How to Spend Like a Frugal Millionaire

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I am lucky enough to know some very rich people. and really understand how they get rich and how they make their money. and also see their life style. i will have to say that it is completely different than what main stream people think. They are rich and fragual at the sametime. in fact very fragual. i was amazed by the sacfric and the discipline they have through out their life. i wish i can be half as fragual and discipline as they are so that i can be rich one day. thanks.

jhfaldkk of TX 12:11PM December 20, 2009

I think the rich are the ones who help others out. they make the jobs so when our government takes the rich's money and gives it to the poor. the poor take the money and squander it because most of them are poor for a reason then all of the sudden there are no rich to create jobs, unemployment goes up and nobody has money not even the rich. the only people with money would then be the foreign people who are government pays to do stuff for them because they do things cheaper then all of the sudden are country has no money because our government sucked up all of our money tried to be smart and paid foreign people to do work for them a little cheaper and all of the sudden their taxpayers have no money to give them resulting in multi-trillion dollar debt!!!!!!!!! this is a great website read and learn!!!

Bob Dank of AR 11:28AM October 26, 2009

"Nearly 70 percent of the economy is based on consumer spending"

This is a frequently misused factoid. The fact is that we don't measure produced goods until they're purchased by a consumer, so nothing we produce is added to the GNP calculation until a consumer spends money on it.

Here's an example: Company A makes a tire. Do you count that as GDP? Not yet! You have to wait till a consumer buys it. Otherwise, if it sits in a warehouse for 5 years and then gets recycled, you've counted something no one had any use for, and it's not really part of our productivity.

Let's say Company B buys it, instead of a consumer. Do you count it now? No. You may have to wait till Company C makes a wheel, and company D puts it on a car, and then Company E (a dealership) sells the car. Otherwise, you'd count the same tire 5 times: once each time someone added value to it by buying the previous group of items and doing something to them.

Another thing to keep in mind is that there are frugal millionaires (usually the low-millions group, typically those who built a small business into a good-sized business) and then there are the ones that can't hardly spend the money fast enough. That's a different ballgame entirely. (http://biz.yahoo.com/special/luxury083106_article1.html)

There were good insights in this article. But there's some other stuff too, and it's worth knowing the difference

beel of FL 1:14PM August 19, 2009

+1

soundtracks of AL 5:27AM July 17, 2009

did you ever hear the saying ....

TIME IS MONEY...well that is true i think anyway...and one way is being organized ..

yes...everyday living , time, money, bills, cleaning your home, taking care of the kids...

think about this really hard ...and that one word

" ORGANIZATION "

its works for me...

good luck...try it for a month ...and you will save money...crazy right ...but i swear it will work for you ...

one month....

mary of TX 4:31PM June 21, 2009

Sensible and Rich of MA, you need to decide whether it's more important to you to save money or to be politically correct.

I would offer some more money-saving tips, but I'm afraid they might offend your narrow sensibilities. So your attitude may deprive others of some tips they would find useful.

For the record, I don't recommend hiring others to do work around the house unless it's for something you can't do yourself. I myself can't engage in physical labor for very long without sweating profusely; that's why I have no choice but to hire others at times to do work around the house. And if I have to hire someone, I may as well get the best value, right? Just so you know, I have hired unemployed US Citizens, but usually with less luck than with immigrants: the immigrants will work harder for less money.

I remember having some labor I needed done a while back and looking for a person I'd seen near a major highway on-ramp several mornings who had a "will work for food" sign. Found him, let him get in the back of the pickup and brought him home and put hime to work. He worked OK for the morning, so I picked up a Big Mac, fries, and a soda for him for lunch. He said he was still hungry after eating all that! I told him if he would work hard, I would buy him a bigger dinner. Well, I didn't really get as much work out of him as I would have liked for the rest of the day, but I still bought him dinner. I dropped him off at McDonald's and gave him $15 even though his work had slacked off the whole afternoon and evening.

Now, I should have just dropped him off with a couple bucks for no more work than he did, but I'm generous to a fault. In any event, I just never have that problem when I hire immigrants. They're accustomed to not eating much, they work hard, and tend to be thankful for whatever you give them.

As far as the Christmas Trees... As a citizen, I'm a part owner of those park lands, so it can't be stealing. I always make sure the tree is cut from an area that could use a little thinning. Naturally, I wouldn't recommend that someone cut a tree from an area where trees are sparse. Basically, I'm just a responsible (part)owner exercising good land management principles, and recommend that others act responsibly as well.

Monosodium Glutamate of GA 5:09PM June 10, 2009

I'm a millionaire and more than 60% of the article is a load of hogwash! I mean, bring food home from the restaurant to save? Plain rubbish, as is much of the rest!

I do bot deny that there are some good savings tips right there but to say that's how millionaires live is simply not true!

R Itch 11:37AM June 06, 2009

Kim I am surprised you did not mention Private Brands as a viable alternative for saving money in the grocery store. The interestng thing is that people may be switching to PB for economic reasons, but they are not "trading down" in quality. You buy a Wegmans brand Basting Oil, or a Kroger Private Selection frozen Pizza or a Safeway O organics entree and you are getting quality at least as good as any national brand -- the only difference is that you are paying about 30% less for the PB! Let me know if you would like to speak more about this. We also have some interesting data that shows how consumers stick with PB even in economic recoery periods. td

Tim Davis of CT 8:50AM June 01, 2009

"To keep the economy going we need to keep spending" - Just amazes me how many times I hear this inane statement. I don't think anybody spends just to keep the economy going.

A of SC 7:19PM May 31, 2009

I read so many of the so called frugal articles, but the real frugalists are the Amish. Saving money means not spending it. We all need shelter, food and clothing. Food usually being the biggest cost and the one most often overlooked. They usually mention coupons...but rarely gardening or raising livestock....but why spend anything at all. Gardening is a joy once you umderstand all that it can do. Free you from the junk called food in the stores, free you from giving away your money, and free you from worry of being without. Think of it as REAL INSURANCE...not just a bank account for all that money you won't have to spend.

The other thing that frugal means is letting go of the dumb kind of pride. Taking pride in "stuff", is empty and lost. But taking pride in your polite child, or talented brother, your brave husband, or feminine wife, accomplishments of your own that took real effort and skill, that lace heirloom tablecloth that great Grandma crocheted. These are the things worth gloating some about. Not stuff. Certainly not stuff from a store.

So, raise a garden...get good at it. Raise a cluth of chickens....you will love them! Throw the foolish kind of pride in the dumpster where it belongs. Pick friends with heart and substance...forget those lost empty folks fascinated with "stuff".

santa of TN 11:00PM May 28, 2009

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Alpha Consumer

Alpha Consumer

Kimberly Palmer, senior editor for U.S. News & World Report, is the author of Generation Earn: The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back. Send her your personal finance questions.


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