The world becomes a smaller place the less money you have in your pocket. In your bank account. You cut out travel, of course. Then you start to go out less. You can’t afford to meet friends for dinner, for drinks. Why pay for coffee when you can make it at home?
You make excuses. They grow weaker over time. Eventually you stop answering the phone. Eventually the phone stops ringing.
Luxury items gradually become a thing of the past. Clothes. Books. Newspapers. It’s surprising what you can live without.
You start wandering from shop to shop, seeing who has the cheapest milk, the cheapest bread, sugar. The basics. But you soon discover that the basics are the same everywhere. There is nothing to be saved that way.
You buy meat that is on special because it has reached its sell-by date. You buy yesterday’s bread.
Before you even noticed, searching for cheap food is the only reason you ever leave the house. Your life, your whole world, has shrunk to the size of your house. The size of your room.
Living any other way seems like it was all part of a dream.