<prompt> Human: I remember seeing posts along the lines of my girlfriends family is bad with money, how do I make her see my side of living? and never really had to pay attention to it until now.I come from a immigrant family that lives a Spartan existence. Nothing goes to waste, dad is the handyman, mom cooks a homemade dinner literally every single night. We are frugal, almost to anxiety inducing effects. As a quick example, my parents have not been inside a movie theater for over 25 years.My girlfriends family is a little different. They consume and buy more. Since I know that I come from one extreme of the spectrum, I dont know if theyre just average, or if there are some really deep rooted habits with spending. Its hard to explain, but there is just a normalization of spending. Dinner is kind of free for all, where everybody gets their own takeout. Her parents will just be sitting around at home and decide to drive to the store to get a 20 lottery ticket or something. They actively say money is tight, but her father has put down about 1500 on Super Bowl boxes, and her parents go to the movies more than me and my girlfriend do.My girlfriend says she recognizes that her family is a little irresponsible with money, but in no way is she close to my familys extreme. I read things like Mr. Money Mustache and like the idea of extreme frugality that leads to financial independence. Has anyone else had experience with this sort of situation?  <response>: Honestly yes. I am a CPA and have always been careful with my money - knowing where it all goes. My wife, although not a super spendy person, gets carried away sometimes with purchasing things for herself and others examples like an extravagant gift or spending too much grocery shopping. What is REALLY helping us as a couple is having a financial meeting once a month. The day before I will track summarize all of our income and expenses and compare them to our goals of saving. During our financial meeting we talk about the past month and say things that we could do better. Just simply seeing the numbers and talking about them is a victory in itself. 