A few days ago I went to a London FI meetup – as usual it was a breath of fresh air for me! Meeting like-minded people, talking openly about financial independence, and exchanging ideas in a positive atmosphere is invaluable, especially as most of us FIRE seeks tend to  keep this interest a secret.

Frugality was this month’s topic. I always think of myself as not frugal as I like aesthetically pleasing things, but actually it’s really about the definition of frugality itself. 

Caroline and Anders, the organizers, encouraged us think about that: what does frugality mean? Quoting Vicki Robin (author of Your Money or Your Life) and Grant Sabatier, this is how they define it: 

Linking my life energy with enjoyment and good value – maybe I am a little frugal after all! 🙂

The room was packed, people were excited. Those I talked to were very interesting people indeed, two of whom were already financially independent. One of them, a few years older than me, worked in a bank for a number of years going from receptionist to analyst and saving a lot of her money and investing it in the stockmarket. The other participant, a few years younger than me, has an interesting and fulfilling job which pays well, but she also invested very cleverly in real estate buying when interest rates were super low and in an up-and-coming area. She researched very well where to buy each property, just before new transport links were added! Now she is financially independent, living nearly mortgage free in a posh area of London and works because she finds her occupation fulfilling!

Frugal tips we shared

  • Buy plane tickets on Tuesdays after 6 pm (short haul)
  • Buy plane tickets for Christmas in January
  • Mystery dining – review restaurants, sandwich bars and eateries and get paid for lunch and / or dinner. This was a tip from a participant who works at Money Saving Expert who has saved over £6,000 last year alone through mystery dining. He recommends this website as the best one
  • ZIPZERO – scan your receipts to get cash back towards your utilities. I understand the cash you get back is a small percentage of your spend quotes on the receipt, so worth doing especially on large expenses
  • Get second hand electronics which are refurbished by professional companies
  • Buy high quality clothes and shoes that will last years. A participant said she’s just bought a pair of Timberland shoes she reckons will last her 10 years
  • Take the bus or coach to the airport
  • Car pooling
  • Switch provider for your most expensive recurring items
  • Use Groupon and Wowcher to find great deals on experiences, meals, travel, theatre, spa days and treatments
  • Get Nectar points through your eBay purchases
  • BA miles – we didn’t go into detail on this, but it seems worth collecting e.g. BA miles via AmEx only if you regularly fly BA. If you find a much cheaper flight with a different carrier, than go for that and chose e.g. to get cash back instead of miles on your spending. Use this link and you’ll get 12,000 bonus miles if you chose an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card (no fees the first year) or 6,000 bonus miles if you sign up for a normal AmEx credit card (no fees at any time). I use my AmEx all the time, even to pay for our daughter’s nursery, as we fly BA regularly.
  • Cat sitting via Cat in a flat
  • Jobspotter – take pictures of hiring signs in shop windows and you’ll get a little money through Amazon vouchers
  • Inexpensive lunches: this is my tip 🙂 I bring in my own lunch to work, which costs me about £0.50 per meal. As a base I cook some lentils with quinoa (or couscous or rice), then add whatever is in the fridge, normally cheese, rocket, peppers, mushrooms – you name it.

I was one of the last ones to leave, still buzzing from the excitement. If you want to join us in the future, you can find the details of this series of London FI meetups here. In the meantime you can find the (few) slides from this meetup here, for your inspiration and with a useful list of resources.

Do you have any more tips to add to the list above?


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