Sometimes it’s really hard to not overspend. Life can throw you a loop, and you have few choices other than to keep spending. But it’s not fun when you have limited funds.

Take my situation right now. Bridesmaid in my sister’s wedding. Even with her buying the dress (a huge savings for me), there are expenses that really don’t fit comfortably in a tight budget. New shoes because the old ones don’t fit anymore. Makeup because I rarely wear it and what I have is six years old. Bridal shower supplies. You get the idea.

At times like this it pays to combine finding cheap with finding good quality. The shoes I chose will be good for more than just the wedding. Always nice to have a decent pair of dress shoes, and I found them online at a good discount over what I would have paid locally.

The bridal shower was kept simple, mostly desserts, and combined shopping with other bridesmaids. It helped a lot.

Nonetheless, even with my goal of paying down credit card debts, some had to go on them. But we did work to minimize the issues.