I cannot be the first to notice the recent trend towards making and mending, shopping on a budget, freecycling and growing your own.
The word "thrift" had almost disapeared from our everyday language but it is everywhere right now.
Of course, the recession has a lot to do with that. It is unseemly to throw money about (even if you have it) when others are struggling. Sifting through the cut price items in the supermarket has a new cache, "Gok-ing" clothes by adding your own embellishments is common and more people are growing vegetables in the garden to save a little on their weekly shop.
But the trend pre-dates this recession. Recycling is a response to concerns about the environment, given extra significance by tightened wallets. Keeping a vegetable plot or allotment has become trendy again in recent years because of concerns about chemicals in food, although the movement perfectly suits today's economic climate. And home-crafts like knitting and crochet became fashionable as a de-stress activity a few years ago, though clearly it makes sense to develop these skills if you want to save a bit of cash.
In terms of the concept of "success" these trends make things more complex, less straightforward. Are you successful because you don't have to do any of these things (even though you might do them for fun)? Are you successful because you do these things (thus saving the pennies so the pounds look after themselves)? Or are you successful because, in the grander scheme of things, these activities are good for the planet and for our sense of well-being (and therefore more important to how successful you consider your life to be than how much you earn or the title you hold at work)?
I would be interested in your thoughts on how the concept of success fits with these developments...and about any penny pinching tips you have!
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