In my experience it goes like, invest on tools and infrastructure so that you become a supplier of stuff for your consuming needs. In other words i have gardens, livestock and i cut my own wood. That saves me thousands of euros every year, i consume better quality food, i don't really care about the oil prices, i stay fit (well, sort of 😁)
Discussion
Yeah, a lot of it is trading time and effort for money. Cook dinner and then you don't eat out. Repair your clothes instead of purchasing new ones.
No it's not the same. That's in the category recycle and repair, which is also good though