Author Topic: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps  (Read 180853 times)

lifejoy

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #50 on: February 12, 2017, 05:22:11 PM »
Sounds like it's going really well :)

It can definitely take time. My DH and I just today were chuckling about some of his past spendy inclinations, as in we can't even believe that was him! We've come a long way.

Sounds like you two are a great team :)

crossfit_mike

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #51 on: March 05, 2017, 06:31:16 PM »
Amazing list!! Thanks for this.


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lifejoy

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #52 on: March 13, 2017, 08:38:33 PM »
Amazing list!! Thanks for this.


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Hope it helps! :)
Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments!

DieHard_772

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #53 on: March 14, 2017, 08:42:08 AM »
Sounds like it's going really well :)

It can definitely take time. My DH and I just today were chuckling about some of his past spendy inclinations, as in we can't even believe that was him! We've come a long way.

Sounds like you two are a great team :)

We have definitely been making progress.  My wife and I talk more productively about money nowadays.

Positive signs:
--We continue planning our grocery shopping, and basically staying within budget of $400/mo (I probably can be more insistent on keeping exactly within the budget, yet last year we literally saved about $3000 through this strategy)
--We are clearing out a storage space of mostly her old stuff and that will save $84/mo.  (Still need to go through a lot of boxes and figure out where to store in our home... we also plan on selling and releasing a lot of it)
--My wife is now investing each month, and promises to put aside an extra 10% of the income from her new teaching gig for investing
--We have discussed the possibility of becoming a one-car family, possibly going the Prius/hybrid/electric route. 
--She says she is on board and gets what I'm doing, she also acknowledges that I am leading us in a good direction, and this empowers me to feel good about it

lifejoy

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #54 on: March 14, 2017, 09:48:31 PM »
Sounds like it's going really well :)

It can definitely take time. My DH and I just today were chuckling about some of his past spendy inclinations, as in we can't even believe that was him! We've come a long way.

Sounds like you two are a great team :)

We have definitely been making progress.  My wife and I talk more productively about money nowadays.

Positive signs:
--We continue planning our grocery shopping, and basically staying within budget of $400/mo (I probably can be more insistent on keeping exactly within the budget, yet last year we literally saved about $3000 through this strategy)
--We are clearing out a storage space of mostly her old stuff and that will save $84/mo.  (Still need to go through a lot of boxes and figure out where to store in our home... we also plan on selling and releasing a lot of it)
--My wife is now investing each month, and promises to put aside an extra 10% of the income from her new teaching gig for investing
--We have discussed the possibility of becoming a one-car family, possibly going the Prius/hybrid/electric route. 
--She says she is on board and gets what I'm doing, she also acknowledges that I am leading us in a good direction, and this empowers me to feel good about it

These small steps really add up! I'm seeing giant strides of progress here! Way to go!!!

startbyservingothers

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #55 on: March 15, 2017, 01:17:47 PM »
Really great list.  I like the advice about being helpful rather than critical.  It's easy to tell someone "They need to be doing better."  It takes much more effort to do the work yourself in order to capture the savings.  I.e.  Cooking as an alternative to eating out.  Packing a lunch that they will love, cleaning the house rather than having a cleaner (Using a cleaner is borderline to a justifiable reason for an Annulment in my book, but cleaning is a credible example.)  Overall creating solutions by playing to your strengths is an answer.

I'm fortunate enough to have a partner that has always been fairly tolerant of my cheap* and frugal* behavior.  I convinced her to ready Early Retirement Extreme, which was probably a bad place to start, but it did have the effect of further clarifying a starting point of what my 'needs' and 'dreams' are.  Her initial reaction was that we were going to be living in a trailer park depriving ourselves or something along those lines.  After things sinking in that we could still enjoy ourselves she became much more accepting.

Next, what started as one of the biggest obstacles, really created a huge synergy.  We hit a major roadblock when it came to having kids.  I was pretty certain I did not want to have any (Expensive, constraints, etc.)  She was very certain she did want to have them.  Being in our early 30's began to push this into a  "Now or never" type of situation.  Without a solution on this, splitting up seemed to be a likely outcome.

First I read a book titled "Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids"  By Bryan Caplan.  I didn't care for the writing style.  A two star rating would be generous for this book.  -  However it was what I needed to read, and by the end of it I was more amicable to the idea of having kid(s).  I reached the conclusion that the biggest reasons I didn't want to have kids were: 

1. Money - Kids are expensive. 
2. I hated my job.  - Having kids would make having that job, or a similar crappy job necessary.   
3.  Raising a kid is today's modern society.  -  Both parents working full time, while the kid(s) go to daycare just doesn't speak "Family Values" to me.  Sure some kids may love daycare, but what's the point of having kid(s) you don't spend time with? 
4.  Environmental impact of having a child.  - If you care about the environment you understand this reason already. 
5.   Fear of divorce / broken family - Most people don't like talking about this, but this is a big fear for many people.  While some people just "Go with the flow" and "Worry about the consequences later"  having a child with someone conjured up images of "Paying child support for a kid you never see." etc.

We talked about these things, and I showed her the posts on MMM's child bearing expenses.  At some point in time I convinced her to read the full list of MMM blog posts.  She started buying used baby items on Craigslist / Close 5 at great prices.  We would get a good enough deal that even if she had second thoughts about the item, she would turn around and sell the item for a profit.

