Will the money be there?

How Alex and Sarah answered the question every parent asks before a big family moment. Let Alex take you through the story…

Our daughter announced her engagement on a Tuesday evening in October. We were thrilled. Genuinely, properly thrilled.

By Wednesday morning, I was doing mental arithmetic in the shower.

We'd been putting money aside — we always do. There's a savings ISA that's been growing quietly for a few years, a current account that never quite empties, two workplace pensions we try not to think about too hard. On paper, we're fine. We're a normal couple in our forties with a mortgage, two salaries, and a vague sense that we're doing okay.

But "a vague sense that we're doing okay" isn't the same as knowing. And when your daughter starts talking venues, my mind went straight to one question: will the money actually be there when we need it?

Not roughly there. Actually there. In cash. Ready to go. Without raiding the pension or putting it on a card.

The number

We landed on £12,000 as our contribution. Venue deposit now, caterers closer to the time, a few other things along the way. It's not a small number for us — combined we bring home around £65,000 a year, we've got £180,000 left on the mortgage, and while we're comfortable we're not sitting on piles of spare cash.

£12,000 is real money. It needs to actually be there.

What I did

I opened GiltEdge and went straight to the Projection page.

The app runs a full simulation of our financial future — every month, every income stream, every expense, every pension contribution, the mortgage ticking down, savings growing. It's not a guess or an average. It's our actual numbers, followed through honestly.

I scrolled to next July. Cash sitting at around £11,000. Savings at £22,000. Together, that's £33,000 of liquid money we could actually reach.

The wedding costs £12,000. We're fine. More than fine.

But I didn't stop there — because thinking you're fine and knowing you're fine are different things. I added the wedding as a one-off expense. £12,000. July next year.

Watched the projection update.

Cash dips in July — exactly as you'd expect. But it doesn't dip into trouble. Savings holds above our buffer. The mortgage still gets paid. By August we're recovering. By the end of the year we're back on track.

That was the moment. Not the engagement announcement. Not the venue visit. That moment — watching the numbers confirm that yes, this is fine, we planned for this without knowing we were planning for it — that's when I properly relaxed.

Why this matters

I'm not a financial planner. I'm not particularly good with spreadsheets. I'm just someone who wants to know whether the decisions we make today are going to cause problems in five years.

GiltEdge answered that question in about two minutes. Not with a generic "you seem okay" — with our actual mortgage balance, our actual salaries, our actual savings rate, our actual pension contributions, followed forward to the month we need the money.

That's what it's for. Not for people with complex portfolios and investment advisers. For people like us — with a mortgage, a pension, and something worth planning for.

GiltEdge is a financial planning tool, not financial advice. It is not regulated by the FCA. 14-day free trial at getthegiltedge.co.uk