5 Frugal Habits of the World’s Richest People

Warren Buffet

Research and anecdote teaches that wealthy people, including the very wealthiest, are surprisingly frugal.

That’s not saying they’re cheap. After all, there is a difference between being cheap and frugal. Frugal means being smarter and wiser at prioritising your funds, finding the best value and making solid investments, traits that have fattened the bank accounts of the richest people in the world. They have so much wealth because they realise the real value of money.

1. They use coupons

Who have thought that the wealthy would spend time going through coupons and cutting them out? (Perhaps they might have assistants to help with that!)

Celebrities including Carrie Underwood, Lady Gaga, Kristen Bell and Hilary Swank are just a few examples of wealthy individuals who are fans of coupons.

As a whole, it’s been found that an astounding “71 percent of the affluent use paper coupons every month, with 54 percent using online coupons every month.”

2. They live below their means

The super rich are also known for living well below their means – even as far as cutting their own hair. One example of this is that they don’t see a vehicle as a status symbol (something some Asian tycoons and politicians are fond of). Instead, they realise that a car serves just one purpose; to get from Point A to Point B.

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, famously drove around in a 1979 Ford F150 pickup truck. Walton’s son, Jim drove an older Dodge Dakota. Mark Zuckerberg owns a modest Acura TSX entry-level sedan, the 61st richest person in the world Azim Premji drove a Toyota Corolla, and Warren Buffett recently sold his 2006 Cadillac, which was noted for not being anything special, for a new model.

Many very rich people live in modest homes. Warren Buffett still resides in the house he bought bought in Omaha, Nebraska in 1958. Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook and Christy Walton all live in modest homes.

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad, Hobby Lobby founder David Green and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer prefer to fly commercial, and even coach. Bill Gates was known to fly commercial for years. Azim Premji usually stays at company guest houses.

Finally, the wealthy don’t spend money on only luxury clothing. John Caudwell, an auto-shop owner who entered the cell phone business in 1987, has stated “I don’t need Saville Row suits” and “I don’t need to spend money to bolster my own esteem.”

In fact, 74 percent of the super rich shop at Wal-Mart, while only 6 percent shop at Brooks Brothers.

3. They are charitable

One of the more interesting habits that the rich have in common is their willingness to donate a vast majority of their wealth to a charitable cause. Zappos’ Tony Hsieh personally invested in the Downtown Project to improve downtown Las Vegas.

Chuck Feeney, the co-founder of Duty Free Shops, has donated to disadvantaged children and public health initiatives. Other wealthy individuals including Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Mark Zuckerberg, and Michael Bloomberg have donated huge chunks of their fortunes.

4. They value quality over quantity

Wealthy individuals aren’t cheap, and certainly are not against enjoying themselves, but they put more thought into their purchases. For example, T. Boone Pickens has said:

“I don’t go cheap on anything, but I’m not a shopper. If I want something, I look at it, decide what it is, but it will usually be the best product. I’ve got a pair of loafers that I still wear that I got in 1957.”

5. They don’t carry wads of cash

It’s been found that “86 percent of people who spend cash on luxuries like expensive cars, jewellery, and electronics are non-millionaires trying to act the part by purchasing luxury brands.”

Take the advice of oil mogul T. Boone Pickens and carry around only the cash that you need for what you intend to buy. According to Brad Klontz, a CFP professional and associate professor of personal financial planning at Kansas State University, the rich are often “money vigilant.” They avoid credit debt, and “are more anxious about making sure they have enough money and are managing it well.”

Source: Entrepreneur.com

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8 Really Awesome Celebrities Worth Emulating

Not all billionaires and celebrities are obsessed with simply parading their talent or luxurious lifestyle. There are plenty of examples from around the world of famous or wealthy people behaving in ways that are simply inspirational.

Money and status aren’t everything. Being an unprepossessing person is a far more admirable trait in someone with wealth or power. And it’s examples of the latter which Bright Side want to tell you about.

A simple princess from Sweden

Misha Gulko

This is Madeleine, Princess of Sweden. Yes, she cleans up after her dog. Herself.

The poorest president in the world

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José Cordano is the ex-President of Uruguay, but locals call him «El Pepe». He gave almost all his presidential salary away to charity, which made him the poorest (and at the same time, the most generous) president in the world. José earned 263,000 Uruguayan dollars (about 8,834 USD) per month, and left only 10% for himself.

