“The summer celebration season becomes quite a serious additional expense item for many residents, and the biggest expenses are required for wedding celebrations. Moreover, residents feel pressure to spend more on gifts than their financial capabilities allow, which shows that the summer celebration budget in Lithuania is still strongly influenced by social expectations,” says Justina Bagdanavičiūtė, Head of Financial Literacy at Swedbank.
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Research data reveals that one third of respondents plan to allocate 201–300 euros for a single wedding gift this summer, and another 24% plan to spend more than 300 euros. Meanwhile, smaller amounts are more often planned for other summer celebrations. For example, almost three quarters of respondents plan to allocate up to 200 euros for anniversaries, and 84% for christenings.
According to J. Bagdanavičiūtė, budgets for different celebrations often reflect their different emotional and social weight.
“Weddings in Lithuania are still considered one of the most important life celebrations, so guest expenses for them are usually the highest. Meanwhile, for anniversaries or christenings, residents tend to set clearer financial limits and more often seek a balance between the desire to congratulate loved ones and their real financial capabilities,” comments J. Bagdanavičiūtė.
Several celebrations – a hole in the budget?
According to J. Bagdanavičiūtė, summer celebration expenses often become significant not because of one specific occasion, but because of their abundance in a short period. As the survey shows, the majority of residents will attend one or two celebrations this summer, but there are also those who plan to attend three or more celebrations.
“If 200–300 euros or more are allocated for one wedding, attending several celebrations can quickly become a very significant amount. Especially because summer celebrations rarely involve only one expense item – in addition to the gift or ‘envelope,’ clothing, travel, other purchases, and services often add up. Even more – a significant portion of residents feel obliged to give larger gifts or sums in envelopes than their financial capabilities allow, which puts serious pressure on the budget,” says J. Bagdanavičiūtė.
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However, although residents state the amounts they plan to allocate for celebrations, they much less often prepare for them in advance. Only a quarter of respondents say they regularly set aside savings for such occasions, a third do so occasionally, and 48% cover celebration expenses from current funds.
“The consequences of this, as the survey shows, are not very favorable for residents’ financial health. Almost a third say they have to adjust their savings plans because of celebrations, the same proportion have to postpone other purchases, and a fifth say they use existing savings for celebration gifts and preparations,” notes J. Bagdanavičiūtė.
To avoid financial anxiety after celebrations
According to J. Bagdanavičiūtė, to avoid the negative impact of the celebration season on financial health, it is important to properly assess your financial capabilities and plan the budget.
“The key word here is ‘planning.’ Planning such expenses is not limited to the amount we consider allocating for one celebration; it is necessary to assess how such occasions will affect the budget for the whole month or even several months. If, after evaluating the overall picture, it becomes clear that celebration expenses start to compete with other important or even essential needs, it is worth reconsidering your plans. After all, the presence together at an important life event is much more important to loved ones than the amount in the envelope,” comments J. Bagdanavičiūtė.
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