2015-09-27
Cutting Costs, Not Corners
Your engagement is a heady time, filled with love, romance – and too often, an overwhelming amount of financial stress. It seems like as soon as the question’s been popped, you’re worrying about trimming the guest list and how you’ll afford all the vendors, food, and venue you want. So what do you do? Wake up the morning after the proposal and decide to start saving now, in the hopes you’ll be able to afford your dream wedding three years down the road? Max out your credit cards for the sake of having a martini bar? Take a loan on your 401k to pay for your wedding dress? These are serious questions for a lot of couples, especially if they’re not particularly well-off. But there are better ways to deal with the financial burdens of what’s supposed to be one of the happiest, not most stressful, days in your life. You can always take the personal loan route, but there are plenty of ways to reduce wedding costs before you reach that point.
1. Get creative and DIY.
Limited funds doesn’t automatically translate to limited wedding options. Pinterest, Etsy, and the countless wedding blogs out there are filled with fun, beautiful ideas that will keep you well within your means. And if hand-crafting your favors or learning calligraphy to write your invitations seems like too much of a time-suck, remember that you’re not in this alone. Most people are eager to be involved in the wedding planning, so take advantage of their talents. Your crafty mom can make centerpieces, your college roommate can apply her accounting skills to tracking the budget, and your sister will be thrilled to show off her culinary prowess by baking you a unique and delicious cake. Let people know that you’re looking for quality wedding deals, as well. You’d be surprised at who in your network is related to a great hairdresser or can hook you up with a solid DJ at a discounted rate.
2. Crowdfund your honeymoon.
With so many people living together before tying the knot, many already have all the appliances, flatware, and bedding they need. But they don’t always have the savings to cover their dream weddings and their dream honeymoons. If you’ve got all the bath towels and wine glasses you can handle, consider asking loved ones to help you pay for that first trip as a married couple. Credit Sesame recommends using a site like OurWishingWell.com to encourage guests to give money instead of household gifts. Honeyfund.com was built specifically for this purpose, and it offers a breakdown of honeymoon packages so people can chip in where they’re able. For instance, the registry for an Italian getaway includes a set of rail passes at $45 a piece, a $90 candlelit dinner, and airline miles. The cost for bigger ticket items, like the flights, is broken down into several smaller gifts of $60 or so each. This allows a group of guests to contribute toward the cost, instead of making the bigger ask of several thousand for the entire plane trip. Marketplace lending is another option.
3. Rent your wedding gown.
This can be a tough one to swallow if you grew up envisioning yourself in a custom white dress that you’d pass down through the generations in your family. But wedding gowns are a huge expense, especially for a single day’s use. Brides on a budget often find themselves stuck between spending outside their comfort zones to have their perfect dresses or settling for a less costly (and less exciting) gown. Rental and pre-owned options give brides a much wider range of possibilities that won’t break the bank. Rent the Runway’s bridal collection includes a number of designer pieces for a fraction of the retail cost, and BorrowingMagnolia offers rentals that fit a number of budgets. And when you’re not shopping to own, you can likely afford a nicer dress or a more exclusive designer brand than you would if it was a permanent purchase.
4. Nix the frivolous traditions.
Sit down with your future spouse, decide on your must-haves for the ceremony and reception, and feel free to eliminate anything that doesn’t feel authentic. People often assume they need to include all the traditional elements, such as a religious service, a sit-down dinner, elaborate printed programs, and a multi-tiered cake. But each of those details costs money that you could spend on more important priorities, such as the band, or the cocktail hour, or a swanky suite for your wedding night. If you’re going by the Facebook albums your old high school classmates are posting, it’s easy to assume your wedding has to be an over-the-top affair that puts you tens of thousands of dollars in debt. But if you’re willing to do a little leg-work and let your loved ones lend a hand, you can have your perfect day and keep your savings in tact, too.
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MoneyLion
MoneyLion Wins “Best Financial Literacy Tool” and “Best API” at Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards
MoneyLion’s consumer and enterprise businesses were recognized as winners of Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards at this year’s Fintech Deal Day
New York, December 14, 2022-- MoneyLion Inc. (“MoneyLion”) (NYSE: ML), the go-to destination for personalized financial content, products and advice, is proud to announce that it has been named “Best Financial Literacy Tool” at Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards. MoneyLion’s enterprise business, Even Financial, was also named as the winner for “Best API.”
MoneyLion and Even Financial were honored alongside other top Fintechs, banks, research companies and more. MoneyLion’s consumer business continues to push financial literacy through innovative and personalized content. With the MoneyLion app, users can view personalized financial content in short-form video format and receive personalized financial product recommendations such as loans, insurance and investing. As MoneyLion’s enterprise offering, Even Financial digitally connects and matches consumers with real-time personalized product recommendations from banks, insurance carriers, and Fintech companies on mobile apps, websites and other digital touchpoints through its financial product search engine and Embedded Finance Marketplace technology. This technology powers both the MoneyLion Marketplace, in the MoneyLion app, as well as more than 1,000 enterprise partners.
