Today, the media loves to remind us of the reasons we won’t be able to move out of our parents’ house until we’re over 30 years old and, unsurprisingly, it’s all our fault. We are told by our parents and our grandparents that, “if we would only save our money,” and to “make cutbacks to your life”, then all our problems we moan about would be solved. Phrases that are used like a dagger at our generation without fail is, “Do you really need the Netflix subscription?” or “Do you need to go to Starbucks or Costa for coffee?”. These are constantly used as the default excuse as to why we can’t afford a house, or a car, or learn to drive a car without our parents’ financial aid. Of course, there is more to it than this.
In June 2026, the BBC released an article titled “We had packed lunches every day for 10 years and retired at 40” in this article a couple speak of how they made financial cutbacks and savings where they could in their lives so that they could retire as early as possible. Cutbacks such as not buying any takeaways and making pack lunches every day instead of going out to buy them, they also often scoured for nectar point cards and even sought out public phone chargers to save doing it at home. The couple in this article speak of how they did these things for the sole aspiration of ‘buying their freedom’.
Being frugal is not an issue, it’s an important part of life so that we can achieve the financial aspirations that we so desire, but does there come a point when you can cutback too much?
Karl Marx argues in his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, the less that we enjoy ourselves in the activities that define who we are as people, the more we begin to lose ourselves. He states, “The less you eat, drink and buy books; the less you go to the theatre, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love, theorise, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save – the greater becomes your treasure, which neither moths nor dust will devour… your capital.” The idea that you can build yourself into the money-filled life you want if you sacrifice everything that makes you who you are, it’s possible, but at what cost? I know myself that going to the pub is a simple pleasure where I meet friends and, most of the time, spend not a lot of money. Now, I could sacrifice this experience for the potential of a more financially prosperous future, and it could assist me in any lofty ambitions of having nicer clothes, a nice big house and nice car. But would I be the same person?
It sounds silly but if stripping away an activity that is critical to the makeup of who we are, If like me activities such as socialising in a calm and relaxed environment with friends is important to you, if we decide to take this away, are we potentially removing a critical part of our personality and self-pleasure that has the potential to alter who we are entirely?
That leads to the question that I pose. How much do you cost? If you are happy to sacrifice activities that bring you pleasure but may cost money so that you can achieve your goals for your future self, then please go for it, you may even not notice a great difference. But if you are not so sure then do remember that you do not even truly know who you are yet, it is a tapestry that is still being woven. Therefore, sacrificing the very activities that help in defining who you are, from the simple coffee or pint you grab with friends or colleagues, that small bit of chat, gossip and laughter, may seem small and insignificant but its impact on creating and sustaining who YOU are is of paramount importance. You are unique and the activities you partake in whether they are free, or not all create who you are. Furthermore, ask yourself if you remove these activities from your life in the name of frugality for your future self, do you truly believe that you will be happier and not live with regret? And most of all would you even be the same person?