Today is a special episode, because the guest is actually one of our hosts! We interview our co-host Mathias on how to get your partner onboard to reach FI. He explains how him and his partner Heidi are reaching FI as a family and how to get your partner onboard with FI.

We also talk about:

• Women’s blogs on FI
• Buying and selling clothes
• Budgeting sessions
• Planning trips
• Children and FI
• Planning and flexibility

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External resources can play a key role in getting your partner onboard

Mathias was always financially minded and saved money before he discovered the FI movement. He then discovered some German blogs and attended some interesting conferences. However, he met his girlfriend Heidi before joining the movement, and when he started exposing her to the FI concept she was initially reluctant. But Mathias spammed her with blogs, articles and interesting material which allowed her to dig deeper. He went even further by introducing her into a coaching program where someone else confirmed the benefits of being financially savvy. This worked so well that she’s now part of the FI Europe team!

Immediate steps to get onboard: having a plan

After Heidi decided to join the quest for FI, some changes had to happen in the management of family resources. Now they track every money movement through bank account documents and certain apps.  Shopping is also completely planned in advance, so they only spend on what’s necessary. Heidi has previous experience with minimalism, which helped her a lot when learning about FI.

How to manage disagreement within a family context

Of course in a relationship there are many factors that need to be taken into account when setting up an effective FI strategy. At first, Mathias and Heidi’s eating habits were pretty different. They also sometimes disagreed and where to spend a holiday, or what to do with a certain amount of money. Mathias explains that open discussions where each partner clearly exposes their opinion and views is what works best when resolving issues.

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Links

• FI Europe on Instagram