THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE are free

It took me half a lifetime to understand that the best things in life are not the things that you pay for. When I was a teenager, all I wanted was to spend money I didn’t have: on records, clothes and going to concerts. As a student, the trend continued and the grant never seemed to stretch far enough: tickets for an average Oxford ball were 60 guineas (nearly £200 in today’s money) and we were always going for meals in formal dress – all the while not earning a penny.

Then there was the post-university period, with high rents, car loans and commuting, then mortgages on flats and holidays that seemed essential to compensate for the long hours I was