Twenty five years ago some of my frugal ways had people laughing at me. I would be called “stingy”,”mean”, a scooge”, “tight”. One had to be frugal under the radar or else they were scorned or made fun of. I couldn’t openly talk about washing out freezer bags, eating carrot tops, foraging, or buying yellow stickers. This would be looked down on and I would be made to feel embarrassed. Poverty, struggling financially, and being frugal meant that someone was seen as a failure in those days. It was often looked down on (and probably still is by many). However, the green, and health, agenda has changed that to some extent, thankfully. I am now green not mean! 😁 Being fugal is trendy. We are apparently saving the planet and looking after our health by being fugal. 
I must admit that I wear being extremely frugal as a badge of honour. I chose to live this way, but many people are forced into it. Now however, it is easier to hide that you are struggling from your neighbours, or people that you don’t wish to know. The legitimate consequences of your frugal actions is that they are good for the environment, or your health. This can therefore be cited as the reason for doing them. Rather than be embarrassed (which there is no need to be as most people are struggling now, and you are taking actions to help your situation,) it is easier to be open and spin that it is for the greater good. Here are so obvious examples.
1. Attending a community fridge is saving food waste and land fill. We have professionals turn up in luxury cars at my local community fridge.
2. Turning the heating thermostat down and pulling out every plug is reducing energy and therefore carbon consumption.
3. Eating less meat in our meals is apparently doing the same. To be honest I don’t believe this and worry that there is another agenda. I think that our farmers need supporting. My local, well known, big brand supermarket is buying a lot of it’s beef from Uruguay which, as far as ommissions go, is not good for the planet.
4. Foraging, and eating things like dandelions and nettles have been proved to have lots of health benefits. I remember only about 15 years ago, watching the news about another country and how the people were starving. The journalist’s evidence was that an old lady was picking dandelions. I just thought that she was using her wisdom learned from previous generations.
5. Flushing the loo with grey water, or having outside water butts collecting the rain obviously saves water which is a precious commodity.
6. Growing our own food is saving on food and air miles. It is also organic and has more nutrients than supermarket vegetables which are often months old.
7. Buying or wearing second hand clothes felt so shameful when I was a child. I hated having to wear my mum’s friend’s child’s cast offs. I felt bad that my children had to wear clothes from charity shops and car boot sales, too. Now it is just normal to sell and buy things on Vinted and other selling platforms. It is environmentally friendly and saving on landfill.
8. Not going abroad on holiday can be about saving on a carbon foot print rather than the fact it can’t be afforded.
9. By attending free local events someone is supporting their community rather than trying to have a no spend week.
10. Taking a picnic, and maybe taking a flask of coffee rather than buying one when out (or when going to work) is about using up what you have to save on food waste. No one needs to know someone can’t afford to be eating out.
11. Furnishing a home with second hand furniture has the knock on effect of saving the earth’s limited resources. That could also be a reason why assessories like cushion covers are not replaced each year as the colour in fashion that year changes.
12. Riding a bike, or having a small car, or nor owning one has a positive environmental factor. No one needs to know that you can’t afford a car.
There are so many other examples of how a frugal person benefits the planet. Those are some just off the top of my head. Living simply is fashionable. Therefore the next time you are feeling less because you can’t afford something new, or you are flushing the loo with your bathwater, you are not only saving money, but you are saving the planet. Be proud and spin it as a positive thing in your head. Changing the way you see something can change the way that you feel. It might even be a way to spin it to the kids or partner so that they get on board with saving money too! 😉
Spot on. All these modern trends have been such a boon to frugal living/financially pressured people. A few years ago I made a patchwork skirt from discarded jeans stuck in a cupbord after my kids outgrew or outwore them long ago, just being creative and frugal and having fun doing it. I was immediately told, that this skirt was the highest fashion… I just might make one more:-)
The psycologi of poverty is however frightening. I remember being newly divorced and running out of salt a week before payday. Of all mad things, I did not borrow a cup of salt from a neighbour, because I knew, that I did not have a penny left that month to buy salt. Had I just run out and couldn’t be bothered to go to the shops, I should happily have borrowed.
