Hey everyone ! I hope you enjoy todays video essay. This video was requested by a subscriber, so if you ever have a request for a video essay or video on this channel please let me know. I get so many great ideas from you all and love to create community lead discussions! Immy x

I was born into a low income family to parents who grew up in The Depression and The War. My home life was a frugal one, but for the most part, I was a happy kid and I didn’t feel deprived. We did not have much choice when it came to shopping or purchases. Instead, we made everything from scratch including food, clothing, gifts, and household items. Sometimes I was not proud of this… I can remember moments such as trading my home-baked cookies for store-bought ones on the school playground, or being embarrassed of my homemade Halloween costume. With that said, as I look back on this, I can honestly say that my frugal upbringing is one of my most valuable life lessons. I feel very fortunate to have the “make do, make it last, make it from scratch” skill set that I have. BUT… as you have mentioned Immy, I have the choice to live a frugal lifestyle and this is a privilege that cannot be understated. Thanks for creating such niche content… I value the learning and the reflection that your content brings to me. 💦🌎Ⓜary💕

really digging these video essays, immy! i'd always considered myself extremely frugal (to the point where i'd get panic attacks when friends would invite me out for dinner, to a wedding, etc.). my level of consumption was quite high though -- i'd often buy cheap clothes and worthless trinkets i didn't even like. it wasn't until my introduction to the minimal waste movement that i realized i was wasting money instead of saving it -- what a rude awakening. by buying fewer things now, and shopping secondhand for everything possible, i spend much less overall but i feel like the purchases i do make are more aligned with my ethics. i am child-free by choice though so i understand it's not possible for everyone to "simply buy less and buy better", but i'm grateful it was an option for me

my parents were really frugal because my dad didn't have a high income and my mother couldn't work. because we were frugal throughout the year, we were still able to go on holiday (usually in our own country), or buy a nice cake for birthdays and such. we were never lacking but we saved a lot of money by meaning smart. as an adult, i'm really grateful that i was able to grow up like this, being frugal and being smart with money is really no issue for me. i see it as a challenge rather than a pain.

Living a frugal lifestyle gives one more money to invest in their future and long term goals. Our consumptive society tries to impress upon us that happiness lies in having things, but I think most of here know that happiness can come from not having things. We’ve just seen this in your most recent video, Immy, and I’m really looking forward to today’s video and the live chat discussion. Thank-you for making such amazing content on niche subjects such as this… I love it!! 💦🌎Ⓜary💰💰

I grew up in Slovakia, under communism and then in new democracy that saw much poverty and greed at the same time. My mum had to work two jobs at a time to make ends meet and I honestly say, it was the most valuable lesson in my life. But I think it came quite late, the realization, just how valuable the lesson was. You see, when you grew up relatively poor or lacking resources, when your parents work super hard to put food on the table, you have this craving to have more and then often end up in debt. Only later in life, stumbling upon minimalism and zero waste lifestyle, I realized I didn't need all this or that and went back to my mum's ways even though I really don't have to now. And it's satisfying and makes me feel much better to say no to something that buy whatever I desire. It may sound weird but frugality feels good when you don't have to be frugal.

I love your video essays! Also, I understand the "tunnel effect". Being just out of college it feels like I barely make enough to cover what I need and the idea of getting to plan financially for the future seems like a luxury.

I loved this video. Frugality for me have been a lifestyle always. Now also sustainable, healthy, minimalistic. Really I love my life as it is and of course frugality and sustainability are very similar. The most important thing about sustainability is less people on the earth, very high minimum standards of education, healthcare and social services for ALL and very restricted capitalism. Recent law in Spain against food waste is an example of restricting capitalism to guarantee sustainability.

I love avocado on toast! It isn't all that expensive. That said, we do need better education to teach young people how to earn and manage their money and lifestyle. One poor decision early on like buying an expensive car that they can't afford and defaulting on a payment can ruin one's credit for years.

I battle between frugality and low waste. If a bag of five pounds of potatoes is cheaper than buying the potato without the plastic. Most likely I will buy the bag of potatoes. Then I feel bad for doing so. I hate waste of good food in both a perspective of frugality and low waste. My dad would have a little bit of light turned on at night to save money. I grew up wearing my brother's hang me down clothing. And sometimes I would get something from my sister. So I looked like a tomboy when I was younger. So some things came from my dad and mom. Thanks for this topic.....

