This article began by writing about how to save money in these tight economic times, And, I realized that pinching pennies and being a millionaire are interrelated topics.
I have known people that lived through the Great Depression. They remember it well. These people learned to pinch pennies. And many have become people of wealth, that live modestly.
When I write this list, I reminds me of things my grandparents used to do.
They bring their styrofoam coffee cups home from fast food restaurants to use and reuse them.
They wear the same pair of shoes for years.
They don't wear a different outfit everyday..
They drive a modest car, with no car payment.
They shop with coupons.
They shop for items on sale.
They color their own hair.
They cut their own lawns.
They clean their own homes.
They don't eat lunch out everyday.
They don't buy drive through coffee.
Their habits can be closely followed. And they have a nest egg to show for it.
It often surprises me how careless some people are with their money. They have no regard for it.
Yesterday, I went through the drive through at a fast food chain restaurant. My bill totaled $3.37. When I got to the window I handed the cashier $3.50. She looked at me and said, "You don't need your change back, do you?" Was this something new? I wasn't sure that I heard her correctly."Excuse me?" She repeated, "You didn't want your change back, did you?" "Yes, I would like my change back!" 13 cents a day is the equivalent of $47.00 at the end of a year!
Often times when my family and I are cleaning a rental house after a tenant moves out we find money on the floor. And, over the years I have found that the tenants that had a difficult time paying their rents are the houses with the most money left on the floor, Interesting correlation? Maybe so, but not really. In some houses we have picked up as much as $10.00 in change on the floor!
I can remember my grandpa telling me, "If you have no respect for money, then you'll never have any!"
Mirela: Oh, how you hit the nail on the head, again! I find this to be the case everyday. We work with bank-owned properties and are amazed at the things left behind...money. valuables of every shape and size, and most of these people must have been consuming something every day whether at Macy's, Target, WalMart, whatever. It seems they were shopping for their lives. I can't explain it. But they are the people who say no, keep the 13 cents!
Hi Mirela, Very interesting observation here and I agree 100%. My ex- in -laws lived through the depression and let me tell you; they saved everything! I used to laugh at them because they would literally save the go-box from a VFW get together LOL (ok, I still laugh at them sometimes) but the point is they didn't believe in waste. They grew a garden, and what they didn't eat they stewed,canned,bottled,made into relish....you name it they did it. I remember peeling old left behind pears until my hands felt like they were going to fall off, all b/c my mother in law could not stand to let them go to waste ... the reward of this kind of thinking was that in all of their living days the NEVER paid rent, they paid cash for every thing they owned including homes,cars, RVs etc..b/c they did not believe in paying interest. They are very old now and still work everyday in the house and yard. I think they would be dead before they would pay anyone to do work for them. You are absolutly right though, they built a very modest nest egg by respecting what they had been blessed with...
As for that drive thru that ask if you wanted you .13 cents change...the only thing I have to say about that is ...WHAT; When did that start? I would have laughed and ask when did you have to start tipping at a fast-food drive-thru? I certainly never got tipped as a teenager working at dairy queen! LOL...you have got to be kidding!
Good post. Have you read THE MILLIONAIRE NEXTDOOR? If not, you should! Interesting statistics in there about how millionaires don't overspend. They buy good quality USED Cars, not new off the lot. They don't wear thousand dollar watches, etc. Same smart principles.
Hi Mirela, Thank you for the repost of my article and thank you for the gold star! My Grandfather truly shaped my life when it came to my views on money and my parents followed in his footsteps. Have a great day!
This is so very true & a conversation I had recently w/my boyfriend. He was talking about a guy who was trying to get a discount from him on some taxidermy work. My boyfriend said "he's got money, he can afford it yet he's so cheap!" I said "Well yes my dear, that's why he's got a couple of dollars because he is so cheap & negotiates whenever possible!" AND, this is the same man (my darling boyfriend) who makes fun of ME for buying things in bulk (toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo) when it's on sale......I am trying to save us a buck or two! BESIDES, I like to call it frugal, not cheap!
And, amazingly, many of these frugal millionaires can be quite lavish with their charity work. I love to see that combo.