All those years being a student on very little money, we were not poor, just happily broke. Years later on a high income, all going into a seemingly bottomless debt (thank you hubby..), I felt terribly embarrassed, poor, living as frugally as I had done as a student. Now, retired, I feel rich, living very frugally to be able to afford things that I value more, renovations and vacations.
The shame and embarrassement of feeling poor is so devastating, useless, detrimental to our health and often getting in the way of coping in the most sensible way. So thank you modern frugality trends, for taking a bit of the pressure off.
I think people are looking for stress free lives these days to and all you said helps towards it if it’s a chosen way of life. Great post.
Thanks for your kind feedback
I so agree with all you’ve said on this blog Toni. I try to live as frugally as possible but one thing I do afford myself and hubby is a couple of holidays abroad every year, mainly because my husband works so, so hard and also, being from Ireland we don’t get much good weather so it’s nice to get away to some sunshine and be guaranteed that my hubby will actually relax x
I agree. We like to get away on breaks too. Life has to be a balance, doesn’t it?
Thank you for a great blog, many things rang true for me too. We used to get the kids clothes from car boots too. I keep quiet about my frugal way, been ridiculed in the past, but I was able to finish work early and live on my savings till my pension kicked in. I’m on my own, so very aware that I have to cover emergency bills on my own. I think covid made a lot of people revaluate their working lives, to get more of a balance.
I am sure that you are right. Yes I think that it is so much harder on your own x
A great blog. It all makes perfect sense.
Wear that frugal badge with pride.
Thank you. I will
I used to have hand me down clothes from my mum’s friend’s daughter. I used to get excited as they only bought good quality things. I never used to tell people though so I suppose it did bother me. I even remember having a toy dolls pram that my mum was given but I just accepted it.
With my own children I was lucky to have friends and a sister with children slightly older so my first son had such a lot of clothes. I also used to buy good quality things from jumble sales.
As they grew older it was harder as they wanted to be the same as friends so I used to cut back in other areas. I was good at mending and recycling things and could sew. We also grew some things but no where as much although we did have relatives with biggardens and allotments so were often given things. I never felt I missed out I just wasn’t interested in the latest gadgets. We also didn’t have a car for years but had a good bus service and we walked a lot.
I did home work assembling switches, had students and helped relatives who paid me to do a bit of cleaning instead of hiring a stranger to do it. I had lot’s if spare time to spend with my children and that was what I wanted so looking back I am glad we lived the way we did.
That sounds like you juggled things well. Thanks for sharing
Thank you Toni for a great blog.
Aww thanks for your lovely feedback
This is so true.
I was brought up in jumble sale clothes or wore hand me down from my brothers, I hardly ever had new.
I remember mum used to cut our hair, I had some crazy fringes! Around the time of Princess Diana and Charles’s wedding I had a treat and went to the hairdressers as I was going to be a bridesmaid for a friend and I had a haircut like lady Di’s, or so I thought LOL
Dad had a big vegetable patch and an orchard, we kept chickens for the eggs, and had goats for the milk which I hated at the time.
We were poor in those days, that is money poor but we got by and managed.
Mum and Dad even managed to take us camping to Wales every year.
I am afraid I inflicted those fringes on my kids too 😄. That sounds like a lovely, wholesome childhood, even if it was hard
Great read Toni, thank you
Thanks for your k8nd comment
Oh, my mum used to wash out freezer bags, and I still do (as long as they’ve not had meat in), and I lived in hand me downs from our neighbour. But to be honest, we never thought anything of it. I don’t remember being seen as poor or thinking we were. Maybe we were just ahead of the time
I think years ago that was just the way it was. Resources were still short after the war and people were still in the mindset of make do and mend. Thanks for commenting
Oh, my mum used to wash out freezer bags and I do as well except the meat ones. Clothes were handed down from my two elder brothers, but my mum also enjoyed sewing skirts and dresses for me and had a knitting machine, making snug cardigans for all of us with beautifull patterns. I remember gorgeous dresses given to us by friends as well. We were not poor, they were just being sensible. My own children grew up in homemade clothes, often from recycled material, and hand me downs, until they turned 12. They were then given their own clothes allowance and believe me, there was never any fuss wanting brand name clothes, seeing it was their own money being spent. They deny feeling clothing a problem when they were kids, claiming they haven’t missed out on anything. And we really were struggling. LOL.