Elizabeth Davis, famous food author, pointed out that, when UK peasants kicked out of their homes by enclosures of common land fleeing to cities in industrial revolution working in factories, were living twelve families to a room in a back-to-back, they had nowhere to cook, lost all cooking skills, could not forage for or grow food, and were forced to live on cheap rubbish from takeaways. You can boil tea, brewed from old leaves often, with sugar but milk could not be afforded, on an open fire, but there is almost nothing you can cook: a cauldron is needed, or a bakestone, and then you need flour and somewhere to knead it or meat and raw veg and somewhere to prepare it - it's equivalent to living in a bedsit (with twelve other families) with access to a kettle and a toaster only (eventually they had toasting forks - a common Oxfam shop donation in the 1990s, showing the last generation to use them). Of course the wretched poor 'for generation after generation didn't know how to cook'. They only got the chance to learn with council housing for all (started, like the NHS, with Nye Bevan) under the postwar Attlee labour government that's the only one in UK 20th century that actually did anything (apart from Lloyd George - pensions and irish independence, sort of). By which time convenience food such as tinned food had appeared - i read a lot of interwar fiction, and tirades against lazy housewives who use tins and readymade bread are frequent from the snobbier authors. A little research suggests that the first mass-produced food was biscuits and crackers, all made by the same Scottish family in the northeast for the most part. Eaten readymade digestives, oatcakes or crackers? You've used convenience food. Put that in yer cheese and wine evening, Tory git!

Immy this was lovely!! For my life I definitely approach frugality from a sustainability mindset (similar to Shelbi's eco-minimalism), but I know that comes from a place of privilege. Love your video essays!

I mean... we make value judgment on the rich not because of how they spend their money but how they GOT it. No one becomes that wealthy without the mass exploitation of Labor so the judgment value on them as greedy and having harmed others is just... materially factual. Instead of we the Working Class internalizing how we "judge" the wealthy, we should be changing the system so that they cannot make wealth by exploiting Labor through the taking of Surplus Value from us. There's no equivalence here, the Working Class is frugal right now out of necessity because the Ruling Class has rung us dry. We need to end this system of exploitation and theft from the Ruling Class and generate a system of renewable and sustainable circular commerce.

I have trouble relating to the word frugal because it has been used by people in my life to justify overconsumption due to a perceived benefit (like a sale). I do, however, think that cost per use is an important metric to look at, and I often wear fast fashion items way longer than their intended life cycle.

This is so well done!!! Thoroughly enjoyed this essay 😍

Really enjoyed this style of video!

Love love love this kind of video! I feel frugal and at the same time like I can do so much more ... And am learning how daily!

Thank you for this video, I am very interested in this topic.

I really love this type of content, thank you!!

This was fascinating, Immy! Thank you for sharing this well-thought out content with us!

Such a thoughtful, insightful and thought-provoking video, thank you Immy.

Such great points. Well said

Great video Immy, amazing research on the topic and so informative. Thank you so much 🥰

Very interesting video Immy, thanks for making it! I really like your thorough and well researched way of discussing this topic

another great video Immy! 😊 I was growing up just with my mum and very frugal.

This is a very well thought out video

Incredibly enlightening! The concept of scarcity really spoke to me. Having started a business with my husband 2 years ago, I feel like my world has narrowed down since then as we worry about how much money we bring in every single day, how much time has elapsed, how much savings remain to live off of... And I can honestly say we're in a very privileged situation as we have parents to help us, a lot of savings, and careers we might be able to go back to if it goes pear shaped. I can't imagine how taxing it must be to be in our situation without all of those cushions ☹

Great video, Immy! So insightful

love this video, you are so talented! Thank you so much!!!!🥰

wow very informative and showing the topic from different angles. Thank you immy!

Thank you for the wonderful informations 👍❤️✨

Serving us high quality, educational content for free, I love it!! Thank you so much, Immy!

Love seeing you talk about wider issues and the importance of income/class! ❤️

Great video!

Unfortunately the sad reality is that lots of people are unable to be sustainably frugal. The media reports that inflation is around 9% with a projection of 11%. However, the reality is many food prices have increased by approx 20% or more. Fuel prices, as in utilities have increased by 100% for many families with further increases planned for 60% later this year. Sadly many environmentally sound goods or intentions are likely to go by the wayside.

This was very informative, thank you! I have been on both sides of scarcity. For many years I had well-paying jobs and did not have a scarcity mentality. During those years I often consumed more than I needed and got caught up in materialism. Fast forward to today where I live abroad and make very little money as a teacher. Fortunately, I don't live paycheck to paycheck because I am frugal and save as much as I can. This helps reduce the feeling of scarcity, but I often fret over the fact that I make so little and have financial insecurity. These are important issues, and it's helpful that you are bringing your research-based thoughts to them.

Immy!! Love seeing your editing skills improving over time. Top notch video. Thanks so much for keeping at it. 💚✌🏼

👏👏👏 Immy! I have been asking myself this question for a while and I am SO IMPRESSED with this video. Very well researched and very well presented. Thank you 🙏

Hi Emmy this was very interesting ❤

I am frugal but not out of choice. This cost of living crisis has forced me to make serious changes. I’m in a two income household in the south east with a salary higher than the national average and we are struggling to make ends meet. I can’t imagine how low income families are feeling right now. This means that I’ve had to downshift a lot of my more sustainable behaviours e.g. opting for plastic free rather than options with the least environmental impact. I’ve also had to cancel my carbon offsetting contributions. I will buy less overall, so swings and roundabouts I guess.

