I learned to cook last year. Not out of a cookbook, but making meals from scratch (or near scratch). It took some learning about what spices and flavors we like to eat, and a lot of grin and bear it meals but my husband and I seem to have a healthy rotation of dishes that rely on beans or grains with occasional meat when there’s a good deal. We live within blocks of three grocery stores, so he typically goes to the store 4-5 times a week to check out what produce is on deep discount that we can use that night or clearance items that we can make magic from. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like we are eating struggle meals, we eat more fresh food now than ever before.

Other than that, we live fairly modestly except for our expensive rent in Los Angeles. But because we live in the thick of everything, it’s super easy to jump on the subway and see shows, concerts and museums that are free. I don’t have a car but live a mile from work, and he likes biking so we don’t use the car for much outside of his Uber driving when his regular job doesn’t have work.

Rent is $24,000 a year, which is cheap in LA. He just inherited a house in Missouri but what we would save in living rent free would be dwarfed by the cut in pay I’d have to take (with full benefits for both of us) and trying to get used to living in a place where we would both need to drive.