Frugality
I've found that the word "frugality", or "being frugal" is commonly used as a backhanded compliment or an ambiguous term depending on the context, who is saying it and who they are saying it to. Almost like it's the polite word of saying "you're a tight arse"!
But I think there's a key difference between being "tight" or "cheap" and being "frugal".
Earning more (over spending less) is the generally accepted way of increasing your stack. There are a lot of payments that are a fixed amount, and so it proportionally impacts people with less income relatively more. For example a £10 cinema ticket for someone surviving on a basic income might be proportionally a good chunk of their disposable spend, whereas for a billionaire it doesn't even register.
There are some notable exceptions to this rule though. Consider Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest individuals in the entire world. His frugality is born out his values, his upbringing and his financial philosophy. He lives in the same modest home in Nebraska that he purchased for $31k in 1958.
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get" //WARREN BUFFETT
I really like this core value and it lies at the heart of what I have done over my entire adult life. I'm all about appreciating an item's intrinsic value to me, rather than paying a lot more for an item with a certain badge on it. I'm a Skoda driving, Casio watch wearing, Henry Hoover pushing self-confessed modern-day non-conformist practical frugalist (or a "tight arsed Northerner with deep pockets and short arms" if you are 90% of the consumerist brain-washed masses!)
Being the frugal fella I am, here's an AI abomination of an image. Although I'd argue that this person is "tight" rather than "frugal" given they have no shoes!
How frugality can lead to a happier life
I find that by following a life of frugality you benefit from the following:
- Less stuff means more piece of mind.
- This echoes one of my all time favourite quotes from one of my favourite films, "Fight Club". "The things you own, end up owning you". People who have a houseful of clutter that the TV has told them they have to buy to impress people are 'stufficating' in their own purchases.
- Less stuff means more in the bank, which means EVEN MORE piece of mind!
- This bit goes without saying, the less you buy the more money you have. And the more money you have, the more you have as a financial safety net. According to the Sleep Foundation 77% of people say they lose sleep over money worries at least some of the time.
- It keeps you grounded
- It makes you more intentional
- It makes you grateful
- It makes you resourceful
- It is good for the environment
- It exols all of these above virtues to your children!
Inspired by a post by Mr Money Mustache last year where he details frugal things that he still does, I've decided to reflect on frugal habits that have I've done in the past that I still do. So...what frugal things do I still do?
We cook our own dinners
I wasn't actually going to include this one but after doing a bit of digging on just how common ready meals / takeaways and restaurant visits are, I would say this is probably the biggest one! As a household we would make our evening meals at least 9 times out of 10. We steer clear of ready meals as a rule favouring simple fresh recipes, a takeaway is a rare treat and a restaurant visit even more so. This goes against the trend - especially amongst younger people - of ordering in food and the rise in popularity of app-based services like Deliveroo and Just Eat. 38% of 18-24 year olds order takeaway food at least 2-3 times a week(!)
To put some kind of cost comparison on this if you did only one of these, all month:
- Cooking evening meal at home: £140-280 a month
- Ready meals: £336-560
- Takeaways: £560-£1120
- Eating out: £1400-2240
Saving:
- vs ready meals: £280 a month / £3.4k a year
- vs takeaways: £840 a month / £10k a year
- vs eating out: £2100 a month / £25k a year
Make my own lunches
Linked to the above, but one that I think is less common, and certainly one I'm particularly proud of. Since starting proper big boy work waaay back in 2008, 99.9% of the time I've brought in my own lunch, normally leftovers from a meal that we've cooked the day before or a simple sandwich. I've maybe had to buy lunch perhaps about 20 times since 2008.
Saving:
(Buying meal (roughly £7)
- Cost of leftovers (£2))
x 260 work days a year
= £1300 a year
Make my own coffee
In addition to making my own lunches, I'll regularly make my own coffee and take it out with me. At work I've always had free tea and coffee, ranging from instant all the way up to 'bean to cup'. For this I'm normally talking about on a weekend if we've got a long car journey anywhere.
Saving:
(Buying coffee (roughly £3*)
- Cost of homemade coffee (£0.3)
x 50 times a year
= £130 a year
*I know £3 is a bit low considering the current extortionate prices of your standard campachoochoo but I'm taking a rough average since 2008. Plus I tend to drink simple coffees (Americano / Espresso)
Using cashback sites / discount vouchers / cashback cards where I can online
- Hotukdeals voucher code section - for discount codes and free delivery etc
- Cashback cards - My favourites are Chase (1%) and American Express (0.5%). Here's a referral link to American Express if anyone is after one
- Topcashback and Quidco
- Airtime Rewards - Add your cards to this app and you get cashback, completely passive, no need to click. If you don't use this one already - please use my referral. Link is here and the code is CDEFY6N8.
- Click through to the retailer using a cashback site like Topcashback or Quidco
- Use a voucher on the order
- Pay for the order on a cashback card
Cut my own hair and my son's hair
(Clipper cut (£10) + Boys cut (£10))
x 6 times a year
= £120 a year
Buying and selling things on Facebook Marketplace:
Kids bikes
Huge saving here. All of the bikes we've had our kids on have been Facebook marketplace finds. I've recently got an upgrade for my 8 year old, and found a Carrera Abyss nearby for £35 in great condition. The guy had it for his grandkid and was hardly used. The same bike new would be £250. Once the kids grow out of them we put them back onto marketplace and most times they resell for the same (and in the odd occasion a bit more!) than what we bought them for.
Saving:
Marketplace bike (£50)
- Sell price of old bike (£50)
= Free bikes! (Infinite money glitch activated!)
Some other marketplace finds in recent years that I'm particularly proud of:
Kindle Paperwhite - £10. Had a slight crack on a corner which wasn't an issue as I pop it in a case anyway. These go new for £150
Bike racks - 4 bike racks for £30. Have used them multiple times last year
Office chair - Picked up on eBay for £5 during Covid. Still use it 5 years on.
Thunderbirds Tracey Island - £5 complete with all vehicles. Currently goes for £180 on Amazon. My boy has since moved on from playing with it and I recently sold it for £35!
Acoustic guitar - £10, including a spare set of strings
Classical guitar - £5
Ukulele - £3
Apps that give me free/cheap food
I use a number of apps which give me cashback whenever I buy certain foods. This is normally branded stuff (with the exception of GreenJinn which is more focussed on health / free from type foods).
I'm not able to say how much I've saved per year for sure, rather I can see the current total I've saved over about 4 years.
Checkoutsmart - £1192
Shopmium - £674
GreenJinn - £317
Over £2000 in food costs!
For Shopmium, I have a referral code if anyone is interested in joining it. You'll get a free bag of Cadbury's chocolate:
https://www.shopmium.com/uk/referral/na8h8
Camping
We regularly go camping as a family, sometimes as much as 4 times a year. Once you have the kit, these trips can be very cheap. We researched campsites in the South of England a few years back and found the price difference to be stark! We tend to go camping in North Yorkshire or the Peak District where you can expect to pay £10-£40 a night.
Conclusion
So there we are. It looks like the biggest impact areas financially speaking are making your own food, both lunch whilst at work or evening meals. For the commonplace work lunches, this works out £1300 a year, and over my current working life (17 years) is over £22k, not to be sniffed at!
However aside from the financial benefit of being frugal I believe there are deeper benefits to following this virtue. It keeps you grounded and grateful, it makes you appreciate things more as everything is more intentional.
What frugal things do you do? Are there any which you used to do but no longer do? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
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