During his presidency, he lived in a small cottage, fetched clean water from a well, and his most expensive purchase was a Volkswagen Beetle made in 1987. Mujica has no bank accounts and no debts.

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El Pepe in line at the clinic.

The mayor of London

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Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, doesn’t hesitate to appear in public without a tie and will happily wear a sports jacket, a back-pack and a helmet. And no wonder, because he’s one of the main supporters of increasing the number of Brits riding bicycles instead of driving.

The mayor of Reykjavík

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Jón Gnarr is a former mayor of the biggest Icelandic city, Reykjavík. He never went to college and has worked as both a comedian and a cabdriver before managing to form his own political party in 2010 which was given the reliable name of «the Best Party». The party mainly consisted of creative people: artists, musicians, comedians etc., and each of them was engaged in politics. Surprisingly, the citizens elected the leader of this party as a mayor by 34,7% votes.

The ex-mayor of NYC

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Michael Bloomberg may be counted among the ranks of the world’s richest people, but he nevertheless rides the subway to work. In this photo he can be seen sitting at his designated (and entirely ordinary) desk at NY city hall, surrounded by typical office furniture, computer screens, papers, diagrams, and... a can of peanut butter next to the keyboard.

Richard Branson, a billionaire hippy

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Sir Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Airlines. In the space of ten years, he managed to turn a little music shop into a huge multi-purpose business spread across the world. On top of that, Branson is a vivid and colourful character, and that’s why he’s been called a «billionaire hippy». One of his best pranks was appearing at the airport dressed in an AirAsia flight attendant’s outfit. What’s more, it wasn’t just a photo opportunity — Branson served on a flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur.

A Google legend

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Sergey Brin is a legend of the computer business, the co-founder of Google Inc. He’s also Google’s president, a billionaire and one of the richest Americans. Yet Sergey still lives in a two-bedroom apartment and drives a Toyota Prius with an environmentally friendly hybrid engine. He likes to go to Russian Katya’s Tea House in San Francisco and recommends trying the borsch, Russian ravioli and pancakes.

A billionaire without a billion

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Chuck Feeney is the founder of a well-known retail chain called Duty Free Shoppers. Over the last 30 years, he has travelled all over the world, trying to divest himself of $7.5 billion. He earned this incredible amount of money selling brandy, perfumes and cigarettes. His charity fund, The Atlantic Philanthropies, has invested $6.2 billion in education, science, healthcare, civil rights and the maintenance of nursing homes around the world. By 2020, Chuck Feeney wants to spend all of his wealth on helping the needy.

Source: Brightside

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Self-Made Billionaire David Rubenstein’s 7 Habits Of #Success

Self-made billionaire, David Rubenstein regularly brainstorms business, life and success habits with entrepreneurial peers like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. Here’s his 7 habits of success.

1. Try to be reasonably intelligent

Read as much as you can about the world, business, and what other entrepreneurs have done. You can be self-taught. You can’t hurt yourself by reading too much.

2. Learn to get along with people

Share the credit, use ‘we’, not ‘I’, and encourage people to take on leadership roles.

3. Learn the skill of persuading people

Entrepreneurship is all about getting people to see the world the way you do.

Virtually all of life is about persuading other people to do what you want, but entrepreneurs have a unique skill in convincing people to work for them, to buy their product, to buy their service.

Even Albert Einstein didn’t develop the theory of relativity by himself – he had to persuade the world that he was right, and that people should support his theories.

4. Learn to communicate

Spoken and written communication is equally important. This is also a vital component in leading by example, and persuading people to follow your lead.

5. Find something that you believe in and pursue that idea

The most successful companies aren’t necessarily successful because of the best ideas – the best ideas can flounder if the entrepreneur isn’t good at what they do.

You have to take an idea that’s reasonably good and pursue it, refine it, don’t take no for an answer; keep coming back and pushing the idea, and convincing people that you’re worth listening to.

6. Learn some humility

Arrogance can be helpful, but on the whole it’s more harmful than helpful. Humility makes people want to follow you, believe in you and support you. It’s also a vital characteristic if you’re going to be refining your idea and business until (and after) it’s a success.

7. The importance of building a company isn’t only to give yourself enormous wealth

It’s to show that you have the ability to create something — and then if you are successful, you have the obligation to give some of that back to society.

Source: entrepreneurmag.co.za

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