Thursday, February 11, 2010

It's Called Opportunity Cost

That's a lot of X-Box 360 games, scotch, Chipolte fajitas, or just plain weeks' worth of not working.

And sadly the opportunity cost is starting to have more economic utility than a rock set on a ring of metal that does nothing but exist.

10 comments:

daniel_ream said...

One thing the emancipation of women will eventually do is kill this institution. I know more and more couples who simply can't count on Muffy's Daddy to pay for the whole wedding, so they have to host stag and doe parties, hold fundraisers, etc. I see more and more of them saying "Screw this" and scaling down to something they can both afford out of pocket.

I'm getting married this year, and about 90% of the cost of the wedding is the trip to Punta Cana, since neither of us has ever had a real getaway vacation. The wedding comes free with the trip.

Captain Capitalism said...

Outstanding (and congratulations Mr. Ream).

I plan on getting married by the Flying Elvises in Vegas. Last I checked it was $3,500.

There will be no announcement.

There will be no wedding.

I will just return from Vegas and send out a mass e-mail that says,

"I am now married. Party at my place. BYOB."

I will then take the proceeds and afford another 6 week trip to the Black Hills.

Anonymous said...

I think ours cost $700 total including the honeymoon - rings, dress, suit (no tux rental), a few flowers, bulletins, candles, gas, rental of a cabin in Spearfish Canyon. No financial assistance from parents.

This was in 1979. And, we're still married.

I don't understand what is so wonderful about spending tens of thousands of dollars on a fancy wedding with a band and open bar for something that can (and often does) fail miserably and often rapidly.

Captain Capitalism said...

Ah, Spearfish Canyon. Climbed the rim to the south of Spearfish Peak and plan on staying at that hotel in Savoy.

Damn trout don't bite worth a darn though in that river that runs through it.

Anonymous said...

My wife and I only invited people we knew and cared about (not a very big list) to our wedding. I catered the reception buffet in the Church's big meeting room(I was a chef apprentice). Then we went to the Caribbean for our honeymoon. There were a LOT of cracks from those not invited (and some who were) about how cheap we were about it, but we didn't want to start our life together $20k in debt. And no one else was stepping up to pick up the tab.

JR Hume said...

Married, 1966, Fort Rucker, AL

Ring for her: $100
Ring for me: $30 (never worn since)
Preacher:free
Military chapel: free
Reception: free (her mom provided the goodies)

43+ years later we're still married and happy. The price of the wedding has no bearing on the longevity of the marriage.

Jim

Anonymous said...

Tale of Two Weddings:

#1: Diamond rings (hers AND mine) - $thousands; tuxes & new wedding dress - $thousands; string quartet, Victorian hotel for reception, stuffed mushroom caps & prime rib in the buffet line ... - $thousands.

Result: Unpleasant divorce.

#2: Married at minister's house - a friend of ours. $0. Garnet (instead of ruby) rings. $650 for both. Family only at wedding. Took everyone to dinner afterwards. Less than $300.

Result: A decade later, still smitten with each other like teenagers.

Captain Capitalism said...

I'm almost inclined to make a formula.

Success of marriage = 1/money spent on wedding.

Bike Bubba said...

My wife and I weren't quite as cheap as some here, but we were considerably under the average--and probably would go cheaper on the wedding and higher on the honeymoon if we had to do it again.

And we don't worry much about losing her "rock," as thankfully I didn't take DeBeers' advice about spending 2 months' salary on it.

Bike Bubba said...

BTW, Cap'n, are you not telling us something? :^) Seems you know a lot about the flying Elvises.

(my brother in law got married for cheap in SoDak, BTW....same day wedding there)