Feeling burnt out by modern life, Hatty Harley looked to the 1940s for inspiration - saving £20,000 in the process.
Fascinated by life on the home front and history from the era, she turned back time and started cycling instead of driving and preparing home-cooked meals from scratch.
Noticing a new spring in her step, she went further - fixing things instead of binning them; growing her own veg and embracing vintage fashion instead of buying clothes new.
She even volunteered at a local museum, met her partner and with him relocated to Kent - landing her dream job, running tours of the secret WWII tunnels at Dover Castle.
Healthier and happier, Hatty, 35, tells The Mirror : “Living like people did in the 1940s has been one of the best things I’ve ever done.
“Before doing this, I was always tired, and didn’t feel content. I was spending so much time scrolling my phone, I wasn’t eating particularly well or getting as much exercise as I should. I wasn’t really doing anything very interesting with my time.
“I thought about how different my life was to the way people lived in the 1940s and thought maybe I should try to do a few things differently.
“I started with very small things – taking my bike to work instead of driving, and cooking my own meals from scratch more of the time. The difference was incredible. I became healthier, greener and happier.”
Hatty made a list of 65 habits from the 1940s that she could adopt, including eating in season, shopping locally, growing her own food, learning to make do and mend, buying second-hand clothes and helping out in the community.
“I felt so much better, “ she says. “I got an allotment and even ended up getting chickens, like people were encouraged to do during the war.
“Things took longer, like cooking meals and making my own butter from scratch, but I got a real sense of satisfaction and achievement from it; it gave me a sense of purpose.
“When I needed new clothes, I’d buy second hand vintage pieces, and took time to do my hair in a 1940s style. Dressing smartly made me feel wonderful and I got so many compliments from people on my clothes - it really gave me such a mental boost.
“I don’t want to live like I’m in an episode of Foyle’s War – I still have a car and a TV, and I wouldn’t want to live with the social values of the time - I’m no trad wife!. But there are so many things that have improved my life.
“I still use social media, but it doesn’t dominate my life as it used to.”
After posting about her list of small changes on her home front Instagram account, she’s inspired hundreds of others to try embracing parts of the 1940s too.
And she found love, after hitting it off with one of her followers, fellow 1940s enthusiast, barber Bill Kent, 28 - who she first met in person, after first chatting on Instagram, at a 1940s living history event.
As well as finding love and a new job since her 2022 lifestyle change, Hatty has also saved in excess of £20,000.
“I didn’t start this to save money, but it’s been a welcome side effect,” she says. “I grow most of my own fruit and veg now, it’s so much cheaper, and cooking from scratch saves me so much money too.
“My shopping bill has nearly halved and I’m saving money on petrol. The biggest difference is definitely how much I spend on clothes though.
“Before, if I needed a new pair of trousers, they’d cost £40 or £50, and a new coat would be well over £100, and they wouldn’t necessarily last a long time.
“If I buy those items vintage from a charity shop, I would rarely pay more than three or four pounds.
“The quality is wonderful, and I absolutely love having clothes that were around in the 40s. I love thinking about who has worn them before me, and what stories they would tell if they could. Going back to the 1940s has transformed my life!”
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