Howdy

[Gumby]

Hi,

I’m a longtime lurker and finally decided to join in. I am almost 40, married with 2 kids, and am employed F/T as a tenured university professor. We live in the country so are dependent on our vehicles to get to work, get groceries, etc. eat primarily vegetarian meals, workout in our home gym, and use the local library a lot. I really like sewing clothes and in 2023 my goal is to finish unfinished projects and use up my fabric stash rather than buying more new stuff. I’d also like to knit a lopi sweater for outdoor adventures. We really enjoy hiking and being outside as a family so eventually I’d like to make each of us a sweater or two.

Last night I finished a review of my spending over the last year and while we did well in groceries I think we could spend less. I was also shocked at how much I spent on gas (over $4000) and silly things like online subscriptions. My plan for the year ahead is to track every expense as I go and spend less money.

Looking forward to becoming part of this awesome community.

[Scott 2]

Welcome! What are you going to use for expense tracking? Is your spouse on board? How often will you two check on progress?

You'll find quite a few here eat a low meat diet.

[AxelHeyst]

Indeed. Welcome Gumby! How long is your commute?

[Gumby]

My spouse is super frugal which is wonderful for the most part. I am more inclined than them to spend on things I value vs just looking to save money. For example I will buy high quality fabric to see my own clothes vs buying cheap stuff 1 sometimes this actually does save money since you could not buy the same quality garment for the cost of materials alone (e.g., tailored blazers). For the most part we are on the same page though.

We communicate about money and spending almost daily about things like good deals we find in the flyers or good finds on FB marketplace since we usually discuss together before buying things. However, we haven’t been sitting down together to do a monthly budget (weird, I know) so that is something that we’re planning to start doing this year.

We eat mostly vegetarian and only buy meat on sale and then freeze it. While we’re not quite as extreme as we could be, we eat lots of flavourful legume dishes (soups, curries, bean burgers, salads, etc.) and quite enjoy them.

My commute is about 45min each way. I really enjoy using this time to listen to audiobooks and podcasts or just to be by myself and think.