I have been thinking about how hard life can be when everything is so expensive! And why embracing a frugal lifestyle can be so helpful. There are a lot of good reasons to be frugal, especially in today’s climate.
My own experience of paying a mortgage on a low income whilst bringing up three teenage daughters and keeping up with the bills is that it is tough, but would be even more difficult now we are in a cost-of-living crisis. I managed it by adopting some essential frugal habits.
Frugal habits I adopted
Here are some of the measures I took, and continue to take.
I questioned every purchase and only bought when really necessary.
I shopped around and bought almost exclusively secondhand.
I planned our meals, didn’t waste food and shopped with a list.
I moved my grocery shop from Tesco or Sainsbury’s to the (then) new Aldi or Lidl stores. This saved me at least £30 a week, if not more! One of my most popular posts ever is this one, comparing Aldi and Lidl.
I made everyone wear layers rather than putting the heating on at the first sign of a chill, turned lights off, used the washing machine as little as feasible with full loads only and dried the laundry on the line instead of in a dryer.
All my cars have been decent old bangers purchased for cash. If I wanted something and needed it, I would save for it rather than take out a loan.
It can feel impossible to put any money into savings if you don’t earn much, but once I took control of my finances I made sure I always had an emergency fund. Frugal living made this possible.
It’s unfair to call young people snowflakes
That was a few years ago. Today, it’s even harder for my daughters’ generation. People call them snowflakes and say they could manage better if they didn’t spend all their money on take out coffee, but in my view that’s unfair. Houses are so much more expensive now. My first one in the late 1980s cost £40k! I looked on RightMove recently and that house now would be at least £250K. Wages have definitely not risen in line to cover that amount, and prices of pretty much everything else has.
Unless you have help from family, buying a property is hard, especially if you are paying rent as well. A tiny one-bed flat costs £850 a month to rent here in north Essex, and even more as you get closer to London.
Having said that, there are ways to be frugal and there are some good motivations to do so. I am not a financial adviser, but I have worked out a few things in my life and here are the things I ask my daughters to try to motivate them to save and get on top of their money.
Questions to ask
I try to encourage my girls to look ahead rather than just get by day by day. Here are some questions I ask them:
Do you still want to be paying high rents to faceless landlords when you are in your 50s and 60s and have no security if they decide to sell or want you out? Or would you like to own your own place and have paid off the mortgage?
Wouldn’t you like to have a choice about how long you work, rather than having to do the daily grind into your late 60s and 70s, assuming you can even get a job or are well enough to work at that point?
What if you want to have children and have some time off or go part-time? Or maybe afford to do a job that you enjoy more but maybe pays less?
I tell my girls to save every month, even if it’s a tiny amount. A LISA is a no-brainer, as the government will give you 25% of what you save up to £1000 a year.
Always pay into your work pension – don’t opt out! Again, your employer will contribute towards this, so it’s extra money for you.
It may be that at some point you can look at other potential investments as and when you can free up the cash.
As part of your financial planning, don’t build up lots of debt. This will only cause stress, and you will be charged interest on top of whatever you borrow.
Live within your means. Avoiding debt and building up savings are more possible when you live frugally.
Conclusion
Living frugally doesn’t mean depriving yourself of everything. But it does mean prioritising spending, spending more mindfully, and maybe planning for the future too. There are lots of good reasons to live a more frugal lifestyle. What are yours?
Leave a Reply