Over the weekend, Kevin and Nathaniel both sent me an article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that tells the story of Jane M. Buri, an 84-year-old social worker who quietly amassed a $1.4 million fortune. How did she do it? She practiced the art of thrift. From the article:
In retrospect, friends say Buri’s savings made sense. They say she drove a 30-year-old car, watched an ancient TV, lived four decades in a house bought with cash in 1969, and just kept stacking charity donation envelopes in her sun room, until, once a year, she sent them all in.
They say she gave of herself and asked little in return. Nobody’s disputing that generosity. But it’s not the whole story. Because this isn’t about someone who selflessly saved so others could have. It’s about someone who saved because spending more just didn’t occur to her.
I love these sorts of stories, but when I share them, I invariably hear from readers who say they would hate to live the frugal lifestyle necessary to build so much wealth. Yet the article makes it clear that although Buri pinched pennies, she also spent on the things that were important to her:
Nor did she deny herself small indulgences. Some weeks, she ate out three meals a day, friends said. She traveled to Europe, and to the Rose Parade in California. She bought a baby grand piano.
There was nothing she wanted and didn’t buy, said [a] co-worker. “She was frugal because she didn’t need anything else,” she said. “She wanted that old car. She dressed the way she wanted to dress.”
It’s not having what you want that’s important — it’s wanting what you have.
In recent years, I’ve had the privilege to meet several people just like Buri (including my real millionaire next door, who has agreed to let me interview him). Their stories are always the same. They’ve amassed wealth on modest salaries by living lives of thrift, and by choosing to spend only on the things that make them happy.
[St. Louis Today: How social worker Jane M. Buri saved $1.4 million, then gave it all way]
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So true. Often when we quit spending on commercialized crap we realize that it was really holding us back from living and enjoying our lives. When we save and only indulge in a few things we enjoy them much more than if we’re constantly buying crap for ourselves because we “deserve” it and never have anything left for the things that we actually do enjoy and love doing.
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@Frugal Bachelor (#30):
“It seems that the three central tenants of this woman’s frugality were:”
I think you mean “tenets.” Tenants are people who rent housing.
“1. No spouse
2. No Children
3. No Mortgage”
I agree on the no children and mortgage, but having a spouse is huge HELP in accumulating wealth. Two people can earn twice as much as a single person, but can share housing expenses that are only slightly higher than similar expenses for a single person. Sharing housing costs, while doubling the household income, is a very large part of how my wife and I have been able to accumulate as much as we have in such a short period.
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@Joey (#37):
Wow, people who put their relatives in nursing homes are “selfish?” Let me tell you a little story my wife’s grandfather.
Bob was a widower who lived by himself. His daughter lived next door. As Bob got older, he wasn’t able to live by himself, so his dauther invited him to live with her. He moved in. His daughter and her husband were both retired from their regular careers, but both kept very busy with retirement careers in real estate. Bob spent most of his time home, alone, watching TV. Bob had a stroke and lost his peripheral vision. He needed help going up and down the stairs, but still spent most of his days alone (sorry, “independent” as people like you would prefer to say).
Eventually, Bob’s daughter and son-in-law decided they couldn’t continue to provide Bob with the care he needed, so they moved him into a home.
Suddenly, Bob had expert, professional, round-the-clock health care. He had organized activities to participate in, with other friends of his own age. He socialized with other seniors, went to game night, movie night, and even strolled around the paths on the property to get some fresh air (monitored by health professionals, of course). Bob was happier than he’d been in years.
That’s it. That’s the end of the story. Bob is my wife’s grandfather, he’s a real person, and that’s a true story. He’s in that “home” right now, and has more colour and life than he’s had in a decade. I’m struggling to understand who the loser is in this scenario.
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Sam, I second that. MrP and I have a collection of other people’s cast-off tvs stored in our basement. When one of our tv’s dies, we have another free tv just waiting to take its place!
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@Joey #37,
Here’s another nursing home scenario. My grandparents lived in the house they raised their children for 60 years. About five years ago, Grandpa was diagnosed with dementia. By Christmas 2007, he didn’t know who anyone was, including his wife of 70 years. He kept wanting to go “home” (in the middle of the night in a Michigan winter) and the doors had to be physically guarded during the night (someone slept on a cot in the kitchen). Then he’d get very angry, belligerent (not part of his usual personality) because we wouldn’t let him leave. Eventually, we couldn’t handle him and he went to a nursing home. He died 10 months later at age 93.