I used to thing I have great self control since I do buy very little. But turned out I’m just very very picky! If I do find something I like, there’s little self control. Luckily that happens once in a blue moon. It’s nice that you acknowledge in your essay different motivations and personal starting points! Really enjoyed this ❤️

I personally noticed that my desire to buy less and be more frugal relates to the desire to invest in rather essential things (e.g. good quality clothes, food, books) and save time overall. As a silly example I look long term whether I should buy a reusable ear swab or continue buying disposable ones. A reusable one is an investment not only from an environmental perspective. I don't have to ever think about buying cotton ear buds. And long-term it will save money, provided I live long enough :D If I minimise the amount of those day to day things that I buy it creates a mental capacity for that which is truly essential to me. Another quick example is that I trained myself to wash hair once a week and so I calculated that I've used 1 shampoo bottle in 10 (!) months. That means that I have to think about buying shampoo and spend money on it only once every year. Now, if that's not the power of minimalism and frugality then I don't know what is :D

Hey Immy! Good luck on your journey! Thank you for all your wonderful stories, advice and knowledge. Wishing you the best 🖤💙💜🤍

when i was your age, retirement was 60. Now it's 70 (69) - they kept changing it. Plan whilst you're still young enough

Fantastic fantastic and fantastic job 💖💖💖 have a good day 💖💖💖

I still can’t get over that M.P!! The ideal was a covert description of his mother . I doubt whether he could do any of the thinks he listed himself. One of the first things you learn when you have no money is that the most expensive food you buy is the food you throw away because the kids won’t eat it.

“Voluntary simplicity” - gotta remember that! Could you share the title of the last study you mentioned? Or where you read about it? It sounds interesting

i'm not frugal. My ideal is to pay full (expensive) price for fairtrade items eg clothes, instead of giving to charity prevent people needing it, but consume way less.

I really liked what you had to say about this. I would say I like being frugal and minimalistic because its part of how I like to live, its also fulfilling. However I am a stay at home mom of 4 and we are low income and that has also impacted why I do what I do. I appreciate your thoughts because so many times I have heard things like what you put in the video, on how we can make more money. Unfortunately it's not that easy. -Sarah

Good video essay. I'm still trying to be frugal.

cognitive bandwidth is a cost when stressed or having learning disabilities (me) and physical energy for physically disabled

Great video😁 My husband and I have always lived within our means. Is that frugality? We both worked and raised two kids. We had money but we taught our kids to be frugal and to budget. We don’t drive a fancy car and we are choosy about what we spend our money on. We learned how to invest and save money at a very young age. We are thrifters and we always look for the best deals 😁 I’m vegan 🌱 but my hubby is not and most recently I’ve been looking at other ways to be more environmentally conscious when I purchase items and I look for ways to reuse what I have. Frugality? Or perhaps financially educated? Or maybe a bit of both?

I would like to add that perhaps those of us bought up in the 70s and 80s were encouraged into debt by the banks and big businesses to make them money. When my son turned 18 in 2001he got so many offers for credit cards that, for a laugh, he blue tak Ed them all to his bedroom wall , which they covered. He had worked, part time in holidays and weekends while being full time at college. He has never had a credit card - having looked at and understood compound interest! The pressure from companies and friends to consume led to us being regarded as a wierd family. But I retired at 58 ( supposed to be 66) and both my boys ( now in their 30s) have built their own significant nest eggs. We are frugal and try to be eco friendly and sustainable ( the two are not always compatible). I'm not sure how one turns corporate greed around, nor the greed of individuals stimulated by advertising around ( as a society) and would welcome your thoughts on this.

Those are some interesting perspectives. There are those who prefer to be "maximal", and sometimes they influence through presentations. Then there is being frugal or delaying some purchases out of choice or necessity. We can see afterwards if something was just a trend, or if someone just needed to see what shifts are possible.

Frugality and low waste comes together at minimalism: spend less, own less and consume less.

I consider myself both frugal and environmentally conscious. And I struggle where those two things conflict. There can be alot of overlap, but often the most frugal decision is not the most environmentally conscious. A good example is shampoo. Bar shampoo is the eco option, but much more expensive than the store brand liquid shampoo in the giant economy sized plastic bottle. I usually make the more frugal choice.

super interesting, I love learning from your video essays! another point I was thinking about while listening is the cultural aspect, for example Jews are often stereotyped as frugal in a negative way, even though spending less/smarter has positive connotations.

