Many experts say that Billy Wilder changed the history of American movies. He is often called the best movie maker Hollywood has ever had, known for making movies that offered sharp social comment.

Between the 1930s and the 1980s, Billy Wilder made almost fifty movies. During that time he received more than twenty nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He won six of the Oscar awards. His movies have been seen by people around the world, like “Sunset Boulevard”, “Some Like It Hot”, “The Lost Weekend”, “The Apartment”, and “The Seven Year Itch”.

Samuel Wilder was born in 1906 in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother had enjoyed spending several years in the United States when she was young. So she called him Billy because she thought it sounded American. Billy Wilder started law school in Vienna, Austria. Then he decided not to become a lawyer. Instead, he began reporting for a Vienna newspaper. By the 1920s, he was writing movies in Germany.

However, the Nazis had risen to power in the nation. Wilder was Jewish, and he recognized that he had no future in Nazi Germany. In 1933, he went to Paris. There he directed a movie for the first time. It was called “The Bad Seed”. Then he received word that producers in the United States had accepted one of his scripts. Billy Wilder left Europe for America.

Billy Wilder had only eleven dollars when he arrived to settle in the United States in 1934. He decided to live in the center of American movie making, Hollywood, California. Then he formed a writing team with Charles Brackett. The two writers created many successful films together. Wilder always praised this man as a friend and teacher whose humor and expert direction greatly influenced his work.

In his love stories, Billy Wilder did not follow the Hollywood tradition of sweet boy-meets-girl situations. He had an unusual way of showing relations between men and women. Wilder died in March, 2002. A current Hollywood producer said: “Billy Wilder made movies that people will never forget.”

Just over a year ago I gave myself a challenge: give up spending on all but the essentials for a whole year. It hasn’t always been easy, but a year on I am wealthier and wiser. Embarrassingly, I have also realized just how much money I’ve wasted through mindless shopping and in the pubs and restaurants.

Free of any financial worries, I was spending without thinking. Stuck in a cycle of consumerism, I was struggling in vain to spend my way to happiness. Giving up spending for a year was an extreme approach, but I wanted to taste extreme frugality, shake up my spending patterns and overpay my mortgage instead of shopping. I could continue to pay my bills, including mortgages, broadband, phone bill, charity donations, life insurances, money to help my family and basic groceries.

It was not easy, especially in the first few months. There were lows, such as when I missed my favourite jazz concerts and hit films. There have also been some awkward moments when I’ve turned up to a friend’s house for dinner empty-handed. I did a lot of washing up at my friends’ houses in return this year.

I did find new ways to live, however. Using sites such as Eventbrite I have been to film screenings, wine tasting evenings and theatre productions for free. Living in London I have a wealth of free cultural activities on my doorstep and I’ve been to more art exhibitions this year than ever before. I even managed a free holiday, cycling the Suffolk and Norfolk coast and camping on beaches. It’s something I’d never done before and probably wouldn’t have, were it not for the challenge.

The last 12 months have taught me what things I really need. I can frankly say I’m happier now. I’ve gained confidence and skills, done things and met lovely people I wouldn’t have otherwise done or met.