Grandma is still living in the house at age 91.
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@Chris,
Our family story is similar with my grandfather living with my mom until she just couldn’t take care of him any more. He lived in a group home for two and a half years before he died.
To those who don’t know those homes are many thousands of dollars per month. $1.4M is a lot of money, but for good care she could easily have had to pay $200k per year for services (nursing and medical). And since this woman didn’t have kids to take some of the burden if she wasn’t able to live independently she needed the money to pay someone to help her live (not to mention the price of medical services).
@Corey, I’m not sure what you mean by your comments about her not being a burden on society because we have a social safety net. Society IS the social safety net, we all pay for it out of our taxes and if more people were able to pay for their own care our taxes would go down. Giving her money away so that we can pay for her medical care just means that she gave all of OUR money away, she just transferred the payments. Part of the reason the cost of social services has increased our taxes to the point is has is because many services have changed from last resort for people who can’t take care of themselves to a matter of course for people who won’t.
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I too was struck by the mention of the “ancient tv” since we have three cathode ray machines in the house — they aren’t “fuzzy,” and they aren’t too small, and just this morning I learned that they use less energy than the new flat panels, so I think we’ll keep them!
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Thanks JD, I’m really looking forward to reading that.
And by the way, thank you for this site and all your hard work and sacrifices. Enjoy your Mini without reservation or guilt, you deserve it!
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Well, if I didn’t have a mortgage or rent payment, I would be rich too.
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An addendum…
The reason I love reading stories like the above, and your soon to publish interview with your neighbour, is that it reminds me of my grandparents.
Born in the 1920s, they grew up through the depression, WWII, etc. They retired from farming in the 1990s, still living in their trailer they bought in the 60s. Long since paid off, about the only thing they splurge on is a new truck every 5 years.
I love hearing stories of how Grandma, as a little girl, would go into the bush looking for dandelions to pick. She’d then take them home and help her mom make a salad for supper for the family.
Stories of how they’d trap gophers and sell the tails for a penny or 2 each. When the fair would come to town, they’d have $2 in their pockets and would buy an ice cream cone for a nickel or a dime. That was the one time throughout the year that they’d have ice cream.
All while telling these stories, they always always said how hard the times were and how little they had, but also how happy and thankful they were for what they did have.
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I don’t think some people read the article. They’re talking as if she’s still alive.
From the article..
The last checks from her savings — willed to more than 50 friends, cousins and charities — should be arriving soon in mailboxes.
…
On March 18, 2008, Jane Marie Buri died.
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INSPIRATION!
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It’s a very lucky person who knows so precisely what they want, and that the expensive things on that list are few and far between.
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“She never married, never had children, never missed a day of work.”
Well I see how she can be frugal. She missed out on a lot
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@Moneymonk
Despite what you (and many others) think, it IS possible for a human being to have a very happy and fulfilling life without a spouse or children. I know–I’m one of them.
It sounds like what this lady lacked in immediate family, she more than made up for in friends. Combine that with a life lived the way she wanted, and I call that a win-win situation.
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“Well I see how she can be frugal. She missed out on a lot”
We all end up missing out on a lot. I never want to bungee jump, go sky diving, race car driving, etc. I’ll never be able to complete in the olympics, win a nobel prize, etc.
I’ll have missed out on a lot. You’ll miss out on a lot. But will you care?
She obviously didn’t. But she still had friends, a social life, she still got a chance to travel, had a fulfilling career. She missed out on the richness that is a part of other people’s lives, but we have missed on the richness in her own life.
“She should have enjoyed some of the money. I understand saving, but if you never spend any of it, why bother?”
She has spent all of it. The thing that seems to bother you is that a large part of it was spent after her death when no one could come to her and thank her for what she had done. Its like asking why bother doing good when no one is looking. For some things, you derive your own internal satisfaction.
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>>”She never got married, never had a boyfriend”
That says it all. Easy to pinch without demands of family.
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I hear these stories all the time – like the factory worker who never made over $11/hour, yet saved millions. They are inspiring, but the common thread is no spouse or children. There’s nothing wrong with not having a spouse or children, but it changes the equation (and the life the equation is applied to).
