It’s nice to get together with family, and hopefully, we’ll all be able to do that very soon. But family get-togethers like this cost a bit of extra cash and you need to figure out where it’s going to come to if you’re planning one. Luckily, like everything else, you can create a family reunion budget.
Making sure you have the financial details figured out beforehand will ensure that the big event goes off without a hitch. It’ll be a much better experience if you don’t have to constantly think about financial matters while you’re trying to enjoy your time with the family.
How to Build a Family Reunion Budget
Decide What the Budget Needs to Cover
Families celebrate together in their own ways. Not every line-item will show up on every family reunion budget, you need to make sure that yours works for you. So, you need to figure out what you’ll be doing and what you need to purchase or contract to get there.
Are you going camping? Meeting at a local conference centre? Hanging out at grandma and grandpa’s farm? Where you’re going is going to play a big factor in how much it costs. With that set-out, you need to figure out what else your budget includes. Examples may be:
- Catering
- Decorations
- Communications and marketing
- Transportation
- Printing
- Prizes
- Entertainment
- Photographer
And whatever else fits in with what you and your family want to do. Figure out what these items are and how much they’ll cost.
Decide if You Can Get Anything for Free (or at a Discount)
You might luck out and be able to strike a few of those line-items off or down right at the beginning if you can find someone to provide the services a tad bit cheaper. Maybe your uncle is a photographer and is happy to set aside a few hours to take photos and document the event. Likewise, perhaps your grandma has a big school bus stored somewhere and is happy to make a few trips.
If you can find a way to get services in a cheaper or free way, this could be a great option for your family reunion. This isn’t a corporate event, so there might be options.
Figure Out Where the Rest of the Money Is Coming From
Family reunions cost money, which means you’ll need to get it from somewhere.
You could fund the reunion yourself, but if you have a big family that option might be on the table. So, there are a couple of options you can keep in mind:
- Donations from well-to-do family members
- Registration and/or participation fee
Charging your family members to hang out together might seem a little… less-then-awesome, but the reality is spreading out the money with a bigger group can help ease the cost. If you do this, you’ll want to make sure that you take into consideration that not everyone has the same money available. So, you’ll want to make sure that you price it in accordance.
Do you plan your own family reunion? Share your tips in the comments below!
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Tae started out as a journalist before following the money into the corporate world. But it turns out that the grass isn’t always greener and now you can find her spending most of her time writing about all the things she loves. Namely, money, travel and business with a hefty dose of self-deprecating humor. She is a podcast fanatic, blogging aficionado and loves to find new ways to turn passions into cold hard cash!