I’m currently studying a post-graduate degree full-time while holding down a mortgage in Manchester. This is quite a feat in itself, and with my wife I have accumalated a lot of ‘frugal’ tips you can use in the UK to make your money last longer, especially if you are in a similar situation to us:

  • If you’re anything like us, you are more intelligent than most poeple, and you have a lot more free time than people who are working highly paid but stupidly stressful jobs. Remember that this is a trade-off, and maximise the use of ‘smart thinking’ and of some of that extra time to avoid having to spend on unnecessary things. They called this ‘shoe leather costs’ when I was studying Economics at high school.
  • We both use food reuse places to get stuff just going out of date and eat it on the day.
  • My wife does both of our hair including dying. She’s done that since the pandemic - she’s become very good at it.
  • We don’t own a car, either walk everywhere, get public transport or use our bikes.
  • I am in the process of applying for all benefits and reductions possible based on our income and situation, including uni hardship funds etc.
  • I am selling a lot of my more expensive posessions that I don’t need anymore, mostly electronics, on ebay, although you can sell most stuff on ebay and it will sell, although not at a very high price. I use royal mail to pickup packages from my door so I don’t have to take them to the post office, it works out the best way.
  • I don’t go out that much at all, prefering to buy alcohol cheaply and drink it inside when I do drink. When I go clubbing or to gigs I usually buy cokes all night.
  • We shop at ALDI, LIDL and budget supermarkets, and make use of special offers a lot.
  • We buy clothes at ASDA, or buy really expensive clothes from German manufacturers who have much better clothing manufacture standards, and last years and years before wearing out.
  • Spend time on frugal Youtube channels and DIY youtube channels and instagram, tiktok etc - there is a huge ‘frugal influencer’ scence and you can pick up a lot of tips that way.
  • Try and make it a game how much money you can save in any particular week, all the while noting how LESS stressed you are than the ‘suits’ who are working 50 hour weeks and getting drunk to contain their misery.
  • Buy a lot of things online where you can read reviews and get the best deal. Don’t shop in person at all where you can help it.
  • See how many days you can go without spending any money whatsoever, given that shopping is pre-paid for etc.
  • Get into DIY - especially if you own your own home. Have a reusable tool set for every occasion - you save tons on things you would otherwise pay builders to do.
  • Choose leisure activities which are free, especially easy when the weather is good like now. Pack a packed lunch and go for a walk to the park - it’s completely free, you get exercise, sunshine and it’s just a really nice way to spend the afternoon.
  • No-one seems to do packed lunches anymore! This is a huge hack - get a flask that keeps your drink cool, and a packed lunch and you save on the ridiculous cost of sandwiches etc.
  • If you are technical like me, setup a Plex server and an ‘*arr’ hosting network and never have to pay for video or audio media ever again.
  • Read books. Second-hand paperback books are a great value to cost ratio in terms of the number of hours they provide entertainment and the quality of the information in a lot of books is very good and you will learn a lot more than from an internet search. Even better, download ebooks illegally and read them on an e-reader for free.
  • Personally I find that spending a lot of time getting good at ’looter-shooter’ computer games like Borderlands 2 or Diablo scratch the same itch that I get from real life shopping - it is difficult to feel poor with tons of expensive items in a virtual world.
  • Use moneysavingexpert.com forums, although I wouldn’t post your budget because people will just attack it based on their lifestyle descisions - just use it to get information on cheap deals and free good quality financial advice, the newsletter is good for that too.
  • Make friends with people that are in the same financial situation as you, and have advice or tips and whose idea of a ‘good time’ isn’t spending £50 in a restaurant every week.
  • When you get ill, buy the ‘cheap persons lemsip’ a combination of - unbranded caffiene pills, ibruprofen, paracetomol, and high strength vitamin C pills - you can get a years supply of each at a much reduced cost than lemsip will cost you for a year, and it’s the same, if not better, and you can also use each component seperately when you need to.

Just be happy for the little things in life and don’t spend where necessary. Don’t try and live the ‘rich influencer’ lifestyle because those people are unhappy idiots anyway and will be bankrupt and dead by 40.