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That’s a beautiful story!
She kind of reminds me of myself. I’m lucky enough to have moderately rich parents… but I don’t spend that much.
For example, for my 18th Birthday, I got the control of a bunch of money my parents saved up for me. When my (3 years older) brother got control of his money, he immediately went and spend most of it on a car.
I simply put it in a bank and just spend it on little things that I want. Some books of Amazon here, a bunch of neodymium supermagnets there, I’ve only made one big-ticket spending so far.
I often wonder how lucky I am to have rich parents. Maybe I don’t wonder often enough how lucky I am to be happy with spending little. (my brother always seems to be short on money)
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Great story. Frugality can work magic.
A related story– I meet many teachers with more money than dentists and lawyers that I know . . . there is much truth in the Millionaire Next Door book– I see it all the time.
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It is a great story. However there’s one glaring theme that nobody really mentioned (unless I missed it). She was able to accumulate and save that money since she didn’t have any children which eats up whole heck lot of your income. I also think she was much happier knowing she could have that money to donate to charities. That was her source of happy, to serve others, and not to “buy a new car/shoes/clothes etc”
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I am fascinated by your comment about people emailing you to say that the frugal lifestyle required to amass a good nest egg is just too hard!
However, I am not surprised! I am a stay-at-home mom. My husbands does contract work from home (software development). We are a single income family not earning badly, but not earning as much as if my husband got a ‘normal’ corporate job.
We live rather frugally. We could definitely still spend less – for example we drive a truck that is expensive on fuel and insurance, and we have satellite TV. However, I spend a fraction on groceries and clothing for the family compared to friends in our age/stage and, here in South Africa where there is no free education, most of our friends spend up to 30% of their earnings on schooling, while we homeschool.
We are very thrifty on power and water usage, grow some of our own food, keep hens for eggs and clean our own home instead of paying a maid (most people in our suburb have a maid AND a nanny, fulltime, not unusual in South Africa!). We live in a very humble home and, in this credit crazy society, save 20% of our earnings and tithe 10%.
Over the past 2 years, my husband has spent a few hours most days cycling (while his contempories sit in the traffic on the way to their office jobs). We enjoy extended weekend trips around the country approx once every 6 weeks and have been on 2 international holidays over the past 8 months. We also enjoy frequent trips to the theatre, nearby day resorts and the occasional meal in a restaurant.
However, I have often received comments like “I don’t get it – if you have to spend an hour each week planning your meals and shopping trip with the sales flyers, how can you afford to go on vacation so often?”
They don’t make the connection that I shop so frugally because I choose to, not because I have to, and that doing so allows spending freedom in other areas.
We are also asked frequently why my husband doesn’t get a “normal” job because it would pay much more? However, these same folk who ask that question will comment in the next breath about how “lucky” he is to be able to spend so much time on vacation and pursuing his interests (he is a musician, cyclist and loves to read and watch movies).
They just don’t get it!
For us, being frugal is about spending as little as we can in order to DO as much as we can.
It works very well for us. It didn’t just happen and it certainly wasn’t all about luck – we made the decision to live differently and set up our life to suit our dreams and goals. Its a active thing! Life is not a spectator sport – jump up, get in the game, and wonderful things can happen!
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Adrian discusses using a spreadsheet to work out whether this is indeed achievable at:
http://7million7years.com/2009/06/01/how-much-money-can-you-amass-living-frugally/
I know many of your readers like spreadsheets so I’ll mention the one I did in connection with assessing how easy it would be to amass that much money in that period of time – after reading the 7mill7years posting mentioned above for background, see:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rhBmrF12JzQoery1G9aqcWw&output=html
Thanks for bringing this lady’s remarkable life to our attention.
KC
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While this is an admirable woman, unless readers out there are aspiring to save up as much money as possible to give to charity, there’s little point in waiting until your 84 to cash in on a 1.4 million dollar fortune.
It’s important to clarify end objectives here. If the goal is to ultimately live an affluent life by the time one is approaching retirement–that’s one thing. If the goal is to stash away as much money as possible by the time you die, to ultimately give to someone or something else, that’s something totally different.
Again, the latter goal may be a fine motive, but not necessarily a great motivator for all people to be frugal.
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