Filed under: notes
I’ve got billions, but I don’t like to spend it reads like a curious anthropological expedition into the territory of the frugal rich. I actually thought that most people who were rich were frugal. I thought that’s why they were still rich.
In any case, there’s an editorial gem here:
Canadian Cheriton [the Stanford professor who introduced google founders to venture capitalists] says he prefers to ride his bike around his Palo Alto, Calif., neighborhood, and relies on an old Volkswagen van or a Honda sedan when he needs to get behind the wheel. He says he only flies commercial, prefers jeans to designer clothes and claims to reuse his teabags. He also cuts his own hair to save time going to a barber. His indulgence: two windsurfers.
As GhostGirl said, That word you use, I do not think it means what you think it means. I wonder if the writer means wind surf boards or sailboards. Or maybe not.
On a side note, you might notice how all the rich people in the article cut their own hair. I’m not sure what to make of that.
Among my reading rotation is The Millionare Next Door - which confirms pretty much what the ABC article says. The most popular vehicle among the millionaires surveyed for the book: Ford F150 truck and the six dollars for taking the survey was the incentive for these people to take the survey. Interesting stuff.
Comment by Toonhead 11.28.07 @ 1:11 pmIt’s funny that the general mythology around the rich is that they are big spenders, but the reality is that many are not. They are big savers.
Comment by Ms. Theologian 11.28.07 @ 1:18 pmI think also there comes a point where the non-spending becomes just as ostentatious as the big-spending. Kind of a “frugaler than thou” thing.
Comment by GhostGirl 11.28.07 @ 3:03 pmAt the Small House on a Little Planet (?) workshop in Crestone, we talked about the “smaller than thou” complex.
Comment by Ms. Theologian 11.28.07 @ 3:10 pmThere is an old proverb - “Get what you can, and keep what you have - that’s the way to get rich.”
Rich people tend to know how to save, but more importantly I think they know how to invest. They make their money work for them even when they are not working. Rich people make money while they sleep.
Other than that, I’m not sure I can say much else about them. I don’t know too many rich people.
Comment by h sofia 11.28.07 @ 3:37 pmLeave a comment
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