Also, I took some time off from my work to decide whether I wanted to start my own business, go back to my career, or change careers, and/or be a stay at home parent. 

I apologize that our scenario can be duplicated by very few people.  The points to take away from myself and Ops post are: ****

1.  Put forth the effort.
2.  Be positive.  **
3.  Make use of your strengths.
4.  Be balanced.  You and your Sig. Other both have a unique set of needs.
5.  Display excellent communication skills. ***
6.  Be patient.

7?  This is touchy subject since you're certainly "In love."  But (especially) if you don't have kids, or a similar obligation, you might consider whether you are compatible to be together long term.  I.e.  Are you satisfied being with someone set out to undermine your financial well being?  In our case, we both had something "We had to have." and we were fortunate enough to both get what we want with minimal sacrifice. 


*  Cheap is oftentimes bad.  Frugal is typically a positive trait.   By nature I'm cheap, but I've been trying to become more frugal.
** I haven't always been positive, but I've been much more positive in the last few years, than previously.
***I am convinced your financial communication often reflects your overall communication as a couple.  If you're fighting over money,  I'll put my money on there being other issues you are having communication problems with as well.
**** I am giving credit for any of these that represent Ops post.  Some may only be my opinion.

DieHard_772

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #56 on: March 15, 2017, 02:15:40 PM »
Sounds like it's going really well :)

It can definitely take time. My DH and I just today were chuckling about some of his past spendy inclinations, as in we can't even believe that was him! We've come a long way.

Sounds like you two are a great team :)

Hey thanks,
Getting better at our communication all the time.
We already have a lot of great things going for us together: lots of fun together, enjoy being together, similar ways we like to live day-to-day, and we're both
complimentary in our creativity and professions.  so there's a really great foundation there.  Obviously the money thing was an important missing link, and things are definitely moving along...  Thanks for this post, it helped for sure

We have definitely been making progress.  My wife and I talk more productively about money nowadays.

Positive signs:
--We continue planning our grocery shopping, and basically staying within budget of $400/mo (I probably can be more insistent on keeping exactly within the budget, yet last year we literally saved about $3000 through this strategy)
--We are clearing out a storage space of mostly her old stuff and that will save $84/mo.  (Still need to go through a lot of boxes and figure out where to store in our home... we also plan on selling and releasing a lot of it)
--My wife is now investing each month, and promises to put aside an extra 10% of the income from her new teaching gig for investing
--We have discussed the possibility of becoming a one-car family, possibly going the Prius/hybrid/electric route. 
--She says she is on board and gets what I'm doing, she also acknowledges that I am leading us in a good direction, and this empowers me to feel good about it

These small steps really add up! I'm seeing giant strides of progress here! Way to go!!!

(I guess I forgot to write something here)

Thank you!
« Last Edit: April 06, 2017, 10:28:32 AM by DieHard_772 »

PaiMeiStash

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #57 on: April 06, 2017, 01:29:45 AM »
Good lookin' out on putting together this extensive list, lifejoy! I'll be sure to implement many of the tips along my journey and hopefully my SO will eventually see the light. It will indeed take much persistence, patience, and manipulation love. But like anything worth having, after all the hard work has been put it, makes it that much sweeter.

Kooljohn

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #58 on: May 01, 2017, 01:59:00 PM »
There's some excellent tips here!

Really appreciate the effort of putting this together.

I'm at the very start of my FIRE journey so this is a big help.

rdaneel0

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #59 on: June 26, 2017, 03:32:46 PM »
Great advice! I also had a pretty spendy spouse (not on luxury items, just things like coffee out...you know, because that doesn't make a difference). Now he's 100% on board.

I think the biggest thing to take away from your list is to lead by example without worrying about maintaining everything absolutely 50/50. Nagging does not work, and you can't force someone to see things your way. I just started doing my thing and he saw our accounts grow, our stress levels decrease, and our waistlines shrink. That was enough for him, and far more powerful than any amount of verbal convincing. Now I can honestly say we're 50/50.

lifejoy

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #60 on: June 26, 2017, 03:36:08 PM »
Great advice! I also had a pretty spendy spouse (not on luxury items, just things like coffee out...you know, because that doesn't make a difference). Now he's 100% on board.

I think the biggest thing to take away from your list is to lead by example without worrying about maintaining everything absolutely 50/50. Nagging does not work, and you can't force someone to see things your way. I just started doing my thing and he saw our accounts grow, our stress levels decrease, and our waistlines shrink. That was enough for him, and far more powerful than any amount of verbal convincing. Now I can honestly say we're 50/50.

That's really impressive! Way to go! I need to try and apply this logic to other areas in my life: if I want to go to the gym with my DH, I better start going without him. If I want him to watch less tv, I better start watching less tv.

It's a good rule of thumb!

Le Barbu

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #61 on: August 05, 2017, 04:40:57 PM »
Ptf

ereamrod

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #62 on: August 07, 2017, 04:03:33 AM »
This is awesome!

I've been hardcore changing my life and finances to get to FIRE and my SO has definitely noticed. The lead by example I found was the key because it allows them to see all the benefits before they dive in.  In the last 3 months he's decided to RAGE down his debt, sell a TON of stuff, and has set a date to cut back his business " stop plowing snow by 30".

