A Frugal Lifestyle

We had a home visit today from a financial advisor, a local chap from a well-trusted and established organisation. It was just a matter of adding to an existing ISA. Financial services being what they are, the advisor had already spent a considerable amount of time filling in forms on our behalf. As he was explaining all this to us he made reference to our 'frugal lifestyle'.

I was reminded of the investigation carried out many years ago by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs during which an impertinent young pup sat in our reception room asking questions about our 'lifestyle'. Questions such as,

How often do you holiday abroad?

How often do you eat in restaurants?

How much do you spend on gifts?

To which the answers were - rarely and little.

That HMRC investigation was one of the most stressful years of my life and at the end of it we did not get a huge tax bill, rather a rebate and since then have paid an accountant a lot of money to manage our meagre affairs.

I know we are fortunate people. No mortgage, and a little something behind us. We're lucky boomers. Yet, in some ways our lifestyle is frugal and I like it being like that. We spend tiny amounts on personal grooming, entertainment, holidays and cars. We maintain our home but almost everything in it is second hand and 'pre-loved'. Likewise the garden. We grow some of our own vegetables and start most of our plants from seeds and cuttings. we make our own compost and keep hens for eggs. And we share. Every year we give hundreds of pounds worth of plants away, we share the eggs, another two other families grow vegetables here and we have a bushcraft camp and archery facilities that friends and family use at no cost. Bert also has friends queuing up to go logging with him in the woods. 

Sharing and not looking for cash returns brings its own rewards, not least being the feel-good factor. We get the labour in the woods, the labourers get as much wood as they want. We get volunteers replanting native trees for the enjoyment of it. We get company and friendship and office chairs and all sorts of good things in return. 

I said before, I know we are fortunate. Incredibly so.