Remember the feeling when your hand reached the pocket of the old jeans pocket you put on after months and finds a 500 rupees note that has been sitting there all this while? The joy is unparalleled. Oh what all could you not buy with that money! While salary is never enough for most of us – we need a little extra to go for that buffet, buy those pair of shoes or go on that pending trip, there are some who believe in becoming rich and still living a not-so-rich life.
Meet billionaire Ingvar Kamprad, founder of the IKEA. While most of us would have lavishly spent on food, travel, clothes and the best of everything else if we had billions of dollars waiting in our bank account, here’s a billionaire, with an accumulated wealth of 65.5 Billion Euros,who buys his clothes at flea markets to save money.
“I don’t think I’m wearing anything that wasn’t bought at a flea market. It means that I want to set a good example,” he told Swedish channel TV4.
Not only is he close-fisted about clothes, he gets a haircut only when he travels to developing countries.
“Normally, I try to get my haircut when I’m in a developing country. Last time it was in Vietnam,” Kamprad revealed.
(Feeling guilty about the amount of money you shelled out for your last haircut already?)
According to Listverse, he “reportedly drives a 20-year-old Volvo, recycles tea bags, and steals salt and pepper packets from restaurants.”
“His home is furnished with IKEA furniture he assembled personally, he uses public transportation, and his modest home would fit in, in any suburban neighborhood,” Listverse adds.
The billionaire Mogul who comes from Sweden’s southern agricultural region, Smaland, says, “It’s in the nature of Smaland to be thrifty.”
Kamprad claims that his frugality helped IKEA to become one of the world’s top brand names.
Maybe that’s what we are missing out on – extreme frugality is the key to untold wealth! But would you choose to live your life like this if you had a couple of billions waiting for you in your account?
