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8 Frugal Living Tips to Learn From Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett is constantly listed as one of the world’s richest people, with an estimated net worth of more than $100 billion. But unlike his good pal Bill Gates, Buffett doesn’t live in a sprawling $100 million lakeside home.

No, the 90-year-old chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t exactly live like a Kardashian — although he could afford to do so. Instead, it is quite the opposite: Buffett even once had a vanity license plate that read “THRIFTY,” and that license plate wasn’t lying.

Even those of us whose personal fortunes will never reach $1 billion, much less $100 billion, can take a few lessons from Buffett’s relatively frugal lifestyle. Here are some valuable tips from the Oracle of Omaha’s prudent money habits.

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1. Buy a modest home

Buffett and his late first wife, Susan, bought their Omaha home in 1958 for $31,500. It’s not tiny — there are five bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms — but he didn’t replace it with a mega-mansion once the money started rolling in. (Let’s be honest, though — he also did buy a California vacation home, spending $150,000 for it in 1971.)

For Buffett, Omaha and the relatively modest house he chose back in the 1950s have always been home sweet home.

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2. Don’t be afraid to use coupons in front of friends

Coupons save you money, so why not use them? Bill Gates marveled in a 2017 letter that he was once at a McDonald’s in Hong Kong with Buffett.

Related: If You Find This Thrift Shopping, Buy It

“You offered to pay, dug into your pocket, and pulled out … coupons!” Gates wrote, noting that his wife, Melinda, even took a photo of Buffett and his coupons. “It reminded us how much you value a good deal.”

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3. Don’t smoke or drink

Both smoking and drinking require steady outlays of cash, and neither is healthy for you, which could mean increased medical bills down the road.

Buffett has never smoked or drunk alcohol, and he’s still with us at 90.

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4. Look for sales and deals

“Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down,” Buffett wrote in Berkshire Hathaway’s 2008 letter to shareholders.

There’s no need for Buffett to ever jump on a marked-down item, yet he knows the value of a deal.

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5. Don’t gamble

What’s that saying about gambling? “The house always wins.”

Buffett knows this, and he’s said that “gambling is a tax on ignorance.” He once bought a slot machine for his home and paid his kids their allowance in dimes, knowing they couldn’t resist the lure of the slots and he’d have their allowance all back that same day.

They learned what Buffett, and smart investors, already know — gambling doesn’t pay.

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6. Don’t upgrade possessions unless you have to

Buffett famously used a Nokia flip phone for years, although he’s since moved on to an iPhone. But his phone ownership history reveals a truth: Buffett’s not all about paying big money for the latest and greatest tech.

“I don’t throw anything away until I’ve had it 20 or 25 years,” Buffett told Piers Morgan in 2013. (Buffett also showed off a 20-year-old wallet.)

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7. Forget fancy food

Buffett could eat gold-plated lobster for every meal, even though that sounds horrible. But his eating habits are modest (if not super healthy).

“I don’t like a $100 meal as well as a hamburger from McDonald’s,” Buffett told People magazine in 2017. His daughter told People that Buffett regularly treats his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to monthly lunches, but not at five-star steakhouses. They go to a (Berkshire-owned) Dairy Queen.

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8. Don’t waste money on a lavish wedding

It’s easy for an engaged couple to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on a fancy wedding. That’s not for Buffett. When he and his second wife, Astrid Menks, wed in 2006, it was in a brief civil ceremony at Buffett’s daughter’s house.

The ceremony took 15 minutes, followed by dinner at a casual seafood restaurant, The New York Times reported.

Buffett’s daughter helped her dad pick out his new wife’s ring at an Omaha jewelry store owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Asked if Buffett received the employee discount on the purchase, his daughter told the Times, “I’m sure he did.”

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