I remember just wanting something new from C& A 😊. Good idea to give them a clothing allowance
As a child my family did these things because we had to. As a young widowed mom I did these things because I needed to. Now I do these things because I enjoy, its healthy, and saves us money to travel, and do things we enjoy.
Brilliant. Thanks for sharing
Excellent, I’ve always been a bit Green 😂
😁. Thanks for commenting x
Excellent advice as always Toni!
Aww thanks for your lovely feedback
Great article and advice Toni. I remember my Mum never being embarrassed just buying what she needed. The fruit and veg shop offered her a crate of a dozen Cauliflower for £1, sack of carrots £1 etc. She would blanch and freeze them. She made bread rolls on Sunday. She was very much before her time but never discussed it with anyone. She taught us some good frugal skills.
Aww you are so lucky to have had that role model. Thanks for sharing
Great post. Looking back, my parents must have managed on very little money but I never felt ‘poor’. Mum sewed and knitted and baked. Dad produced lots of our fruit and veg and I remember the fun of family forages for brambles. These days being careful, ie frugal, with some things means I can spend on what matters to me. And I enjoy feeling ‘green’. Mindset matters.
Absolutely. Yes, I think that it was just more normal to do those kind of things years ago. We didn’t waste any resources. Thanks for commenting.
All so true, I’ve always had to be frugal, as kids we were taught how to make do and mend, polish our shoes, do jobs around the house for pocket money, eat everything that was put in front of us, sew and knit, and entertain ourselves for free during school holidays, which I have fond memories of. at 11 my parents split and we lived on very little, I remember radio rentals coming one sat morning while watching swap shop and they took back the tv, we took our clothes to a second hand shop and traded them for school uniform, my peers were not nice about it, or when I had free school dinners, while they got food from canteen or shops. I left home at 16 and my rent was higher than my income, at 18 I had 4 jobs, but still was able to have a good social life and own an old banger : all of this educated me from an early life, I gained essential skills which have served me well throughout my life, I struggled to bring up 3 girls as a single mum, living on a budget, set up a successful business. My girls have fond memories of all our camping trips that were always fun, even in the rain, and going on holidays abroad. They also remember not having any hot water for 18mths as couldn’t afford a new boiler, but being resourceful we had a kettle, old dishwasher and electric shower. I taught all my girls how to sew and cook from scratch, and live off the very basics that supermarkets sell, we could have written a book on what we made with tins of 9p beans lol, but when pushing a trolley or at the checkout I felt I stood out buying the simply Asda products and would try to cover them up, if you brought cheap toilet rolls you were really frowned upon! I was lucky to get on the housing ladder, and that has now allowed myself, with my husband of 25yrs to have a very small mortgage on a bungalow which is now worth a lot, we live in the south of England! Sadly none of my daughters can afford to get on housing ladder and they pay high rents, the same amount they would pay in a mortgage ironically, on properties that have all had issues, £1700.00 a month for a 3 bed, £650 for one room, and sadly we are not in a position to help, only if we die!