We adopted a totally cheesy tactic to encourage each other with everything but we call it " positive reinforcement high-fives" we say it, slap hands and listen to a proclamation of what we think we did well with. Ex: I spent $20 less on groceries because I went to the farmers market or O finished that project instead of watching Netflix.

We've found EVERY aspect of our relationship has improved because we both are actively supporting one another on small things which as everyone here knows ADDS UP OVERTIME and COMPOUNDS our happiness ( see what I did there?! ;) )

lifejoy

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #63 on: August 14, 2017, 02:41:50 PM »
This is awesome!

I've been hardcore changing my life and finances to get to FIRE and my SO has definitely noticed. The lead by example I found was the key because it allows them to see all the benefits before they dive in.  In the last 3 months he's decided to RAGE down his debt, sell a TON of stuff, and has set a date to cut back his business " stop plowing snow by 30".

We adopted a totally cheesy tactic to encourage each other with everything but we call it " positive reinforcement high-fives" we say it, slap hands and listen to a proclamation of what we think we did well with. Ex: I spent $20 less on groceries because I went to the farmers market or O finished that project instead of watching Netflix.

We've found EVERY aspect of our relationship has improved because we both are actively supporting one another on small things which as everyone here knows ADDS UP OVERTIME and COMPOUNDS our happiness ( see what I did there?! ;) )

That is so inspiring :)

"Lead by example" seems to work for everything from finances to health to decluttering. I love it!

FrugalAussie

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #64 on: September 17, 2017, 05:17:36 PM »
Thank you. This is an awesome post!  Good luck to everyone undertaking this challenge.  I once had a very spendy partner, the relationship broke down as it was just too stressful, living pay to pay with two small children.

Thankfully my current SO and I have similar frugal values and financial goals however my children, not so much.  Some of your suggestions do apply to them.  Leading by example, especially now we are FIRE'd and loving it, has been very powerful with my daughter.
 

Missy B

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #65 on: December 13, 2017, 12:09:15 AM »
So, my BF transformed himself from Spendy McSpender to Mr. FrugalPants about a year and a half ago. Until that point, he aggressively invalidated all suggestions about not eating out so much and links to MMM posts, blew off all comments about retirement with 'well, I'll work till I can't, then I'll just eat cat food till I die'.
He came pretty close to being served up a tin of dog food. (Cat food is surprising expensive.)
The magic turning point was him deciding he 'didn't want to work anymore.'
Well and good. He paid off his line of credit and now saves $2000 a month.

Now he is deciding to do with his surplus.
And here's the problem: he is unsophisticated about financial stuff, and thinks he knows more than he does, and incidentally, more than me. He thinks the cleverest thing to  do is pay off the tiny remaining balance on his low-interest rate mortgage.

I did a long comparative calculation of paying off his mortgage (5 years at 3-ish percent) entirely in two years versus sticking with the 5 years and investing the extra money in an RRSP and investing the tax refund. The investment was head and shoulders better.

But he wants the emotional payoff of the 'no mortgage' scenario. His money, I just want him to make the choice with eyes open so he knows what that 'mortgage free' scenario is actually costing him. Which is two extra years of work and extreme saving.

The amazing part was, he does not believe me. And I am flabbergasted by his ignorance and stupidity. He does not understand basic RRSP rules. He does not know that you carry forward unused contribution room, or anything else, really. He thinks I made up this impossible, RRSP rule-violating scenario, because he is such an idiot he did not even look up the information to check if his thinking was actually correct.

I politely explained to him about RRSP's and included links. Perhaps if someone else explains it, he will believe them. But then he doesn't like to read things he doesn't agree with... so he might just ignore it.

So. Could be worse. At least he's saving.

GnomeErcy

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #66 on: December 15, 2017, 01:42:10 PM »
So, my BF transformed himself from Spendy McSpender to Mr. FrugalPants about a year and a half ago. Until that point, he aggressively invalidated all suggestions about not eating out so much and links to MMM posts, blew off all comments about retirement with 'well, I'll work till I can't, then I'll just eat cat food till I die'.
He came pretty close to being served up a tin of dog food. (Cat food is surprising expensive.)
The magic turning point was him deciding he 'didn't want to work anymore.'
Well and good. He paid off his line of credit and now saves $2000 a month.

Now he is deciding to do with his surplus.
And here's the problem: he is unsophisticated about financial stuff, and thinks he knows more than he does, and incidentally, more than me. He thinks the cleverest thing to  do is pay off the tiny remaining balance on his low-interest rate mortgage.

I did a long comparative calculation of paying off his mortgage (5 years at 3-ish percent) entirely in two years versus sticking with the 5 years and investing the extra money in an RRSP and investing the tax refund. The investment was head and shoulders better.

But he wants the emotional payoff of the 'no mortgage' scenario. His money, I just want him to make the choice with eyes open so he knows what that 'mortgage free' scenario is actually costing him. Which is two extra years of work and extreme saving.

The amazing part was, he does not believe me. And I am flabbergasted by his ignorance and stupidity. He does not understand basic RRSP rules. He does not know that you carry forward unused contribution room, or anything else, really. He thinks I made up this impossible, RRSP rule-violating scenario, because he is such an idiot he did not even look up the information to check if his thinking was actually correct.

