SmartyPig competition update!

Thanks to everyone who entered our SmartyPig competition to win a $100 boost to your savings. We’ve been inundated with fabulous entries and are finding it hard to pick a winner – you brides-to-be are so creative!

But we will try to make up our minds by next Friday – so keep checking back here for updates!

Don’t forget!

Just a quick reminder that our competition to win a $100 SmartyPig voucher ends tomorrow!

You could use your voucher to kick-start savings for your cake, your floral arrangements, your photographer, or even your honeymoon!

All you have to do is tell us in 25 words or less what you’ve give up, or how you’ve changed your spending habits in order to have the wedding of your dreams – too easy!

Send your answer in an email to info@realweddings.com.au, and you could win $100 to put towards your wedding!

To learn more about fantastic new savings website SmartyPig, click here.

Get smart about saving!

Like many people, I am terrible at saving money! One minute I’m determined to stash my pennies away for a holiday, the next I’m distracted by a new CD, a great pair of jeans, a gorgeous pair of shoes…

But now there’s a new online tool that can help me – and all the brides out there saving for their dream wedding – to reach their savings goal without breaking a sweat!

It’s called SmartyPig, and it’s basically an online savings account with interest calculated daily, which guides you through setting a savings goal, and then helps you achieve it through monthly contributions from your regular bank account or your credit card. It’s completely free, extremely secure (setting up an account involves creating five security questions, a password, a security phrase and picture, and sending a written confirmation with certified copies of your ID), and trustworthy – the program is provided by ANZ bank.

If you want to, you can make your savings goal public through Facebook and other social media, which means your friends and family can encourage you to save and even contribute to your goal by giving you a SmartyPig gift card credited with the amount of their choice.

When your virtual piggy bank tells you it’s full, you can convert your hard-saved pennies to gift cards for retailers such as Myer and David Jones – so you can get out there and buy your dream item!

To kick off your savings, Real Weddings has one $100 SmartyPig voucher to give away!

All you need to do is answer this question in 25 words or less:

What have you given up, or how have you changed your spending habits in order to have the wedding of your dreams?

For example:

“I only have one latte a day instead of three – which saves me about $30 a week!”

“We have video nights at home instead of going out each week.”

“We now eat out according to the Cheap Eats Guide, instead of the Good Food Guide!”

Send your answers to info@realweddings.com.au by 5pm on Wednesday August 12, 2009, and we will reward our favourite answer with a $100 Smartypig card!

Note: entrants must be Australian residents aged 18 years or over.

With thanks to: