I am the complete opposite, In a year of skating I have only had a couple of private lessons and some very casual group lessons with my adult group focusing on edges and some power stuff.
My skating has progressed thusly, I certainly started out with the intention of taking more frequent private lessons but before I took my very first one, I wanted to be able to do many of the basics. By reading and watching YT I learned very basic stroking, swizzles, back wiggles, putting some even chasses and then my husband and I took an hour lesson. During that hour my coach gave me some tips on a few things but said in general I was progressing well, the main things I was left to work on were perfecting my back swizzles, front crossovers, two foot turns, back stroking and just continuing to get comfy on the ice. She also offered to assist during the adult session if I needed it and when I asked her when we should take more lessons, she said, "When you feel you are ready to learn more".
So for the next four months I worked hard. I got close on my back stroking, she had worked with me during adult skate on back pumps a bit to prepare me for back crossovers (she teaches cutback method) , but I worked hard on turns, perfecting my stroking position, perfecting my front crossovers. Our next lesson focused on learning back crossovers and perfecting back stroking. I have again worked very hard and have all my moves to pass Beta except for good back crossovers, they are my current main focus. But I learned t stop via friends and lots of hints from friends. I am working on really feeling and getting my edges during the crossovers especially.
When we discussed where my skating was the other day and I told her I want to test for Beta within the next few months she just smiled and said," You really work hard on your own." And I do. Don't get me wrong, I ask questions a lot of friends, online and my coach, but she seems to prefer that over just watching me practice, which is what weekly lessons would be.
I *need* my practice time. My practice time is to warm up, to perfect moves I am already familiar with, to work on brand new moves, to skate cardio while talking with friends to get stronger, and sometimes if the ice is empty, I just turn on my ipod and do what I want. I am extremely lucky to have a strong husband who I can hold onto anytime, I know I hold my coach learning new things, but many people don't also have a built in person to learn stuff with. For instance, getting comfy going backwards on one foot I just do it with him skating forwards. My coach even shows him how to assist me learning new elements. The flip side of that is that it is easier to use him as a crutch and not make myself suck things up and try them alone. But the benefit is needing fewer lessons for just "hand holding".
My point is, I notice element wise that I have made more progress than some adult folks having twice weekly lessons for years. That is their journey though, and this is mine, and it works for me and my coach. The other aspect of it is that as the elements get harder, I think the need for lessons may be more frequent. I am just not there yet.