allow you to work towards saving more money.

Photo by Philipp Kämmerer on Unsplash

Planning your next move — Establish a strategy

It is rare that travellers have all the money they need at the time they are planning their trip. Therefore, you need a plan that you must put in place and stick to it! For example, why not put aside 10% of your payroll every 2 weeks in a savings account? A creative way to save more money would be to put a smaller amount aside every pay-check. A surefire way is to find a travel circle with Oraan. Obviously, it is always easier and more manageable to save a small amount more frequently than trying to save a larger amount at once, within a community that’s motivating each other as they have the same goals. It is like giving yourself a salary every two weeks after paying all your other (less funny) expenses.

A little extra takes you another mile — Side gigs

When you are trying to save for a future travel and vacations, try and support your savings by getting some extra financial funds apart from your regular income to support your travel budget. Whether it is finding a second part time job working from home, or whether it is putting in extra hours at your job and getting paid overtime, any extra funds that you can put towards your travel fund will make your holiday easier and more enjoyable. By creating an Oraan Circle that can be geared towards saving for travel, you can find other like minded individuals that can not only help you with your travel budget but can help you help you achieve the goal that is your dream vacation!

Saving Grace — A guide for women to preserve their financial well-being

There is an immense amount of emotional labour that is part of a woman’s financial capital.

The economics of independence, perceptions of decision making capacities and the ability to speak for oneself as a woman is heavily dependant on a woman’s personal wealth. The credibility assigned to her person, her navigation and her freedom to make choices for herself is dictated by the economic viability of her self ownership.

Photo by Sarah Cervantes on Unsplash

Collectively women today have to work towards their own individual goals, establish boundaries, use social capital and set precedents across an uncharted social terrain.

The kind of resilience required to uphold their sense of selves without giving in to the cultural imagination that undermines their personal lives is an immensely taxing process.

Women founders will also be raising children, managing relationships and whatever life throws at them with the same force and focus they scale companies. Their self actualisation equips them to be a better resource professionally and more insightful beings.

Oraan’s initiative takes the financial well being of this breed of trail blazers and as we aim to set precedents, the absence of financial literacy comes forth.

In order to balance the disequilibrium within the professional and personal landscape, the monetary capital that women acquire needs to shed it’s trivialisation.

Photo by Matthew Guay on Unsplash

Financial Independence brings a security that is imperative to the well being of women multitasking effectively in their various roles. However, due to traditionally dismissive attitudes of a woman’s personal wealth, her capacity to save efficiently diminishes.

With a simple 5 step guide that is part of our financial literacy series, we can enable a shift towards dialogues and community building. It will also serve as a handbook through which individual saving systems can be designed as per relevant contexts.

Here’s a quick simple compilation of the first 5 basics of efficient money management:

1. The 30/40 rule — After 30 days of an eternity, the pay-check you receive is better than any knight in shining armour. It seems endless, a forever ever after of monetary bliss. It’s not though. The 30/40 rule makes sure you get to live the rewards of your own story on your own terms. Remove 30 percent of your pay check and ideally save it in a separate account that has no cards and is inaccessible unless you have to stand in the line at the bank for three hours and have the teller inform you that their working hours are over by the time you get to him.

2. Need vs. Want — Make a clear distinction between what is essential and what may not be priority but driven by impulse or desire. Separate the two. Once you have the essentials separated from the whimsical, your assigned amounts of respective spending will be informed from the get go.

3. Budgeting — Identify all necessary expenses and budget for them at the start of the month. Make budgeting a monthly activity rather than something you would do in times of financial stress.

4. Access to financial expertise — With our platform, we can collectively begin to create inroads to money management help required and customise as per individual need. Not all of us are born with razor sharp monetary acumen. This should be no reason to hinder your economic capital. Reach out and ask for help when financial struggles arise. There is an innate shame that women carry and it’s pronounced when it comes to money. At Oraan, we do away with presumptions and aim to be your financial therapists. With our specialised expertise, it’s a reassuring safe space to get help.

5. Retail therapy is real — Yes, you deserve a new pair of shoes or that bag of your dreams. You’ve worked hard and it’s only fair to treat yourself as a gesture of self care. Nurturing resentment that is most likely to follow will hurt both your professional and personal output. Set aside a sum that is only meant as a reward from you to yourself. It’s the least you deserve after the never ending days of drudgery.

#Budgeting #Savings #Investment #Financial #Literacy #Oraan #SaveTodayForTomorrow