Cutting Those Budgetbusting 'Necessities'

Young people face a raft of costs their parents didn't have to deal with.

The weddings: theirs. Are your vacation days (and an unfortunate chunk of salary) going toward other people's far-flung nuptials? You're not alone. Destination weddings are on the rise, simply because friends and families are more spread out than ever. Last year, 4 in 10 weddings took place somewhere other than where the couple lives, according to TheKnot.com. Weekend-long events are now the rule rather than the exception, and plane tickets and hotels add up quickly.

So do you have to go? Valerie Cabrera Krause, coauthor of The Bridal Wave: A Survival Guide to the Everyone-I-Know-Is-Getting-Married Years, says you should figure out your place in the pecking order: an A-, B-, or even C-list guest. Did you get a last-minute invite? Skip it (though you'll still have to get a gift). If you're going solo, find a "wedding buddy" to share a room and other expenses.

The landline: Ditch it! Quit paying for two phones. Two decades ago, the high cost of long distance was the biggest worry for cash-strapped users. Now, it's doubling your monthly costs for the sake of convenience. As of 2006, Americans spent almost as much on their cellphones as on home numbers, and the cost of mobility is rising faster than the cost of traditional service is falling. Around a quarter of 20-somethings have already gone cell only, according to a 2006 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with 1 in 8 of all households. Double the phones means double the price, so with more mobile options available, it might finally be time to cut the cord.