Our Thoughts on Frugality 

Frugality is a term that gets thrown around quite a lot. But in our experience it can mean very different things to different people! Typing the word into Google generates this definition and example: 

The quality of being economical with money or food; thriftiness.

“He scorned the finer things in life and valued frugality and simplicity” 

We actually think that’s a pretty good summary, especially the example!  

Essentially, frugality boils down to optimising every spending decision, so that you get maximum benefit from every pound spent.  

Clearly this fits very well with those seeking FIRE, as it leads to a much lower cost of living. As we mentioned in What is FIRE? this has a double whammy affect as it:

• reduces the amount you’re spending now, meaning you can increase your savings rate.  
• allows you to also live off less in retirement, meaning you need less of a ‘FIRE fund’ to sustain your lifestyle 

But for us, frugality is much more than a necessary mindset to achieve FIRE. It goes to the core of our beliefs – you shouldn’t consume things just because they’re available! We live in a culture of high consumption. The developed world gobbles up frightening amounts of ‘stuff’, spitting out endless waste in the process.

If we could all be slightly more mindful about this and reduce our spending (and therefore consumption) the world would be a much happier and healthier place. This fits well with our approach to minimalism and we see the two as close allies!

Negative Connotations 

As soon as you mention frugality, most people will come up with negative reactions. 

“You’re just being tight” 

“I couldn’t possibly do without my fancy car/house/watch/phone/shiny thingy/etc” 

“You earn enough, why not spend it?” 

These reactions probably stem from the fact you are making people challenge their own decisions. As soon as you mention that you’re doing things differently – in any aspect of life (frugality, minimalism, FIRE, parenting, schooling, housing etc etc) – most people take it as an insult to their own ways.  

“If you’re not doing it the same as me then one of us must be wrong!”  

If these people had genuinely made those decisions for themselves (to spend on XYZ), then they wouldn’t be so immediately defensive. Instead they are probably just following what other people do because that’s ‘normal’. ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ if you like.

That initial response can actually be seen as an encouraging sign, as it suggests they haven’t even considered the alternative yet! Lead by example rather than seeking confrontation with these people. Everyone is entitled to make their own decisions. The more of us who challenge these ‘norms’ and show there is another way, the more chance we have of changing the default instinct to consume!

Start with the Easy Wins 

If you’re starting from the ‘normal’ spending levels in our society, you’ll quickly find you can optimise almost every aspect of your spending!! We started this process around 5 years ago and have made drastic changes which will benefit our finances for the rest of our lives.  

Using the ‘big 3’ expenses as examples: 

1. Housing – do you live in a sensible location? Most people desire the biggest possible house in the ‘nicest’ possible area. But often this isn’t suitable to their situation. Try to live near work, supermarkets and other conveniences.  

1. Transport – most people can improve here. Do you really need to drive so often? Walking or cycling instead can have health benefits and actually save you time as Mr Way described in A Way to Less……. Cars! Could you go down to one car between 2 if you’re a couple? Or even go entirely car free? 

1. Food – do you eat out a lot? Try doing it less often – it’s more of a reward when you do. You save money too! Where do you do your food shopping? It’s possible to eat a healthy, balanced diet while also being frugal with your shopping.

Say “NO” to lifestyle inflation. It’s so easy to let your spending creep up when you start earning more, but it’s so much harder to undo! 

Challenge Everything

Think of alternative ways of gaining the same benefit, for lower cost:

• Borrow stuff from friends/family/neighbours rather than buying new – particularly DIY tools etc. 
• Change which supermarket you shop in. Buy own brand instead of fancy labels. 
• Get a cheap sim only phone contract and buy last year’s phone model, rather than paying significant amounts every month for the latest model. 
• Delay purchases until the item is on sale – you’ll often decide you didn’t need it anyway! 
• Always shop around for bills, insurance etc to get the best deal. Also consider cashback* which can significantly improve the offer!
• Get your books from the library – did you know most even do an app with free audiobooks?!

*This is a link to Quidco, our favourite cashback site! If you sign up and get £5 cashback, you’ll get a bonus £10 and so will we!

That’s just for starters – there’s so much more to do when you get creative! Let us know if you have any good examples! 

Our Version of Frugality 

As with all of these ‘movements’, frugality means different things to different people. If you’re on minimum wage your frugal looks a lot different to that of most 6-figure-plus earners!  

So what does it mean to us? 

Our approach to frugality boils down to the principle of “challenge everything”. We have learnt to question every aspect of spending in our lives and assess whether we genuinely get value out of it. If we do, that’s fine!

It becomes a matter of prioritising what is most important to you. Is it worth the trade-off to speed up your journey to FI? When the alternative is to buy freedom, you’ll soon find you don’t want so much ‘stuff’! 

We have optimised most areas of our budget as far as we are willing. In our upcoming March spending post, we will detailed our spending for March 2019 which has been a fairly typical month. We’ll continue to track this so keep an eye on how we’re doing and if we make any further gains! If you have any ideas on how we could be more frugal, please let us know! 

We find the process of trying to get the most value out of every pound fun. For example with our food shopping, we keep decreasing our budget and managing to find ways to make it work. We absolutely love our food so wouldn’t compromise on quality – there are other ways to save! 

Over the last few years we have cut our food shopping bill in half! We intend to create a post detailing how we have achieved this soon. 

There are things we wouldn’t consider cutting out such as Mr Way’s sports team membership, or his weekly pub quiz outing! Or Miss Way’s running club or occasional coffee treats. These things are inevitable and can be easily built into your budget.

You have to treat yourself sometimes as that’s part of our philosophy to BE PRESENT. This means we are determined to enjoy the process of achieving FIRE as well as the end product. This balance will be different for everyone but you just have to be happy that it’s justified and fits with your long term goals. 

Spend Less, Smile More! 

We have actually found that our ‘frugality’ has increased our happiness. Most people would assume the opposite, as they associate happiness with having more ‘stuff’. But as we said in A Way to Less……. Stuff we actually find more joy in having and spending less. It makes you appreciate the things you do have, more. 

How do you find the happy balance between frugality and deprivation? Do you enjoy the challenge like us? Let us know in the comments!