One of the basic steps to financial independence is learning to handle your own money—a practice that then single Nicole Tantoco learned from boyfriend Miko de los Reyes.

She wasn’t the best in budgeting—saving money for a few days, only to spend all of it in one big splurge. But when she started going out with Miko, she became more conscious of her spending habits, jotting down every cent she spends on the daily and them pooling funds together during dates and travels. She’s come a long way from then financially dependent Nicole to having her own paying accounts. But now that she is a full-time wife and mom, the expenses just got bigger and required much more responsibility.

She shared the journey of her transition in this blog post: