I'm Back!

The wedding is over, and I finally feel like I have the energy to start blogging again.  We've been married for a little more than 7 months now, and I can't believe life was ever any different.  I suppose I'm no longer the Frugal Fabulous Bride, but the Frugal Fabulous Wife, and Brad the Frugal Fabulous Husband.

My husband's name is Brad.  And mine is Lauren.  I never mentioned that before, because I preferred anonymity.  I'm not entirely sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with living with my parents for the years between college and marriage.  In a 3 bed/2 bath split level with an open floor plan, housing 2 parents, 2 adult children, and a preteen, privacy can be difficult to come by.  Somehow, 800 sq. ft., 2 less bedrooms, and one less bathroom seems bigger when the only other person I share with is my husband.

Btw, now that I'm married, let's get one thing straight before I continue: his name is Brad.  He is my husband.  Sometimes I call him "Baby," or "Honey," or a few other more emasculating terms, not the worst of which includes "Schnuggle Buttons."

He is not, nor will he ever be, my "Hubby."  This term has never appealed to me, as tends to evoke the image of an overweight truck driver with body oder issues.  Therefore, it doesn't apply to my fit, advertising professional of a husband who tends to shower twice a day on account of the frequency of his workouts.

Just so we're clear.

That being said, I'm making a few changes around here.  The main objective of our wedding was to celebrate our union with our friends and family and to ensure our guests had the amazing, unforgettable time they deserved for showing up to support us.  Our secondary, but equally as important, objective was to complete our main objective without spending more than we thought reasonable.  We spent a bit more than we had initially planned, as these things tend to go, but with a lot of research, and a little grace from God, we didn't spend more than we could afford, and anything extra was completely worth it.  In the end, we all had an incredible time, and no one is in debt over it.

This blog was intended to serve as an outlet for my stress as well as a means of keeping track of my ideas and my budget, and giving me an opportunity to network with other brides so we could exchange secrets with one another.  "The Frugal Fabulous Wedding" served me well when I needed it, and although I was a spotty blogger at best, I hope that it served as a source of information as well as inspiration to other brides out there.

But being Frugal Fab doesn't end with the wedding.

At this time, I would like to welcome you to the next stage of this blog: The Frugal Fabulous Marriage.  Being a wife is the most rewarding role of my life, but being a Frugal Fab Wife takes some finesse.  I enjoy finding a good deal and learning new ways I can stretch my dollar further.  With 1.5 jobs between us and trying to finish school without going in to debt, we can use all the help we can get.  We have plans to travel, put a good down payment on a house, and retire relatively comfortably, and if we're going to achieve all of that, we'll have to make some sacrifices now.

So the new purpose of this blog is to share the ways I find to make sacrifices and save money, and to hopefully get a few ideas from other people like me out there in the blogosphere.

And, if we're doing it right, in the end we should be able to step back and look at ourselves, and say, "Man, what a fabulous life!"