Millionaires on a Budget - Are Material Possessions What Keep the Poor Poor?
YAWNS, Young and Wealthy but Normal, is what the Sunday Telegraph of London calles young millionaires who live frugal.Labeled the Anti Paris Hilton... LOL
Rik Wehbring lives in San Francisco and survives on $50,000 a year and yes... he is a millionaire. Wehbring is "frugal by choice". He does not own a television, drives a hybrid toyota Prius, and spends his free time listening to music on his $20 MP3 player.
"I don't need a lot of material possessions." exclaimes Wehbring.
YAWNS are very modest people and very environmentally conscience. Like investing mogul, Warren Buffet, who is one of the world's wealthiest, with a net worth of $60 billion, who lives in a modest houme he bought 50 years ago and gives a lot of support to charity.
Financial Values of YAWNS - Young and Wealthy but Normal:
1. Live below your means: Don't spend money you don't have. This sounds like a no-brainer, yet many of us have a hard time putting it into practice, no matter how much money we have. Don't rely on credit cards, and invest wisely. The wealthy know that it's much better to earn interest for themselves than to pay interest to someone else. Creating a budget can help you get your finances on track. It'll allow you see where your money is going and how you can manage your expenses to live within your income.
2. Remember that stuff does not define self-worth: Living on $50,000 a year is an accomplishment and obviously let's us know that Rik Wehbring places value on other things that are not material. Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine suspects that YAWNs, like anyone else, find fulfillment in personal relationships and social causes because those are things that last.
Ray Sidney, 38, a former software engineer at Google, made bank when the company went public in 2004. Instead of living it up, he quietly retired to Stateline, Nev. He says he probably doesn't qualify as frugal -- he owns two planes to shuttle between home and the Bay Area -- "but I could certainly live a more fancy-pants life than I do."
With his means, there's a lot of temptation to buy, buy, buy. But the habits he learned years ago as a strapped student are well-ingrained. "I only buy things I know I'll use," he says. "Why buy something to just sit there and take up space?"
3. Give back:
"You start to realize: What's the point of spending money when you can think of so many better ways to use it?" says Sidney, who has helped fund a high school football field and helped pay for a local arts center, among other donations. With his latest pet project, he's aiming to do something for Mother Earth: He's building an affordable, eco-friendly housing development in Nevada.
Feeling generous but strapped for cash? You may not have the bankroll of millionaires, but you have just as much time in a day as they do. Give of yourself if not of your wallet. (See "A dozen creative donations" for more no- or low-cash ways you can give to charity.)
Whatever your financial situation, being charitable and socially conscious can be rewarding -- not to mention that it's good karma.
Let us know how you plan on giving back. :-)
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