I am now so proud of how we live and what we have, a roof over our heads, freezers full, old bangers still and a campervan 33yrs old, our bungalow is full of recycled furniture, charity shop crockery, we even have a fireside chair from the dump, it’s like new but unsellable due to no fire label on the new fabric it had been covered with. Our friends/family seem to love staying with us in our simple world, to relax, no pressures to have everything. My grandkids play with toys that used to be my girls, few things like Lego & games are from our childhood, my Kerplunk is 53 yrs old and still stronger than the new one my grandkids have. All of above has allowed me to retire at 57, due to health conditions. We struggle financially, no eating out, clothes from vinted, we grow our own etc but we are so contented and proud to be living a simple life. I feel I educated my daughter well and now I’m now teaching my very young grandkids how to save in their money boxes, grow their own, cook, recycle everything, fix things, look for treasures in charity shops and enjoy free or cheap inside and outdoor activities. I spoil them, but in simple low cost ways, other grandparents buy the exspensive toys, we take them out on adventures. You are right that the stigma of living frugally is less, I do still feel that so many do not understand my son in laws for one, they buy food and drinks on the go, have takeaways and then forfeit time with their kids kicking a ball about as they are working overtime, they both take the muck that I buy second hand stuff then watch their kids playing so well with the second hand toy! I’ve spent my whole day cooking up meals for freezer with bags and bags of potatoes from waste project, and veg from allotment, and repairing clothes on sewing machine and reading book from the library,.
All so true, I’ve always had to be frugal, as kids we were taught how to make do and mend, polish our shoes, do jobs around the house for pocket money, eat everything that was put in front of us, sew and knit, and entertain ourselves for free during school holidays, which I have fond memories of. at 11 my parents split and we lived on very little, I remember radio rentals coming one sat morning while watching swap shop and they took back the tv, we took our clothes to a second hand shop and traded them for school uniform, my peers were not nice about it, or when I had free school dinners, while they got food from canteen or shops. I left home at 16 and my rent was higher than my income, at 18 I had 4 jobs, but still was able to have a good social life and own an old banger : all of this educated me from an early life, I gained essential skills which have served me well throughout my life, I struggled to bring up 3 girls as a single mum, living on a budget, set up a successful business. My girls have fond memories of all our camping trips that were always fun, even in the rain, and going on holidays abroad. They also remember not having any hot water for 18mths as couldn’t afford a new boiler, but being resourceful we had a kettle, old dishwasher and electric shower. I taught all my girls how to sew and cook from scratch, and live off the very basics that supermarkets sell, we could have written a book on what we made with tins of 9p beans lol, but when pushing a trolley or at the checkout I felt I stood out buying the simply Asda products and would try to cover them up, if you brought cheap toilet rolls you were really frowned upon! I was lucky to get on the housing ladder, and that has now allowed myself, with my husband of 25yrs to have a very small mortgage on a bungalow which is now worth a lot, we live in the south of England! Sadly none of my daughters can afford to get on housing ladder and they pay high rents, the same amount they would pay in a mortgage ironically, on properties that have all had issues, £1700.00 a month for a 3 bed, £650 for one room, and sadly we are not in a position to help, only if we die!
I am now so proud of how we live and what we have, a roof over our heads, freezers full, old bangers still and a campervan 33yrs old, our bungalow is full of recycled furniture, charity shop crockery, we even have a fireside chair from the dump, it’s like new but unsellable due to no fire label on the new fabric it had been covered with. Our friends/family seem to love staying with us in our simple world, to relax, no pressures to have everything. My grandkids play with toys that used to be my girls, few things like Lego & games are from our childhood, my Kerplunk is 53 yrs old and still stronger than the new one my grandkids have. All of above has allowed me to retire at 57, due to health conditions. We struggle financially, no eating out, clothes from vinted, we grow our own etc but we are so contented and proud to be living a simple life. I feel I educated my daughter well and now I’m now teaching my very young grandkids how to save in their money boxes, grow their own, cook, recycle everything, fix things, look for treasures in charity shops and enjoy free or cheap inside and outdoor activities. I spoil them, but in simple low cost ways, other grandparents buy the exspensive toys, we take them out on adventures. You are right that the stigma of living frugally is less, I do still feel that so many do not understand my son in laws for one, they buy food and drinks on the go, have takeaways and then forfeit time with their kids kicking a ball about as they are working overtime, they both take the muck that I buy second hand stuff then watch their kids playing so well with the second hand toy! I’ve spent my whole day cooking up meals for freezer with bags and bags of potatoes from waste project, and veg from allotment, and repairing clothes on sewing machine and reading book from the library,.
Aww fantastic.Well done. My g4andson is playing with my Kerplunk as well. 😊