Drowning in debt to maintain a flashy facade? Lady Frugal exposes the multi-billion-pound consumer trap keeping you broke. Choose peace of mind.
Written 14th September 2026
I just published this site yesterday and I'm so relieved to have finally got my message 'out there'... but then I realised it might take years for anyone to find it. There are so many other financial sites and forums, and I've just got a little 75 page website, with no subscribers or followers.
So, I've been looking at ways to promote it that don't entail me asking anyone I know to share it. I'm a private person and that's not my idea of fun. But it got me to thinking about the basic, fundamental, underlying problem with managing money:
It's not the machine, it's not the coffees, or the cars, it's those God-damned Joneses.
If you have any debts, you are living beyond your means. And if you are living beyond your means you know you're being conned, we all get sucked into doing it. When we were all young we had pocket money (that's a collective 'we') and that was all we had to spend. What happened to that kind of basic logic as we got older? We had to save it up weekly or go without if we wanted to spend more than we had.
Mortgages are the kind of exception to the rule here since we all need somewhere to rest our heads, and if you are earning £60k a year you could easily manage a £200k mortgage. A nice little 3 bed with a partner, lots of disposable income to spend on holidays and put into your pension or ISA for Future You. But you don't, instead you get a £600k mortgage with a partner because you want to display you have made it to the world. But really you haven't, because to have that house and keep up the facade, you also need to have a new(ish) car, nice clothes, furnish your place from John Lewis and M&S, and have exotic holidays. You have to create a completely fake life, a life built on borrowed money. That you're then losing sleep over the debt repayments and realise you never have spare cash to put towards Future You. But that's OK, you'll have a payrise next year, and the credit card just put up your limit! Phew!
Even if you are on £30k a year, you have a smaller mortgage but you still want nice nails, clothes and car, but really, you don't NEED all those accessories. But YOU do, because you have to keep up the facade for those GDJs.
It's all for show.
I suppose part of the problem is that everyone you socialise with and work with has the same traps and bling to show the Joneses that you have. So you all think you are keeping up with the GDJs when really, you're all just in the same trap. And just making the finance companies richer, giving away your peace of mind and actively stealing from Future You.
Have you ever met the Joneses? If you knew all their stuff was bought with borrowed money too would you think 'those silly fools' and rein in your spending? See it for what it really is? Realise you've been paying credit interest to feel good compared to someone else who is also paying credit interest because they couldn't afford it all either?
Even the act of buying a pair of trainers that you have to buy on credit means you actually can't afford to buy those trainers. Why not go until next month and buy the trainers then? Or buy a cheaper pair?
If you don't stop trying to keep up with the Joneses and are always living beyond your means, you will never get ahead - that is basic maths. FACT! You will always have to be working to pay back what you borrowed from Future You - with interest! Whereas you could earn and spend an awful lot less if you only buy things that you can actually afford to buy with cash you have already earned.
The Joneses aren't your friends. They are in cahoots with the marketing machine. Get yourself a dog instead!
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