“We’re thrilled MoneyLion’s consumer and enterprise businesses were recognized by Benzinga,” said Dee Choubey, Co-Founder and CEO of MoneyLion. “Both awards showcase MoneyLion’s every time you money approach to helping our customers. The financial literacy gap is a huge problem for millions of Americans and we remain committed to reducing its effects through engaging, informative content and key partnerships designed to bring an elevated educational experience to all.”
These awards follow the October announcement of MoneyLion University, where MoneyLion launched its latest initiative aimed at closing the gap in money and financial education across the United States.
“We could not be more pleased with Benzinga’s recognition of our company’s API technology,” stated Phill Rosen, CEO and Founder of Even Financial. “Our technology natively integrates real-time credit decisions and product recommendations from the industry’s largest network of connected financial services providers, offering access and choice to consumers searching for financial products. Our elegant Embedded Finance Marketplace, API and search engine enable any company to add trusted, personalized financial products and services to their business, reaching people when and where they need it.”
Even Financial has been named a listmaker for the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards for the last two years and was a previous award winner. In 2021, Even was selected as a listmaker for Best API and, in 2020, selected as a listmaker for both Best API and Best API Platform. In 2019, Even was awarded the Benzinga Rocky Award.
The annual Benzinga Global Fintech Awards take pride in recognizing and honoring the companies and individuals who are propelling the Fintech and financial services industry forward with the most impressive technology advancements and innovations. A panel of industry experts from a wide range of companies reviewed and judged the nominations. Winners were announced at Benzinga’s Fintech Deal Day on December 8, 2022, where MoneyLion’s Chief Customer Officer Cynthia Kleinbaum spoke on the panel, Expert Growth Hacks For Reaching Underserved Markets.
About MoneyLion MoneyLion is the go-to destination for personalized financial content, products and advice. MoneyLion’s mission is to rewire the financial system to positively change the path of every hard-working American. MoneyLion uses its proprietary data advantage and technology to empower its customers. MoneyLion engages and educates its customers with daily, hyper-personalized money-related and money-adjacent content that is delivered through each customer’s own content feed. MoneyLion provides its customers a full suite of financial and non-financial solutions, bundling its proprietary, low-cost financial products with products that are offered through its marketplace technology and network affiliate partners. MoneyLion also leverages its distinct data, technology, and network advantages to deliver leading embedded finance and marketplace solutions for enterprise customers. Since its founding in 2013, MoneyLion has empowered millions of Americans to take control of their finances and live their best financial life, every day.
For more information about the company, visit https://www.moneylion.com/ and https://www.evenfinancial.com. For investor information and updates, visit investors.moneylion.com and follow @MoneyLionIR on Twitter.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221214006032/en/
MoneyLion Communications [email protected]
Caliber Corporate Advisers [email protected]
Even Financial [email protected]
Built In
Even Named A Built In “2023 Best Places to Work”
New York, Jan. 11, 2023 -- Even Financial ("Even"), an independent subsidiary of MoneyLion Inc. (NYSE: ML), and a leading embedded finance marketplace platform, is proud to announce that it was honored in Built In’s “2023 Best Places To Work” Awards. Specifically, Even earned a place on the Hybrid Best Places to Work in New York.
The Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honors companies across numerous categories, sizes, remote-first employers as well as in person and hybrid working companies across the U.S.
Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits, and also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, as well as other people-first cultural offerings.
This announcement follows Even’s recent win at the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards for “Best API.”
About Even Financial
Even is the industry-leading embedded financial marketplace and independent subsidiary of MoneyLion Inc. (“MoneyLion”) (NYSE: ML). MoneyLion is a leading digital financial services and lifestyle content platform serving both consumer and enterprise customers. As part of MoneyLion’s enterprise offering, Even digitally connects and matches consumers with real-time, personalized financial product recommendations from banks, insurance carriers, and fintech companies on mobile apps, websites, and other digital touchpoints through its marketplace technology. Even's infrastructure leverages machine learning and advanced data science to solve a significant pain point in financial services customer acquisition, seamlessly bridging financial services providers (such as SoFi) and channel partners (such as TransUnion) via its industry-leading API and embedded finance marketplaces. Even enables any company to add financial products to its business, with full compliance and security at scale. Even was named one of "America's Best Startup Employers'' by Forbes for 2022 and was named to the 2021 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, which recognizes the fastest growing tech companies in the world. Learn more at www.evenfinancial.com and investors.moneylion.com.