Just over 12 months ago I gave myself a challenge: give up spending on all but the essentials for a whole year. Embarrassingly, I have also realised just how much money I’ve squandered down the pub, in restaurants and through mindless shopping. I was spending without thinking, lured in by advertising and the promise that I could spend my way to happiness. Giving up spending for a year was an extreme approach, but the aim was to embrace extreme frugality, shake up my spending habits and overpay my mortgage instead of shopping. A year of no spending has taught me what things I really need, and it really isn’t that much.

Source: The Guardian November 26, 2016 06:00 UTC