I politely explained to him about RRSP's and included links. Perhaps if someone else explains it, he will believe them. But then he doesn't like to read things he doesn't agree with... so he might just ignore it.

So. Could be worse. At least he's saving.

Is he saving in a taxable account? Trying to think of a compromise here you may be able to propose: invest in a taxable account while paying the minimum on the mortgage. Once the taxable balance > mortgage balance, decide if you want to kill the mortgage. If yes, awesome! Do it in one fell swoop. If he's seen the math work in favor of investing, then that's great and he can keep on doing that.

If he's not saving enough to invest in taxable accounts it might not be the best strategy though.

lifejoy

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #67 on: December 26, 2017, 07:49:32 PM »
I’m going to say it would be a mistake to ignore the emotional side of financial decisions. It might it be logical but if someone feels emotional about it, you can’t appeal to them using logic IMO.

Eckhart

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #68 on: December 26, 2017, 08:54:14 PM »

The amazing part was, he does not believe me. And I am flabbergasted by his ignorance and stupidity. He does not understand basic RRSP rules. He does not know that you carry forward unused contribution room, or anything else, really. He thinks I made up this impossible, RRSP rule-violating scenario, because he is such an idiot he did not even look up the information to check if his thinking was actually correct.

I politely explained to him about RRSP's and included links. Perhaps if someone else explains it, he will believe them. But then he doesn't like to read things he doesn't agree with... so he might just ignore it.

So. Could be worse. At least he's saving.

To show him the unused contribution room, sign him up for a CRA my account online.  When you login, you can go and see the unused RRSP and TFSA room available.  Hopefully that will help.

lexde

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #69 on: December 27, 2017, 07:09:42 PM »
And here's the problem: he is unsophisticated about financial stuff, and thinks he knows more than he does, and incidentally, more than me. He thinks the cleverest thing to do is pay off the tiny remaining balance on his low-interest rate mortgage.

Congrats on the SO conversion! Surely being frugal is a big step forward even if he doesn’t know what to do with the money.

My SO told me a few days ago, “You’re bad at investing” when we were talking about funds. I’m a fan of buying and holding index funds and he basically places Wall Street bets and tries to time the market. So, I know how frustrating it can be to have someone dismiss your input for no reason. Not only rude, but hurtful, too. Especially seeing as how my net worth is up over $32k this year and his is...not. (Although to be fair he did manage an 18% return this past year, which is awesome, but he’s barely contributing so what’s the point?!)

K-ice

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #70 on: December 27, 2017, 08:24:18 PM »
.....

Now he is deciding to do with his surplus.
And here's the problem: he is unsophisticated about financial stuff, and thinks he knows more than he does, and incidentally, more than me. He thinks the cleverest thing to  do is pay off the tiny remaining balance on his low-interest rate mortgage.

....

Missy, we are in very similar & frustrating situations.

First, as you stated at the end it could be worse & at least our SOs are saving.

I need serious help with getting my SO to invest.

Part of my plan is the lead by example so I have invested in VAB & VXC. VXC has done well but VAB is flat over 2years.

We are married so it is kind “our” money & “our” mortgage but we still do a bit independently.

However, they have decided the best thing is to pay the mortgage and I match every lump sum payment.

Because of this I haven’t had much to put towards my couch potato portfolio. VAB, VXC.

They are also vehemently opposed to RRSP. They think that their tax rate will be just as high later so what’s the point. But I’m pretty sure delaying the tax payment, even at the same rate, has benifits. I need to do a better spread sheet to explain this.

Anyway, I’m kind of babbling but: lead by example, do your own investing, be grateful they are saving, & let me know if you find something else that works better.





Dare2Dream

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #71 on: May 03, 2019, 08:19:29 AM »
One thing to try and it works especially well if your SO has a job that they are not especially in love with is to talk about savings in terms of "days until FI". 

We could buy this $1400 item that you want or you can quit your job a week earlier (my SO has a pretty good job ATM).

DieHard_772

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #72 on: June 28, 2019, 05:36:26 PM »
Update:  I first read this thread 2 or 3 years ago.  Since then things have significantly improved in my ability to communicate with my wife about money.  When I first got into MMM, I think I alienated her with how I tried to get her onboard with super charging our savings.  She saw it as "deprivation," and though she tried to go along, it wasn't fun for her.  It stressed her out.

In fact, she was scared to say anything, afraid I would get mad at her.  I think I probably was being a jerk without fully realizing it.

I have had to learn that you need to meet people half way.  Just because I am frugal and a planner when it comes to money, just because I have a desire for Financial Freedom, I can't just force her to think like me.

Now that I have relaxed, changed my attitude, I have gotten a lot more positive buy in from her when it comes to our financial progress.
She is starting to get into it too! 
In fact, today I showed her what I call our "His & Hers" Chart... A table that I made that shows our combined savings and investments.  I made it more visually appealing than a simple spreadsheet, for her sake,
by putting pictures on it.  Our combined savings and investments have increased
by nearly 40% in just 9 months, thanks to our combined efforts.
She looked at the chart today and said, "Wow, I almost want to add more to my (IRA/savings account) so that it is closer to yours!  I'm feeling competitive!"  And I thought, "Is this really happening?  My wife is getting excited about saving!"

lifejoy

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #73 on: July 20, 2019, 07:50:41 AM »
Update:  I first read this thread 2 or 3 years ago.  Since then things have significantly improved in my ability to communicate with my wife about money.  When I first got into MMM, I think I alienated her with how I tried to get her onboard with super charging our savings.  She saw it as "deprivation," and though she tried to go along, it wasn't fun for her.  It stressed her out.

