But his dedication to social justice and commitment to alleviating poverty may now have counted in his favour – and much has been made of his humility and frugal lifestyle.
But, as I discovered over New Year, there is a more frugal alternative - get yourself to a monastery.
Doubtless the chancellor will still have a couple of surprises to spring on 18 March, but despite the improvement in the public finances in January, the budget will still need to be a relatively frugal affair.
"Most likely to participate would be frugal people who are careful with money," says John Welte, senior research scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions.
But in Islam's holiest city, there is increasingly little sign of the prophet's legacy – or the frugal life he espoused.
In line with frugal innovation thinking, many existing capacities of tablets, smartphones and even "dumbphones" can be repurposed to serve diagnostic, monitoring, and therapeutic functions.
"He was unbelievably frugal," Rowell said Wednesday.
What makes ARM processors ideal for the cramped innards of a handheld gizmo is their compact design, low operating temperature and frugal power consumption.
Mrs Merkel "fits the cliché that we Germans have of ourselves: frugal, sombre, awkward and a bit unpolished in a likeable way," says Ralph Bollmann, author of one of a ream of biographies published this year.
The Turner team, fresh from the frugal culture of Atlanta, was astonished to find that the company had six corporate jets and a helicopter.
Africa, potentially, offers a decent market for Indian firms, which have grown adept at "frugal innovation", that is making products that are both cheap and attractive, which might suit an emerging middle-class consumer in Africa as easily as the one at home.
