Why “Enough” Is the Real Flex
Frugal Chic® #51: I Built the Income I Wanted… Then Realised I Was Chasing the Wrong Thing
I used to think very wealthy people worked a lot.
Always on their phones, taking important calls, ducking into meetings, hastily running to the next event.
I had this idea of success. It meant busyness. A day planned back-to-back with social engagements and things I thought would move the needle.
Yes, everything I’ve done and the work I’ve put in has paid off, but it doesn’t mean that strategy is supposed to last forever.
I’m a big believer in ‘seasons’… but no one tells you when it’s time to leave one behind.
In this issue:
Why I used to equate success with busyness
What changed after my first proper break as a full-time creator
The concept of time affluence (and why it matters more than income)
The moment money stops being the bottleneck… and time takes over
A different way to think about wealth in your 20s
I’m writing this on a sunbed in Bangkok. It’s 7pm, it’s gentle temperature, and the whole skyline is in front of me. I’ve spent the last two weeks on my first proper holiday since becoming self-employed. For once, I actually allowed myself to switch off.
Yes, I still vlogged most days and took pictures, but I wasn’t scrolling, actively posting, or replying to DMs.
It sounds cliché to say, but I’ve come back as a different person.
I now feel so much stronger in the idea that I want to do less, deliberately. My past self would have seen that as lazy, or that I had “fallen off”. Now I see it as developing sharper boundaries with how I choose to spend my time.
My message has always been about building wealth and independence, particularly as a woman in her 20s. But wealth isn’t just financial.
The new status symbol
I recently came across the concept of time affluence.
It’s the hidden reason we strive to make more money. Because money buys choice, convenience, and most importantly, time, which is our most finite resource.
This feels especially relevant now. According to the Office for National Statistics, around 1.30–1.33 million people in the UK held a second job in 2025, with early 2026 estimates at roughly 1.29 million. With the cost of living where it is, that’s not surprising. And while I’m a big advocate for increasing and diversifying income, I can’t ignore that for many people, this isn’t a choice, it’s what they have to do to get by.
What this results in is an increase in income, but work slowly creeping into time was really should be for rest. We think that just clocking off at 5 and watching Netflix all evening is enough, but studies consistently show there are many kinds of rest that we can’t ignore. With rest on the decline and distraction increasing, it’s safe to say that time is the new secret indicator of wealth.
Yes, money matters. When you’re starting your wealth journey, it feels like every penny matters. That’s where Frugal Chic is born.
But for me I never really understood phrases like ‘time is money’ until it started applying to me. A few things changed my circumstances:
Going self-employed
Diversifying my income streams
Investing consistently
Now that I’ve reached a stage where I feel more financially abundant than I did on my £30K salary, this is what I realised.
When money no longer becomes a restraint, time becomes the bottleneck.
You start to notice things differently.
The high earners commuting into the city every day, getting home at 7pm, exhausted. They may not actually be better off than the graduate on a lower salary who clocks off at 5pm, goes for a walk, sees friends, and actually lives.
On a flight, the person in business class who buys the wifi and is busy typing away might make more money, but they may not feel as fulfilled as the person in economy flicking through an array of films they’ve been dying to watch.
Switching off and doing less is a privilege and a luxury that took me so long to finally realise I could afford.
This realisation essentially made me see that more money doesn’t automatically equal a better life.
Not if it costs you all your time.
So maybe the goal isn’t just to earn more.
Maybe it’s to earn enough…
…and then start protecting your time like it’s your most valuable asset.
5 action points
Define your “enough” number: how much you need to live comfortably. For me, this has always been £2–2.5k a month. I rarely spend more than that. Even in five-figure months, I know that once my basic needs are covered and I’ve treated myself, I don’t need anything more to be happy. It’s important you decide this. Yes, you can chase more money, and I’m all for that if you’re building an emergency fund or working towards FIRE. But if it comes at the cost of all your spare time, it’s not worth it. Defining your financial “enough” sets the tone for how much work you say yes to.
Audit where your time is leaking: time-block your week and see where your attention is being pulled into things that aren’t giving you a return. Shallow coffee chats, people-pleasing obligations, and “opportunities” that benefit the other person more than you. Pay attention to patterns. If something consistently drains you or distracts you from higher-value work, it needs to go or be reduced. Your time should be allocated with the same level of intention as your money.
Start buying back your time early: don’t wait until you feel “rich” to do this. If you can afford small conveniences that remove friction from your day, take them. This could be outsourcing work, using delivery services, or automating parts of your life. The goal isn’t to be lazy, it’s to free up your time for things that actually move your life forward or make you feel better. I started doing this with meal prep services during busy periods and it did relieve a lot of mental load.
Shift from income goals to lifestyle design: instead of only focusing on how much you earn, think about how you want your days to look. What time do you wake up, how much do you work, how often do you see people, how much space do you have to think? Then build your income streams around that vision. It’s very easy to build a high income that traps you into a schedule you don’t even enjoy. A well-designed life should feel calm.
Protect your time like you protect your money: you wouldn’t casually spend hundreds of pounds without thinking, so don’t casually give away hours of your day. Be more selective with what you agree to. Set boundaries around your availability, your work hours, and your energy. Not everything needs a yes, and not everything deserves immediate access to you. The more you respect your own time, the more other people will too.
So, the core ingredient for living a Frugal Chic® life is defining your “enough”. Once you do that, you stop trying to squeeze productivity out of every second of the day.
You start being more selective. More intentional. You realise not every opportunity is worth taking, not every pound needs to be chased, and not every hour needs to be optimised.
Because when “enough” is clear, you’re no longer operating from scarcity.
You stop building a life that looks impressive on paper, and start building one that actually feels good to live.
https://substack.com/@miamcgrath/p-192994538
That’s all this week.