In fact, she was scared to say anything, afraid I would get mad at her.  I think I probably was being a jerk without fully realizing it.

I have had to learn that you need to meet people half way.  Just because I am frugal and a planner when it comes to money, just because I have a desire for Financial Freedom, I can't just force her to think like me.

Now that I have relaxed, changed my attitude, I have gotten a lot more positive buy in from her when it comes to our financial progress.
She is starting to get into it too! 
In fact, today I showed her what I call our "His & Hers" Chart... A table that I made that shows our combined savings and investments.  I made it more visually appealing than a simple spreadsheet, for her sake,
by putting pictures on it.  Our combined savings and investments have increased
by nearly 40% in just 9 months, thanks to our combined efforts.
She looked at the chart today and said, "Wow, I almost want to add more to my (IRA/savings account) so that it is closer to yours!  I'm feeling competitive!"  And I thought, "Is this really happening?  My wife is getting excited about saving!"

That is really excellent! Myself, I find visual representations of wealth-building to be extremely helpful and motivating! Good thinking!

caracarn

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #74 on: July 25, 2019, 06:23:41 AM »
I also saw the original post in 2015, when I discovered MMM.  I went all in with excitement and had a similar situation to DieHard with my wife as I shared articles with her over a one week period (I burned through every blog post in about 2 months), that ended with her saying "I'm not moving closer to work and biking there".  After explaining that I was not suggesting we make his life our life, just that we think a bit more intentionally about things, that seemed to sit better with her, but we never really changed a lot of our approach.  We were already pretty frugal (by suburban American standards, not hard core MMM standards).  We tend to be about 25-35% savings rate but some recent changes this year have upended some of that and I'm rethinking a few items (you can see the details in my journal if you'd like to follow along).

So we went along for about 3 1/2 years now with me just sharing an idea here and there.  I recently had the opportunity to host a screening of Playing with Fire that just happened last week, but that I was obsessed about since Memorial Day to get the ticket minimum.  I would start conversations with "I still need x tickets, and I'm out of ideas...." and her eyes would roll and she'd explain it would either happen or not and to stop dwelling on it, but just as these comments here, we're just wired differently and once I have a goal I work on it all the time plussing the ideas and tweaking for continuous improvement.  She just wants to be told once and will take from it what she needs and move on and is happy with "good enough" rather than tweaking, so we sometimes have disagreements along those lines.  The whole FIRE thing seemed that way as well.  She agreed the concept was interesting but was very much in the same mindset at the screening, "it will either happen or it won'".  For peace and sanity I just kept doing what I could while balancing what we were doing for our kids etc.

And then as the movie approached (it sold out a few days before the event, so nothing else to shoot for), we were having a conversation and at the end she said, "I really like the fact that we have this great plan to retire early and not worry about money.  I can't wait to get there!"  Hold the phone!  What?!  So we talked a bit more as I gently expressed my surprise as she never really talks about it.  She shared that just because it's not always a topic of conversation with her did not mean it was not appealing, just that she felt no need to dwell on something that we had a plan for.  Again, it was the "good enough" that I seem to have overlooked. 

So yes, I'm another one who had a reluctant of skeptical spouse, who has done what I could for the last four years and the example and results seems to have worked.  Just like the Mad Fientist, I am even more excited now that she is really on board.  We're reorganizing our financial buckets over the next four months or so, as we position ourselves for a less mental journey in my head and more peace for my wife because of it (again, I'm writing about that in my journal if you want to tag along).

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #75 on: September 05, 2019, 12:27:16 PM »
I also saw the original post in 2015, when I discovered MMM.  I went all in with excitement and had a similar situation to DieHard with my wife as I shared articles with her over a one week period (I burned through every blog post in about 2 months), that ended with her saying "I'm not moving closer to work and biking there".  After explaining that I was not suggesting we make his life our life, just that we think a bit more intentionally about things, that seemed to sit better with her, but we never really changed a lot of our approach.  We were already pretty frugal (by suburban American standards, not hard core MMM standards).  We tend to be about 25-35% savings rate but some recent changes this year have upended some of that and I'm rethinking a few items (you can see the details in my journal if you'd like to follow along).

So we went along for about 3 1/2 years now with me just sharing an idea here and there.  I recently had the opportunity to host a screening of Playing with Fire that just happened last week, but that I was obsessed about since Memorial Day to get the ticket minimum.  I would start conversations with "I still need x tickets, and I'm out of ideas...." and her eyes would roll and she'd explain it would either happen or not and to stop dwelling on it, but just as these comments here, we're just wired differently and once I have a goal I work on it all the time plussing the ideas and tweaking for continuous improvement.  She just wants to be told once and will take from it what she needs and move on and is happy with "good enough" rather than tweaking, so we sometimes have disagreements along those lines.  The whole FIRE thing seemed that way as well.  She agreed the concept was interesting but was very much in the same mindset at the screening, "it will either happen or it won'".  For peace and sanity I just kept doing what I could while balancing what we were doing for our kids etc.

