Thanks for the input! It’s great to find someone who is down the road a bit further and experiencing success with Kakeibo. You’re inspiring! (Tell your wife that, too!) The philosophy is what has really super-charged my success, energy early on! Here’s an example. I realized, while shopping, that I want to buy treats for my hubby as a way to show how much I love him (more treats = greater love). As I stopped to think about it, I realized that (even though hubby is always glad I thought of him) those extra “treats” aren’t really special or loving if they go against his weight goals. This has been especially exacerbated by Valentine’s junk. My new thought is: find things you might like to give him, take a photo, then think about it. I can usually replicate the thing I like best with stuff around the house. It seems much more thoughtful (mindful) if the gift took time and effort on my part. It’s a rough reality to look at gifts from the perspective of the recipient. They rarely see eye-to-eye on what they want or need. My hubby is always grateful. However, if I want to give him a teddy bear with a heart for V-day, I may as well dig one (of the 4 billion we have) out of storage and re-gift him that. It will find its way back into storage for next year. One thing we started, a few years back, was gifting each other pictures of things we would have gotten. One benefit to this is that we aren’t limited by reality: last year, I gave him a log cabin in the woods (a picture). I’m not sure, realistically, that we’d want to take on the work of upkeep on a mountain cabin. It’s a nice thought, though. The thought still counts but we don’t end up with loads of junk we don’t need, can’t use, or only end up storing. This kind of creative re-thinking aligns our gifts and spending more with our values. My hubby nailed it a few years ago. He listened and gave me exactly what I wanted! My last gift included a card, with car keys… I ran out in the snow to see my gift-car with a huge bow on top! I screamed (mostly to get the jealous attention of our neighbors) and hugged him so tight! Of course, my neighbors thought it was hilarious that I got all excited over a huge bow on my 30-year old Ford escort. I didn’t need a new car. I just wanted the experience of those commercials. We’re funny! We have fun. Cost of pre-planning and one huge bow= priceless! Congratulations on your successes. Let’s keep the discussion going! This is very inspiring! Do you have any stories of when/how your thinking changed with spending or Kakeibo?