Sally smiled as she skimmed the articles by many hopeful writers who entered their online offerings on the subject to scrimpiness in the hope of curing their own. She wasn’t impressed at their use of language or their purses.

Sally’s secret of living tightly but happily had been secured for far longer than the writer who has scored thousands of viewings. She snorted derisively. She was at first unwilling to give away her tips. She had a hope of selling them as a proper book one day. Sally scathingly thought that an online article was rather common. Sally of course, with her many degrees and superior talent, was meant for better things. That’s why Sally was so successful and satisfied as to be reading such articles in the first place.

But a little part of Sally was not so mean, and she wanted to share with the world and especially her fellow strugglers how to live frugally but well whilst they established their dreams. And there was a part of Sally which was extremely mean that fired her: to showcase her higher imagination, in both the quality of her writing, and in how to do what she wanted on such a meagre income.

But Sally could see that if she told the world about the special offers she so loved that her favourite restaurants and cinemas would be filled with OTHER PEOPLE when she wanted to go. Perhaps the places she loved would lose so much money by everyone doing what Sally did that they would withdraw their offers. Sally was after all convinced that utilitarianism was the correct philosophy, and in following that … now she was unsure of her own intellectual convictions. Didn’t the greatest good for the greatest number mean that she ought to share her thrifty insights with all? Now she was in a conundrum.

Sally was always that complex, contradictory mixture of mean and generous, secretive and open. She felt her conflicting motives crush her, and asked why she needed to involve JS Mill on what had at first seemed like a trivial matter. But wasn’t that the mark of a good theory – that it could be applied to anything? What constituted a large matter, as opposed to a menial one? Wasn’t money important? Now Sally felt materialistic, when she prided herself on the reverse values.

Sally spent some time in thought, wrangling with the many side issues. A simple article became enmeshed in every part of her existence.

At last, she decided to hold back on this occasion. She would save the information for her memoirs, which she promised herself to make a start on after using her next voucher.