And then as the movie approached (it sold out a few days before the event, so nothing else to shoot for), we were having a conversation and at the end she said, "I really like the fact that we have this great plan to retire early and not worry about money.  I can't wait to get there!"  Hold the phone!  What?!  So we talked a bit more as I gently expressed my surprise as she never really talks about it.  She shared that just because it's not always a topic of conversation with her did not mean it was not appealing, just that she felt no need to dwell on something that we had a plan for.  Again, it was the "good enough" that I seem to have overlooked. 

So yes, I'm another one who had a reluctant of skeptical spouse, who has done what I could for the last four years and the example and results seems to have worked.  Just like the Mad Fientist, I am even more excited now that she is really on board.  We're reorganizing our financial buckets over the next four months or so, as we position ourselves for a less mental journey in my head and more peace for my wife because of it (again, I'm writing about that in my journal if you want to tag along).

Great example of how playing the long game is key! For some of us, the changes suit instantaneously... but for others, a whole lifestyle and mindset change (understandably) takes time! Patience is key :)

Great share! My DH and I are about to buy a small house. It is fascinating to me to hear him say to me a lot of the words I’ve been saying to him about the merits of smaller homes... you never know what has been sinking in! And the best part is when he talks about the lack of stress when he contemplates a smaller mortgage.

caracarn

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #76 on: September 09, 2019, 07:37:56 AM »
I also saw the original post in 2015, when I discovered MMM.  I went all in with excitement and had a similar situation to DieHard with my wife as I shared articles with her over a one week period (I burned through every blog post in about 2 months), that ended with her saying "I'm not moving closer to work and biking there".  After explaining that I was not suggesting we make his life our life, just that we think a bit more intentionally about things, that seemed to sit better with her, but we never really changed a lot of our approach.  We were already pretty frugal (by suburban American standards, not hard core MMM standards).  We tend to be about 25-35% savings rate but some recent changes this year have upended some of that and I'm rethinking a few items (you can see the details in my journal if you'd like to follow along).

So we went along for about 3 1/2 years now with me just sharing an idea here and there.  I recently had the opportunity to host a screening of Playing with Fire that just happened last week, but that I was obsessed about since Memorial Day to get the ticket minimum.  I would start conversations with "I still need x tickets, and I'm out of ideas...." and her eyes would roll and she'd explain it would either happen or not and to stop dwelling on it, but just as these comments here, we're just wired differently and once I have a goal I work on it all the time plussing the ideas and tweaking for continuous improvement.  She just wants to be told once and will take from it what she needs and move on and is happy with "good enough" rather than tweaking, so we sometimes have disagreements along those lines.  The whole FIRE thing seemed that way as well.  She agreed the concept was interesting but was very much in the same mindset at the screening, "it will either happen or it won'".  For peace and sanity I just kept doing what I could while balancing what we were doing for our kids etc.

And then as the movie approached (it sold out a few days before the event, so nothing else to shoot for), we were having a conversation and at the end she said, "I really like the fact that we have this great plan to retire early and not worry about money.  I can't wait to get there!"  Hold the phone!  What?!  So we talked a bit more as I gently expressed my surprise as she never really talks about it.  She shared that just because it's not always a topic of conversation with her did not mean it was not appealing, just that she felt no need to dwell on something that we had a plan for.  Again, it was the "good enough" that I seem to have overlooked. 

So yes, I'm another one who had a reluctant of skeptical spouse, who has done what I could for the last four years and the example and results seems to have worked.  Just like the Mad Fientist, I am even more excited now that she is really on board.  We're reorganizing our financial buckets over the next four months or so, as we position ourselves for a less mental journey in my head and more peace for my wife because of it (again, I'm writing about that in my journal if you want to tag along).

Great example of how playing the long game is key! For some of us, the changes suit instantaneously... but for others, a whole lifestyle and mindset change (understandably) takes time! Patience is key :)

Great share! My DH and I are about to buy a small house. It is fascinating to me to hear him say to me a lot of the words I’ve been saying to him about the merits of smaller homes... you never know what has been sinking in! And the best part is when he talks about the lack of stress when he contemplates a smaller mortgage.
Really happy for you.  Great reinforcement to others about how both our stories have gone. 

fire100xz

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #77 on: September 29, 2019, 11:41:34 AM »
Hi Diehard,
I am really glad for you, and your progress gives hope to me...  I am still at an early stage of the MMM journey!

From what approx saving rate did you improve over the few years?



Update:  I first read this thread 2 or 3 years ago.  Since then things have significantly improved in my ability to communicate with my wife about money.  When I first got into MMM, I think I alienated her with how I tried to get her onboard with super charging our savings.  She saw it as "deprivation," and though she tried to go along, it wasn't fun for her.  It stressed her out.

In fact, she was scared to say anything, afraid I would get mad at her.  I think I probably was being a jerk without fully realizing it.

I have had to learn that you need to meet people half way.  Just because I am frugal and a planner when it comes to money, just because I have a desire for Financial Freedom, I can't just force her to think like me.