What a great video. I am trying to live frugally - all though my most stubborn habits is spending money I don't have to impress people I don't like. It really helped doing a no-buy but I still have a lot of detachment to do. I find that when I live more mindfully in what I bring in to my life I an more calm. I have had debt for almost a decade and it really messes up your mind for sure. I buy everything I can secondhand and have for many years, but still - I have bought too much as my current flea-market trip where I sold all of my basement-clothes.. XD The shame. I am more happy when I consume less and create more. But modern society is fast pace and a good life takes time, so I am trying to give myself that by learning to save, pay off debt and shop less. Also - I actually enjoy cleaning, but not all the time and not cleaning a ton of stuff. too much clutter makes me anxious. So.. Simplicity it is

Money is not a resource it is a means of exchange, store of value, and unit of account.

Absolutely brilliant video as always, like you I choose to live with less. I'm very aware I'm extremely lucky to be able to do this but I do feel it's a mindset. There's lots I want to do but I want to wait. Is it the sensible gene? My parents think there's a bargain gene, where you get a buzz from saving money. I'm blessed to live in a beautiful home that I've furnished by up-cycling, I adore the fact it's cost hardly anything and I'm reusing stuff that would have gone to landfill! My frugal living has allowed me to become more financially secure which gives me great peace of mind. Thanks for your content 😊

i often quote frugalis in my dna on the very visual way waste going in a bin is a way of seeing how someone uses everything they bring into their home from birth i watched my wonderful grandmother share a 90 litre steel with the 6 other residents in her retirement complex my mum was no different we were raised frugally at 50 i still am but i love my life frugal is not new but it is something all humans xan take pleasure from x

Yes to the comments on the poverty cycle. I am able to save money through a yearly subscription to Disney, prime, my phone bill etc (which are arguably not all necessities obviously) because I was able to save money in order to pay those bills in one go once per year. The more money you have the more you can save/the less you can spend...

Great video Immy! I would consider myself frugal in a sense that I am intentional with money, so I do have money for spontaneous occasions. I use emergency and sinking funds to prepare for planned and unplanned expenses. This is also something I teach women over on TikTok & IG because I believe a part of the crux of this issue is a lack of financial education taught in schools to equip people with the financial tools and resources to manage and earn money but also to build a strong money mindset. However I also recognise privilege and governmental decisions that have put the country in its current financial state. With regards to my relationship between frugality and the ecological choices I make, I do but second hand clothes but that is only because I have learnt of the devastating environmental and ethical consequences of fast fashion. I am also vegan which can and cannot be a more expensive lifestyle but my decision to be vegan was not influenced by economical reasons. Nonetheless a very insightful conversation to raise!

Every month my aim is to save half of my salary - first for the flat deposit which I managed to buy just three years after I moved to London from abroad and now for the trip around the world which I'm planning to start next year. Most of the time I won't manage to actually save half salary but I have a clear goal and I'm budgeting well. But I have a friend who is always surprised that 'I can afford to buy everything' e.g., new laptop when my previous one broke down and she has no savings as all. The difference between us is that she is happy to spend £60-100 on food and drinks whenever she is out and this is total waist of money for me. I unfortunately have to do this same whenever I meet her as she is insisting on ordering several meals to share and go to several pubs one after another and always split the bills. After that I always feel horrible and guilty while she still can't understand where is the issue and why is she broke.

XD i kind of want that crystal bath, though pyrex would be just fine for me!

A senior alone living on social security of $1340 monthly can't live anyway but

I would disagree that taking more hours or moving to a better paying job is NOT as simple as it sounds. Not everyone can simply take on more hours. For example, if someone has small children they just can’t simple take on more hours as 1.) they would have to find someone to watch said kids and 2.) often times they would pay more in childcare then it would be worth picking up more hours. There are also people that physically just can’t work more hours due to physical or medical conditions they might have. People could also have other responsibilities that simply make it impossible for them to take on more hours. As a far moving to a better paying job isn’t always as simple either. You also have to have the experience, education, and opportunity to do so. Not everyone can afford or has the privilege to attend college or educational programs to better themselves. Not everyone has to the experience to qualify for the jobs they apply for either. And not everyone has the same opportunities or privilege as others to simply move to a new job. For example, someone might have to keep their job as this is their only opportunity to have health insurance for themselves and their family. When applying for new jobs, you also have to take into consideration the benefits you will both loose and gain along the way. You have to consider that not everyone can move to a new job they might be the sole provider for their household and they depend on that income coming every month. There’s also the possibility someone might be stuck at certain jobs because they can’t afford or don’t have transportation to get to another area for a better paying job. There are just so many factors to consider when making these decisions. I’m always loved your content and want to continue loving it.

It's all lip service from the rich. They're hardly affected and are still making expensive luxury hauls and flying all over the world this summer.

I find it so impossible to be frugal😭