Haha! I'm slowly catching up to her frugality. Doing a completely unbiased review of our spending since we left the state in March, I am spending more money on our shared experiences/indulgences. Simply because I have much higher individual assets/portfolio. We split the very basics of housing, cell phones, basic grocery staples, and travel/health insurance 50/50, but maintain our own finances/spending for other things. I tend to pay more when we go out, or splurge on some groceries or foods we don't consider part of our staples. It makes me happy to be able to do this, and let's her keep more of her monies for her own hobbies/interests. I know a lot of married couples instantly combine all finances into one pot, but I believe this autonomy over spending/managing our own money is beneficial for our relationship. No one has a chip on their shoulder over what discretionary spending the other has.classical_Liberal wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 2:16 pmStill spending more than your wife! Get with the program 2B1S!!!!
Right now we are really enjoying the "high life" and sparing no expense (within reason) here. I even had a $4 coffee here today, from a hipster coffee shop. That's like paying $12 for one back in NY if you consider local purchasing power. Last night we went out to a very good restaurant/brewery and ran up a $25 tab! After months of everything being closed it's felt good to enjoy a more normal nightlife/social life.
This is balances out because we have extremely low fixed costs right now. A barebone month for the two of us would look something like;
$200 - Grocery
$120 - Housing Co-op, Electric, Propane
$80 - Travel/Health insurance
$50 - Gym
$20 - Mobile plans w/ 15 GB Data x 2
$30 - Toiletries, paper goods, misc
$500 - Total per month for two people
It almost feels like we are cheating.....but the apartment sits empty when my parents are not here. My grandparents are getting much more socializing and help since we are visiting them several times a week, and helping with some lite cleaning, grocery runs, etc. My parents are very happy we are able to help their parents, and get use of the apartment. My grandfather is thrilled that he has someone to help with the orchard, and that someone is able to enjoy it.
We will be staying here till the end of October, and even if flights back to the USA are very expensive, it's going to be a super frugal year for us. Right now I see absolutely no point to go back to work in order to earn more money. This is a great feeling, and it took a while to internalize.