Now that I have relaxed, changed my attitude, I have gotten a lot more positive buy in from her when it comes to our financial progress.
She is starting to get into it too! 
In fact, today I showed her what I call our "His & Hers" Chart... A table that I made that shows our combined savings and investments.  I made it more visually appealing than a simple spreadsheet, for her sake,
by putting pictures on it.  Our combined savings and investments have increased
by nearly 40% in just 9 months, thanks to our combined efforts.
She looked at the chart today and said, "Wow, I almost want to add more to my (IRA/savings account) so that it is closer to yours!  I'm feeling competitive!"  And I thought, "Is this really happening?  My wife is getting excited about saving!"

K-ice

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #78 on: October 07, 2019, 05:31:51 PM »
My SO is getting more and more on board with investing. They have been a pretty frugal spender, no consumer debt & good saver but like to hoard cash.

Last year I took over their investments. (no pressure) They are still invested very conservatively by Mustacian standards but are at least not all cash.

2018 is the first year I have tracked dividends. Combining his/her/ours was $3700. That is very motivating. They want to invest more now.

I am tempted to do 2019 to date as well to keep them motivated.  I know dividend's aren't everything, and most are set to DRIP, but it is still a motivating measure that might be a good carrot for your SO.

DieHard_772

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #79 on: November 12, 2019, 04:37:38 PM »
Hi Diehard,
I am really glad for you, and your progress gives hope to me...  I am still at an early stage of the MMM journey!

From what approx saving rate did you improve over the few years?



Update:  I first read this thread 2 or 3 years ago.  Since then things have significantly improved in my ability to communicate with my wife about money.  When I first got into MMM, I think I alienated her with how I tried to get her onboard with super charging our savings.  She saw it as "deprivation," and though she tried to go along, it wasn't fun for her.  It stressed her out.

In fact, she was scared to say anything, afraid I would get mad at her.  I think I probably was being a jerk without fully realizing it.

I have had to learn that you need to meet people half way.  Just because I am frugal and a planner when it comes to money, just because I have a desire for Financial Freedom, I can't just force her to think like me.

Now that I have relaxed, changed my attitude, I have gotten a lot more positive buy in from her when it comes to our financial progress.
She is starting to get into it too! 
In fact, today I showed her what I call our "His & Hers" Chart... A table that I made that shows our combined savings and investments.  I made it more visually appealing than a simple spreadsheet, for her sake,
by putting pictures on it.  Our combined savings and investments have increased
by nearly 40% in just 9 months, thanks to our combined efforts.
She looked at the chart today and said, "Wow, I almost want to add more to my (IRA/savings account) so that it is closer to yours!  I'm feeling competitive!"  And I thought, "Is this really happening?  My wife is getting excited about saving!"

Hi @fire100xz, apologies for taking so long to see this... My wife and I were basically at 0% savings rate in 2015.
And now we are approximately at 20% savings rate (when you count me paying off my student loan, which will be at $0 soon, and then
even more will go into the stash every month).
I would like it to be more, but I am learning to make the best of it... and appreciating what we are doing well.

As I attract more income, I will up the savings rate.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2019, 04:53:16 PM by DieHard_772 »

PVD_Kev

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #80 on: November 13, 2019, 07:00:42 AM »
Love these tips!  Thank you!

Now for an expert challenge, someone do "How to Convert your EX" :-)

DieHard_772

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #81 on: June 03, 2020, 12:28:37 PM »
Update:

My wife and I have continued to cooperate and work together on our finances.  I have made many modifications to my own attitude, and she has modified her actions so we can co-exist happily while pursuing our financial goals.  I have mostly been quite pleased to see our progress... last year we saved about 20% of our income.  This year it's probably more, as I have been gung ho about saving amidst the pandemic and market crash.

In general, here are some of the positive steps we have been taking:
--Continue bi-weekly shopping at warehouse stores Costco and Winco.  We always bring a list we agreed upon beforehand, and it has worked quite well.
--Using our rewards credit card wisely has resulted in many accumulated points (while paying down balance each month), which currently we can use to pay off a lot of our expenses, since Capital One loosened their requirements to many daily purchases during the pandemic.
--I paid off my student loan, and my wife cheered me on all the while.  That was cool.
--We successfully got a new auto/renter's insurance policy that saves $30/mo, after they raised the rates.
--I regularly show my wife our networth progress, and since I have been very mellow and nice about it for several years now, she is usually quite enthused about it.  Plus, we have continued making progress.
--In general, we are quite aligned in terms of keeping things simple.  We both tend to stay home a lot (even before the pandemic), and this of course generally helps with saving money.
--My wife has been quite cooperative at doing regular savings and investing.  She has been using money apps Digit and Qapital to automatically set aside money, and she is quite pleased with this. So am I.
--As I said, 20% savings rate last year.  To me this is already a DREAM COME TRUE (and will keep improving).

There are of course usual challenges that one must navigate in marriage, and in our case we do see things differently when it comes to money/financial planning/saving.  However, we are working together quite well overall, and I am quite appreciative of our progress.

Thanks again to the OP for starting this thread, it has definitely helped.


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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #82 on: May 25, 2022, 07:30:01 PM »
This thread has been quiet for a while, but I wanted to share a bit of my experience with my SO.  In our case, it was not really about conversion to MMM, but rather to investing, and there's some overlap there, I think.

I can't stress enough what others have said about patience/reasonable expectations, etc.  My wife was pretty good at the first 2 steps (making the money and not spending all the money), but step 3 (investing the saved money) was a no-go for her.  It was driving me nuts to see years and years of her savings (six figures) sitting in a Chase account making .004 interest or whatever it was, but investing was a terrifying concept to her, pretty much synonymous in her mind with taking the cash to Vegas.  That was about 4 years ago.

