Richer than you know

Although I can promise that I’ve not turned into a preachy person about saving, I most certainly have aimed to save as much as possible and I’m not ashamed to say that I am being grippy, tight, frugal and thrifty. We’re saving about 30% of our joint income and I’m thoroughly ashamed to say that we saved 0% beforehand. We keep hoping that the job in Singapore works out, but if not, ‘hey, TH did very well to get as far as he did!’ and it’s all gonna be ok.


This frugality and thriftiness originally comes from my Grama and then my Mum who taught be everything I know. I should add here that the bit that I know was lost for a while when I went on various shopping rampages between 2000-2008 before being followed by the extravagances of eating and going out.

However, here I am, a little older and a little wiser. I know what I can get for £10 and I know how long I have to work for it. I know that the time in which I work for it is more than the hours I sit in an office, I know it’s from the moment I get up to the very moment I arrive home-but this is what motivates me.

This is what I do now, and what I need to do now, but this isn’t what will happen forever. As the savings grow and our ability to be content rests less with what I can buy we stretch ourselves as a couple. These are skills I should never, ever have forgotten, and I am trying to ensure I never will. My Mum and Grama both taught me about how to prepare good food cheaply and work out the costs of meter readings, as well as regular hints and tips for when I would have my own home. However, as technology progresses I am now more able to help them find their best value products by using various forms of technology.
When I got myself a better deal with my phone provider and satellite subscription I wanted to be able to help them too, so I showed them a comparison site and ensured we worked through all the deals together. When my Mum said she wasn’t watching much of the channels on her subscription I found her a good http://www.digitaltvsignup.co.uk/digital-tv-providers/virginmedia.htm deal which would work out much cheaper. It depends where you are and what you watch, but we were able to check out all the deals. I have been half way through a conversation with someone more times than I care to remember when I think I am about to get a good deal only to find that it is for something I don’t want or need. I get so annoyed that part of a sales technique can be blatantly ignoring what a potential customer has asked for. This is why I much prefer looking up deals online and reading through everything they promise for whatever price they say they can do. I also think it’s a great way to compare the competition and even to get knowledge to really understand what you are paying for.

I’m so happy that I can help out and save my Mum and Grama pennies just like they were able to help me save. The basics are still the same though. Understand what it is you are paying for and decide from there if it really is worth that. It’s like if you only use sirloin steak maybe you genuinely don’t know about stewing steak and the costs of similar products. All I’m doing is using whatever knowledge I’ve gained in a different sort of way, and I’m so glad that I can.