Eventually we’ll catch up on my planning process—but until then here’s a quick note of what I’ve been thinking about recently. I was at Walmart in early January with exactly five things on my list—Kleenex, Advil, new screen protectors for my iPhone, and thin ribbon and a hole punch for my invitations. Side note: Apparently EVERYONE got an iPhone for Christmas, because Walmart was completely out of screen protectors.
So I found thin coral ribbon at 10 yards for $0.49 and grabbed two because that’s all they had. I’ll probably need more, actually—for the invitations I need to talk about still. Then I searched all over the store for a hole punch. Turns out the hole punches are in the school-supply section, not the craft section or the party section. I did find cute cookie cutters in the party section, though.
I grabbed the basic $0.97 hole punch and started walking toward the door. Then it hit me. Our invitations would be so much cuter with a heart hole punch.
In about 0.02 seconds my mind was telling me, “Well, I can’t get the circle hole punch because the invitations would just look awful with circle holes but amazing with heart holes!” And all I could think about was how I have to have a heart hole punch. Of course, Walmart doesn’t have a heart hole punch—at least not that I could find. But that’s OK—back to my trusty friend the internet to find me a heart hole punch that could fulfill my obsession.
Amazon told me heart hole punches were at least $7.50 plus shipping. Cue budget guilt.
“Should I really pay TEN TIMES as much or more for a heart hole punch?”
“I don’t NEED it…it’s nice but not necessary!”
“I should just buy the $0.97 hole punch and let the invitations look ugly.”
OK, so reality check.
So you know what? I bought a heart hole punch. Actually, I bought three hole punches—a heart punch, a star punch, and a circle punch. They look like this:
Image via Amazon
I didn’t buy them because I have to have them. I bought them because I think they would be a cool addition to our invitations and I can afford them. And that’s OK! Not everything has to be the cheapest thing out there, and not everything has to be absolutely necessary to my project. You can always use hole punches in the future—and hey, these have cool purple handles!
Anyone else deal with budget guilt? What about thinking you have to do something to have the “perfect” invitations, flowers, wedding, etc.?
I had budget guilt over a lot of things. Not little things like hole punches, but over big things like renting a trolley. Strangely, I had no guilt over our biggest budget items (like venue and catering), but when it came down to the smaller details that I didn’t care that much about, I felt bad spending more than the bare minimum.
I’m dealing with budget guilt right now trying to find the perfect pair of wedding shoes. I have very specific “wants” when it comes to this shoe and my budget keeps creeping up more and more as I realize it may be more difficult than I thought to get what I want.
@Mrs. Treasure: Same!! I felt guilty over things like our DJ and the dance floor. But the venue/catering – didn’t worry about it too much.
I bought a heart shaped hole-punch at Michael’s but I didn’t know it was heart shaped until after i used it to create a wedding banner, but it added a nice touch!
Whenever I get craft-related budget guilt, I break out my JoAnns’s 40% off coupons. That usually helps. 
@Mrs. Treasure & @Mrs. Wallaby: Oh yeah, and I definitely feel that too. I guess I just used the hole punch as a symbol for weeks & months of pent up guilt over spending so much on one day! Bigger items definitely fell/do fall under this too, more so probably.
@hlayers: At some points I’ve been like ok… it’s either my budget or what I really want here. And sometimes that means not getting what I really want, while other times I shift the budget around. Kinda sucks, doesn’t it!
@Mz2handgrip: Not gonna lie, I’m so glad I bought mine I think it just makes everything look so cute!
@Sugar_and_Spice: I should have checked some of the other stores in Greenville! @Mz2handgrip said she found one at Michaels, maybe I could have found one cheaper there. Oh well, it’s done
LOL I just know that I’m going to think that way about everything “I can afford it” and then later have mega budget guilt. But in the end, I won’t have wedding guilt, so oh well. It’s just money, right?
I totally bought the heart hole punch for our invites too and I will just say that I use the crap outta that thing to this day! I’m actually jealous you got a star one 
I also love that the purple handles are a plus. : ) I can’t wait to see your invitations!
I’ve never had a screen protector on my iPhone or iPad. I don’t even use a cover for my iPhone. My friends say I’m doing it to get the 5. But there’s nothing wrong with my 4. Love Apple products!
@Blonde17Jess: Hey you’re getting married, that’s all that counts
@Mrs. Honey: Hehe they came in the mail and I was walking around my apartment looking for things to punch! There’s a sheet of paper on the fridge that now has circle, heart, & star holes.
@AnnArborette: I mean why have black handles when you can have purple handles, right?
@StacyM: I have the 4 too! I’ve never had a cover on it but Mr. Lemur makes me use a screen protector. I had one that I used for the last year and it kept it completely pristine. Seriously, looks like the screen hasn’t even been touched. He says if I drop it the screen protector would help it from cracking too. But nope, no screen protector or cover for my iPad either. I’m kinda bad at this
I feel like this all the time about our regular budget! “Well, I really want this, and it would fill a huge hole in my wardrobe and allow me to wear things I already own more often. But, it costs more than $5….” “We could go out to dinner and celebrate our anniversary, and spending alone time is important to us and helps our relationships. But, the anniversary itself isn’t a big deal, and it would be cheaper to cook…”
You made the right decision!
Mrs. Lemur, Greenville, South Carolina Age and Occupation: 22, Graduate Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Security Officer Engagement Date: October 9, 2012 Wedding Date: May 2013 Venue: Pleasant Ridge Camp & Retreat Center About Me: I may fancy myself a doctor after too many episodes of House—but in reality I'm finally almost done with my degree in business administration (less than three months left!). My fiance and I met at school in undergrad hundreds of miles away from either of our hometowns and have been happily running and hiking together ever since. We're undertaking a long distance relationship as I finish school and we plan our casual wedding for a day after graduation—needless to say, it will be the busiest and most exciting weekend of our lives so far!
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