A very important transitional step to investing in stocks was convincing her to transfer $ to a high yield savings account.  Even that was scary to her, because it was new, and the idea of a online-only bank was sketchy/dubious in her mind.  It took time, but I did convince her to transfer almost all of her savings into a CIBC Agility account, making 1% interest, or a bit more than that.  I did this by 1) setting up my own account first and showing her the process  2) explaining the concept of FIDC insurance  3) having her transfer a small amount first (under 1K), letting it sit there for a week or 2, and then transferring it back into her Chase account - this proved to her satisfaction that the new account was not just stealing her money, and that the money would still be there, and accessible. 

My wife was ready at that point to transfer about half of her savings to the high-yield account.  A few months after she did that, I had her look at the latest statement.  For her, being able to see with her own eyes what her money was doing - making $50-60/mo in interest, and seeing the balance grow... that was a lightbulb moment.  She compared that to the 50 cents/mo or whatever she was making in interest at Chase... and wanted to transfer every remaining penny immediately!  Huge step.

It was another patient slog to get her to invest in the market, but the investing foundation had been laid.  I slowly introduced the idea of low-fee index funds, trying to show how yes, perhaps they were a gamble, but a much, much better gamble (long term, at least) than leaving all her money in a savings account.  After all, keeping all your money in cash is essentially gambling that inflation won't ever happen, right?  How's that worked out historically?  There was a lot of learning on her part - at that point, she had no idea what a fund was... investing in the stock market only meant investing in individual stocks, as far as she knew.

The idea of dollar cost averaging was also very reassuring for her - no, she didn't have to plop her life savings into a total market or S&P 500 fund all at once... She opened a Vanguard brokerage account (which was easy because that's where her 401k was already), and set up automatic investing - $1K every week.  Patience, yes.  But the automatic function was so, so important - she didn't have to think about it, or actively make a decision every week - it just happened in the background.  That account now has $70K in it.

She didn't hesitate a few months ago when I brought up the idea of contributing to her IRA - she promptly moved $6K.  Lately, she's been asking if she shouldn't invest more, now that the market's down!  (My advice, and I do say advice, because I've always stressed to her that ultimately, it was her money to do with what she wanted - she made that money on her own before we got married, etc., was to stay the course and keep DCA'ing... But I was really impressed that she had that thought!)

I'm really proud of my wife's progress, because it hasn't been easy for her  - growing up, her family culture regarding money was... we don't talk about it.  And she's gotten so much better at being able to talk about it.  She's also seen the difference in me - as she's gotten more competent with finances and has invested more, I've become more relaxed about money, which she certainly appreciates.  It's been effective positive reinforcement; the more she learns and takes an active interest in our family's finances, the less stressed I am, and I am honestly more pleasant to be around.  A very nice cycle!

I've picked my battles.  We'll never be "true" mustachians - we don't budget, and splurge unnecessarily on some things (restaurants and Amazon, oh my).  But I've decided that as long as we're consistently saving at least a third of our income AND being smart (investing!) with the money we've saved, I can live with some sub-optimal financial decisions.  My wife doesn't really understand the allure of RE, but she totally gets the FI piece, and that's the much more important element to me!


DieHard_772

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Re: How to Convert your SO to MMM in 50 Awesome Steps
« Reply #83 on: February 16, 2023, 10:12:59 AM »

I'm really proud of my wife's progress, because it hasn't been easy for her  - growing up, her family culture regarding money was... we don't talk about it.  And she's gotten so much better at being able to talk about it.  She's also seen the difference in me - as she's gotten more competent with finances and has invested more, I've become more relaxed about money, which she certainly appreciates.  It's been effective positive reinforcement; the more she learns and takes an active interest in our family's finances, the less stressed I am, and I am honestly more pleasant to be around.  A very nice cycle!


Congrats, @EarlyInJourney. It is awesome to read how you have communicated with your wife. You seem patient and open-minded, and clearly it's having a positive affect on her. How have things gone since you posted this last year?

When I discovered MMM, I think I overwhelmed my wife with my zealous enthusiasm for saving. I learned to shift my expectations. Instead of driving us to try to be full-on Mustachian (50%+ savings rate), I have embraced appreciating out progress. Like your wife, my wife also was uncomfortable with the idea of investing. She had been burned in the past and is more risk-averse than I am. There had to be compromise. It started with me being more patient with our progress. As a result, she has gotten on board.

Side note: My wife loves the automatic savings app like Qapital and Digit. She doesn't want to have to manually save. Instead, she loves that the apps do it for her, and now she has accumulated quite a big stash of cash.

Also, I relate with your story about your wife's money being in a 0% interest account. My wife likes what she calls "Squirrel money." It's really under-the-mattress cash that she knows she can access easily. She keeps quite a lot of it yielding 0% (or close), but fortunately she has gotten into I-Bonds and also has a high-yield savings account. Meanwhile, she invests in her Betterment account, which she likes because it too can be easily accessed by an app on her phone. I have learned to encourage her to participate in savings in a way that works for her. The end result is that we regularly save 25%+ of our income and it is a joy to behold our NW grow.

All the best to you and your happy wealth journey as a couple!