Mrs. MP's frustration with our budget and finances completely disappeared after applying this process :)

I have been using the free Swiss bank Zak for 1 year now. Here is my opinion on its advantages and disadvantages.

"How to budget?" is a recurring question. Here are the 4 ultimate ways to make a budget (from the simplest to the most complete).

After the creation of a common budget for our common couple expenses, I felt a need for simplification and a move to the next level in order to have a common vision, a single common bank account, and a single common YNAB budget. Here's how it happened :)

While our financial life followed its course with a common account and expenses split at the pro-rata of our salaries, we always had to manage unexpected invoices... So we decided to create a real budget with YNAB.

After our first years of living together, I started earning my first salaries. We therefore reviewed our way of managing our expenses to move to a pro rata of our earnings. And we also opened our first joint account.

I went back to the time when we met with Mrs MP, to see how far we've come. First appointments and first gifts, but completely separate financial life. Then settling together, with the first discussions, discords, and compromises concerning money.

It's pretty easy to have a budget and to pursue your own dreams like financial independence when you're alone. But when you get (or are) into a relationship, it gets a little more complicated. We've come a long way with Mrs. MP on this topic. Let me tell you how I got her on a common budget and on the dream of financial independence.

If you struggle with your savings rate, you may have wrongly defined your variable. I feel stupid that it took me more than two years to realize it myself. Better later than never!

If I had only seven letters to share my knowledge about early retirement / financial independence with any new comer, I would give him the two acronyms that I discovered which made me rich in one year!