Baroness Rawlings Living Frugally

I read with interest this week an article about Baroness Rawlings, and the idiosyncractic frugality of the upper classes. There is a school of thought that says that one of the reasons that the high born of our society can enjoy the high life is their ability to be thrifty; following the old maxim, 'take care of the pennies and the pounds will take of themselves'.

Given the quantity of 'freebies' available to many of those, who because of their standing in life are often invited to events and provided with 'perks' not necessarily available to the man on the street, it is not quite as difficult as one might think to save the odd bob or two.
I know this myself, as on occasion I am the recipient, by virtue of some of the work I'm involved in, of invitations to award ceremonies, private viewings etc., often saving me a fair bit on food.
Having spent the best part of ten years in domestic service, working for a number of titled families over the years, I saw first hand this approach, for better of worse. Certainly during my time as chef to HM Ambassador to the UN in New York, I received preferential rates on trans-Atlantic travel on boad the QEII, and upgrades on BA flights home. Very nice thank you. One employer, a child of the war years, was always thrifty, and after a day off from my cooking duties, I would find small pieces of cheese carefully wrapped in greaseproof paper kept for a later date; and re-heated left overs were a regular feature on the menu when she and her husband were dining alone, without official guests to entertain and impress. The habit was so well ingrained it spilled over to her immediate family, and is something I have never forgotten, particularly when I read news reports on the amount of food the average household wastes per year. At the other end of the scale, in a household where staff were not permitted to walk on the carpet, once the pile had been brushed in a certain direction, for fear of spoiling its appearance, are those indulge in their own costly extravagances but who can be extremely stingy when it comes to others, particularly where their domestic staff are concerned. Fillet steak for dinner, and unfinished by the hostess, would be sent back to the kitchen with the strict instruction that it was to be served the following evening to their own house guests, whilst the msitress of the house dined elsewhere. I noted that Baroness Rawlings keeps used bars of soap for her own use, which to any reasonable person would make sense; I have never understood the need for B&Bs in particular to provide new bars of soap for every guest; this is pure nonsense, as I can't see us doing the same for visitors to our own homes whenever they arrive.
What we must be careful of, in our haste to save money and in our efforts to live more cheaply, is that we do not adopt 'double standards' with those in our employ, where some companies are in the habit of funding tea, coffee and other refreshments for managers, whilst other staff, who are less able to afford it, are required to pay out of their own pockets. It is this approach that creates a 'them and us' feeling, and has in the past brought down governments; this 'Let them eat cake' attitude, is a point of view, that were she still alive, is something that Marie Antoinette would regret expressing.