Everyone loves a good bargain--even the rich and famous. Thomas Corley, CPA and wealth advisor once wrote on Business Insider that:
"Many millionaires are frugal. By frugal, I mean they penny pinch dry cleaner costs, bank fees, credit card fees, landscaper costs, grooming expenses such as haircuts and manicures, professional service fees such as CPAs, attorneys, and doctor and dentist charges. They will fight like a Tasmanian devil if they think they were overcharged for a grocery item or a restaurant charge."
Although frugality is entirely subjective and relative, some rich people still have cost-cutting ways that mirror habits closer to us normal folks. We've identified seven of them with this list here.
Rob Gronkowski wears his clothes 'down to the rags'
Former New England Patriots tight end and 3x Super Bowl champ Rob Gronkowski recently announced his retirement from football--at the still ripe and prime age of 29. Although he had certainly made more money than most of us will make in a lifetime, Gronk still chooses to be frugal, especially when it comes to his wardrobe.
"My 'broke habit' still is my clothing and shoes," he told Maverick Carter on a 2018 episode of UNINTERRUPTED's "Kneading Dough." "If I like the clothing, if I like the shoes, I'll wear those shoes and I'll wear that clothing down to the rags."
He'll sometimes wear a favorite pair of jeans "seven days straight," he said, adding: "I make sure I throw them in the washer, like, Day 3."
Warren Buffett never spends more than $4 on breakfast
The third-richest man in the planet doesn't spend more than a fiver for breakfast. For more than 50 years, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway has reportedly been enjoying the same breakfast every morning: Maccas brekkies. Depending on how he's feeling, the billionaire orders one of three items at McDonald's: two sausage patties, a sausage, egg and cheese, or a bacon, egg and cheese. He also lives in the same home he bought in 1958.
At his annual shareholder's meeting in 2014, Buffett explained that his quality of life isn't affected by the amount of money he has:
"My life couldn't be happier. In fact, it'd be worse if I had six or eight houses. So, I have everything I need to have, and I don't need any more because it doesn't make a difference after a point."
Simone Biles tries to go days without spending a dime
The Olympic gold medalist and member of the venerated Final Five, Simone Biles doesn't take her success, or the money she's earned from it, for granted. In fact, the 22-year-old gymnast has "a fear of going broke," she recalls on an episode of "Kneading Dough" with Maverick Carter.
It keeps her careful. She even challenges herself to go days without spending any money, she tells Carter: "And then, of course, my gas light come on so I have to go get gas."
Besides the necessities, as well as the occasional trip to Subway, she says, "I never really swipe the [credit] card."
Giancarlo Stanton shops for clothes at TJ Maxx and Marshalls
Baseball star Giancarlo Stanton was once the highest paid baseball athlete on earth after signing a record-setting $325 million contract with the Marlins in 2014. And between his salary and endorsements, Stanton, who was traded to the Yankees in 2017, earned $28.2 million last year.
But while "some athletes are all about labels, Gucci and Fendi all the way down," Stanton tells Page Six, he goes thrift shopping at discount department stores when it comes to clothes.
That's partly because "you don't need money to have style," he says. "I go to T.J. Maxx and Marshalls."
Jay Leno has never touched a dime of his 'Tonight Show' money
Comedian and former host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" Jay Leno plays it safe when it comes to money. "I always had two incomes," he tells CNBC Make It. "I'd bank one and I'd spend one." And he made sure to spend the smaller amount.
Leno continued relying on this strategy even after he started hosting "The Tonight Show" in 1992, which reportedly earned him as much as $30 million a year.
"When I got 'The Tonight Show,' I always made sure I did 150 [comedy show] gigs a year so I never had to touch the principal," Leno says. "I've never touched a dime of my 'Tonight Show' money. Ever."
Michael Bloomberg gets the most out of his shoes
The former mayor of New York City and ninth-richest man in the world reportedly wore the same two pairs of black loafers to work for over a decade.
"You do something called resoling and re-heeling," he told the New York Post in 2010. "You don't have to throw them away and get new ones, you can just use the old ones."
Awkwafina doesn't splurge 'on literally anything'
Nora Lum, better known as the rapper Awkwafina, appeared in two major motion pictures in 2018: "Ocean's 8" and "Crazy Rich Asians." Mostly thanks to those big roles, today she has an estimated net worth in the millions.
Still, Lum says she's careful with her money. "I don't splurge on literally anything," she tells guest host Lisa Ling on an episode of "Death, Sex & Money." And she's thrifty when it comes to clothes: "I'm literally wearing Target pants."
The 29-year-old still lives in the first place she moved into after college, a railroad apartment in Brooklyn, New York, that she found through a friend. When she first moved in, she rented one room for just $500 a month.
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