How to live as well as a billionaire – on the income you’re earning now
By Mark Ford
When you think about the rich – the really rich – you may find yourself marveling at their... Well, their money.
Take Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men. If you think $10 million is a fortune, consider this: He has 5,000 of them. If he put his money in $1,000 bills, he’d have 50 million of them!
But how much better does he live?
Sure, he’s got a huge house… And a yacht. He’s probably got a jet, too. But who needs that? Really!
If you make at least R250,000 a year (R300,000 if you are attached to a family), you can live as well as Bill Gates does, and I’ll prove it to you in this essay. If you aren’t yet making that much, you’ll have to put this aside until you are. If you’re following The Unconventional Millionaire, it shouldn’t take very long.
Now, the purpose of becoming rich – you would think – would be to make your life as enjoyable as possible. The more money you have, the more choices you have.
Take sleeping. What does a billionaire want out of his sleep time? I’d say the same thing you do: Blissful, uninterrupted unconsciousness. And what will give you that (besides peace of mind, which you can’t buy)?
Answer: A great mattress.
And how much does a great mattress cost? Maybe R7,500. That means you can buy yourself a million-dollar sleep on a ‘billion-rand’ mattress for no more than R7,500. If you are making R250,000 a year, you can afford it.
So get rid of that lumpy thing you’re sleeping on and find yourself the absolute best mattress you have ever sat on. Buy it and go to sleep content that Bill Gates can have it no better.
There are some things when price doesn’t really matter, acknowledge this and you’ll be living rich
Fact is, you can pay almost any price for anything. But after a certain point, you’re no longer paying for quality… You’re paying for prestige.
Take wine. Ask someone who knows about wine and you will be told that the quality of a wine is entirely a matter of the vineyard it comes from. Buy a bottle of Rupert & Rothschild Baroness Nadine Chardonnay at your local bottle store, for around R182, you’re drinking one of the best wines money can buy. Order the same bottle at the four-star Verdicchio Restaurant and Wine Cellar in Monte Casino and you’ll pay R400. What’s the difference?
Yes – just prestige.
The same is true when it comes to clothing. Beautiful, comfortable clothes aren’t cheap, but they don’t have to cost a fortune. You can buy a great pair of pants for R300 or you can spend 10 times that amount. The difference will be the label on the waistband.
Champagne, anyone? Consumer Reports had some wine experts test a variety of Champagnes. Of their five best, four were less than R350. Dom Perignon, listed fifth, will set you back almost R1,000
And so it goes on. The point is this: The best material things in life are affordable.
They’re not cheap – quality never is – but if you buy them selectively and use them with care, you can enjoy a life as materially rich as Bill Gates on an income that wouldn’t get him through lunch.
