Well, I have a love/hate relationship with spending money, but it sure is fun (when you have it). However, we Americans have a problem with spending money on the most stupid, frivolous things that are just money wasters. These things are so irrelevant, it makes me sick, and they are popularized by the Internet and the devil known as Pinterest. Here are a few of these money wasters that irk me...
1. Smash cakes
I had never heard of a smash cake before until a few months ago. Basically, it's a small, separate cake that is for a baby's first birthday where he or she can "smash" it.
Stupid!
Why would you spend extra money on a cake that is only going to be smeared around and played with? I get it, a baby's first birthday is special, and it's so cute to see them mess around with cake and smear it everywhere. But do they need a whole cake? What's wrong with just a piece of cake? Back in my day (the glorious '90s), we didn't have smash cakes. For my first birthday, my parents had my birthday party at McDonald's and there was one large sheet cake for everyone, including me, and that was enough. I didn't "need" a smash cake, and certainly no toddler "needs" one. It's just a frivolous expenditure popularized by our time that is just a big ol' waste of money.
2. Gender reveal parties
When it comes to kids, people will spend an exorbitant amount of money, which is understandable. You need to capture memories and savor moments, which can require spending quite a bit of cash. But why in the world would you need a party to reveal the gender of your baby? That's what Facebook posts and group messages are for, idiots! Babies are precious, and yes, it's a time of joyous celebration, but with the baby showers, maternity/newborn photographs, birth announcements, etc..., people spend more money on a stupid party so they can tell people whether to buy blue or pink. Really, really dumb.
3. Save the Date announcements
This one is probably the worst. Again, I had never heard of this until I saw it on Pinterest. It's a pre-wedding invitation telling people to "save the date" of their wedding. Isn't that what wedding invitations are for? Save the Date announcements are stupid because people spend more money doing exactly what wedding invitations do, so basically, these newfangled announcements are repetitive.
I can somewhat understand it if a wedding is more than six months away, but if you're getting married within a few months and you send both a Save the Date announcement and a formal invitation, you're basically repeating yourself and wasting money.
Spend your money however you want to, but think about these things the next time you browse Pinterest.
I'm a wedding photographer and I still don't get the whole Save The Date thing!
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