Frugality Pays for Modest Billionaires

Who doesn't dream of becoming rich one day? We all do. The idea of accumulating wealth spurs many of people brave even barely scratching the surface of the wealth offered by the concrete jungle. A few cool millions might be enough for some, but for those few who already made it there, gunning for the big billionaires club presents the greater challenge. These modest billionaires show that life in the billionaires club doesn't differ much from average people like you and me. Well, except for that stash of cash in the bank or their millions invested in businesses. Each has become masters of their fortune but come as a big surprise to many, all of them top billionaires would not be where they are if not for their frugal and simple living, and loads of business acumen.

John Caudwell could well afford a dozen stretch limousines, or even a couple of Bugatti Veyrons with his $2.2 billion fortune, but this guy exemplifies frugal living to a 'T' and used to bike 14 miles to work everyday, cuts his own hair, and buys his own clothes off the rack. Caudwell allowed himself a couple of luxuries like a Ferrari and a Bentley, possessions deemed very modest for a man of his means.

Caudwell earned his first fortune from mobile phones. This exemplary billionaire thinks that splurging on expensive items as top wines and spending money merely to help boost his self-esteem is plain waste.

David Cheriton and Caudwell are sort of on the same page. Cheriton is noted for his role in matching Google founders with venture capitalists, and the rest they say is history, as he was rewarded with a chunk of Google fortune through stocks. Cheriton is one of the few people whose passion for fitness and the environment made him enjoy his life without creating a dent in his fortune. David cycles to work or just around his neighborhood in a bike thoug he has an old Volkswagen and Honda sedan for longer distances. Interestingly enough, Cheriton like Jim Caudwell, cuts his own hair at home instead of making the trip to an expensive barber.

Jim Walton is the owner of superstore giant Walmart and has a networth of $16 billion. Walton still drives his old Dodge Dakota pick up truck instead of flashy and expensive sports cars. Now, that's practicality to the extreme.

The genius behind furniture giant IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad is worth $33 billion as of last check, and he still drives around in a 17-year-old Volvo, cuts unnecessary travel expense by flying coach, eats in regular restaurants and lives in a modest house he decorates with his own furnitures.

Ingvar Kamprad, who is originally from Sweden, does not like business suits either. I bet that even saves him thousands of dollars.

Worth over $57 billion, Warren Buffet lives in the five-bedroom house he bought for $31,500 fifty years ago and moves around in a 2006 Cadillac. Why shake it if it's not broken, right?

Warren Buffet is right on point when he sees luxury items as 'pain in the neck'. Maintenance and added expenses, he does not want any of these.

Currently ranked by Forbes Magazine as the world's richest man at $60.6 billion, Carlos Slim can afford to spend $1,150 per minute in the next 100 years just to use all that money. But this guy lives in the same house for over 40 years, talk about keeping everything constant, except his net worth continues to rise, easily catapulting him to the top of the list and wedging out the regulars like Microsoft founder Bill Gates or the Sultan of Brunei.

With his simple living and frugality, would you still be surprised if the world's richest man does not own a private plane or yatch? These luxury possessions are clearly off his list.

These extraordinary men are living proof that being rich does not need to be living in a fantasy world we all associate with having wealth. Well, maybe we watched to many movies.Their surprising lifestyles is an eye-opener and a clear example of living below one's means.

Frugality is indeed a virtue. If any of us average mortals could even emulate a fraction of these megarich' frugal lifestyle, perhaps, the dollars in our wallets and bank accounts would not disappear into thin air right under our noses. Not keeping up with the Joneses might even give you a one-in-a-million chance to be a future billionaire yourself.