Is this guy "greedy" or is he just very clever??

[Rubicon]

Call me a tightwad, call me a guy who does the limbo to get into a pay toilet for free, I don't care.  I really love this guy!!

 First Person: Living a Six-Figure Lifestyle on a $30,000 Salary

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        Brian C. Hopkins,    On Tuesday May 10, 2011, 6:13 pm EDT  *Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Do you have a personal finance story that you'd like to share?  Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles.
Like millions of Americans out there, I like the nicer things in life. I have an affinity for high-end cars, designer clothing, and name-brand home furnishings.
There was a time when I had the six-figure income to afford these things. That was before the crash of what has now become known as the dot-com era. After losing many nice things, I learned that even living at one's means can be a risky proposition. So the challenge became how to continue to live that lifestyle while spending drastically less than I did before.
I wanted to figure out how I could afford these things at a $30,000-a-year salary, just in case I ever had another salary decrease. That planning all paid off when the great recession came. Here's how I learned to have a six-figure lifestyle with a $30,000 yearly budget.
How to Get the Big Home
This one was all about patience, hard work, and discipline. First: New homes are out of the question. They're generally overpriced. I almost bid on a couple of for-sale-by-owner homes, but just couldn't get the right combination of price and neighborhood. I focused on HUD homes and foreclosures, and learned quickly that banks don't want homes on their books. I found a HUD home in a neighborhood with prices averaging above $200,000. My home was more than 60% less than that. It required a bit of work -- I spent a lot of free time on it as a do-it-yourself project -- but in the end I had my nice home. No one knows that I paid less than $80,000 and that I have a monthly mortgage payment of less than $500.
Getting the Car to Match the Lifestyle
I'm a sport and luxury car enthusiast. First I wanted a Mustang, and this was the easiest deal of them all to find. I didn't go to dealers for this one. I went to Craigslist and the classified ads. I know many people will say that this is immoral, but I found a desperate seller who was willing to almost give the car to me because his notes were too high. I was happy, and he was happy to be rid of it. A simple refinancing and I had a car note for less than $150 per month. Not long after that I decided that I wanted a Lexus, and I did go through a dealer to get that one. I got a great deal on a used Lexus (I no longer buy new cars). Here's how I saved about $5,000 on that deal.
I Love Movado Watches
Anyone who knows me knows that I love Movado watches and will rarely, if ever, wear anything else. At a $30,000-a-year salary, I certainly can't afford to shell out $1,000 or $2,000 on a watch. So I had to find a new source. I began scouring Craigslist, eBay, and pawn shops for good deals on watches. I found three Movado watches that were used and paid less than $500 total for all three of them. I recently sold one of these watches on eBay for $600. I now wear watches valued at more than $800 each, and I basically paid nothing for them.
Got to Have My Designer Clothes
I am an avid wearer of brands such as Ralph Lauren, Armani, Perry Ellis, and Gucci. Jackets for these brands can run from $300 to $3,000 dollars, so there's no way I can afford these on a $30,000 salary. I had to really swallow my pride and begin browsing through eBay for good deals on used items. A few of you may say there's no way you'd wear used clothing, but I say one trip to the cleaners, and they're as good as new. I found that even better deals can be found at consignment shops and Goodwill stores. At one Goodwill store, I found an Armani jacket for only $15, and I get constant compliments on it.
More from this contributor:
How to cut your cell phone bill in half!
How to Purchase a Home with Bad Credit
5 Things You're Paying Too Much For

[Rubicon]

He purchase a 200K home for 80K.  Somebody voted "cheap".  I guess they would rather pay 200K for the same house??

Most rich people get that way by being "thieves" or "cheap" and buying properties and stocks for pennies on the dollar.

(Donald Trump??)

[Muzh]

Rubicon, the majority of gazillionaires are a bunch of cheap illegitime.
 
I'll never be a millionaire, I can't spend it fast enough. However, I am a savy buyer.
 
For example: My kids were bugging me for Skullcandy earbuds for their iPods. The cheapest you can get those are $20. Well, lo and behold. I get daily deals online and they were selling Altec Lansing earbuds (reg. price $50) for $6.99 plus free shipping. Guess who's the hero? Not to mention that the Altec Lansing's quality is 10 fold better than Skullcandy (based on tech information).
 
All my suits are Oscar dela Renta, YSL and Ralph Lauren. Have ten altogether. Minimum regular price is $345. The most I paid was $125 (orig $575). Macy's has he best one day sale ever. In addition my wife worked there for almost 8 years and she still have her employee discount (20%). Plus 20% discount coupons and you end up paying about 30% of the original price. Let's not go to the shirts and ties.
 
And so on.

[Rubicon]

Rubicon, the majority of gazillionaires are a bunch of cheap illegitime.
 
I'll never be a millionaire, I can't spend it fast enough. However, I am a savy buyer.
 
For example: My kids were bugging me for Skullcandy earbuds for their iPods. The cheapest you can get those are $20. Well, lo and behold. I get daily deals online and they were selling Altec Lansing earbuds (reg. price $50) for $6.99 plus free shipping. Guess who's the hero? Not to mention that the Altec Lansing's quality is 10 fold better than Skullcandy (based on tech information).
 
All my suits are Oscar dela Renta, YSL and Ralph Lauren. Have ten altogether. Minimum regular price is $345. The most I paid was $125 (orig $575). Macy's has he best one day sale ever. In addition my wife worked there for almost 8 years and she still have her employee discount (20%). Plus 20% discount coupons and you end up paying about 30% of the original price. Let's not go to the shirts and ties.
 
And so on.

My suits are Jones New York and others.  but my ties really shine!!  Hugo Boss and Ted Baker among others.  and my shoes--Ferragamo (major bank for those) and Kenneth Cole Red Label (the red label shoes were still made in Italy) and NO I did NOT buy any of them used!!  Guess that is where I draw the line....

[Aloe]

How is this cheap or clever? He is just living within his means, no more no less. Doesn't make him cheap or clever, just normal

[Rubicon]

How is this cheap or clever? He is just living within his means, no more no less. Doesn't make him cheap or clever, just normal

No, it's not normal.  too many Americans will pay 200K for a house when they can get it for less.  and too many Americans live beyond their means, spending more money than they have by running up credit card debt.  that is "normal" in America.

[Turboguy]

I have to agree with you Rubicon.  Too many Americans seek instant gratification with little thought about their ability to pay for the things they feel they must have. 
 
Personally I would have more respect for someone like the person quoted who buys a fixer upper and gets the things he wants without the need to borrow.
 
Personally I live in a house I bought for taxes for 5% of the assed value and if I can't afford to pay cash for something I don't buy it.  I would rather buy a used car for cash than a shiny new one and be paying on it for the next 5-7 years.  Do that long enough you can have the new shiny one and pay cash if you want a new one.  Personally I don't think I would shop the good will store but would wait for something until the season was over and get it on a clearance sale.  I don't however look down on someone who does shop a Goodwill store.  There are some bargains there if you look hard enough.

[Rubicon]

I have to agree with you Rubicon.  Too many Americans seek instant gratification with little thought about their ability to pay for the things they feel they must have. 
 
Personally I would have more respect for someone like the person quoted who buys a fixer upper and gets the things he wants without the need to borrow.
 
Personally I live in a house I bought for taxes for 5% of the assed value and if I can't afford to pay cash for something I don't buy it.  I would rather buy a used car for cash than a shiny new one and be paying on it for the next 5-7 years.  Do that long enough you can have the new shiny one and pay cash if you want a new one.  Personally I don't think I would shop the good will store but would wait for something until the season was over and get it on a clearance sale.  I don't however look down on someone who does shop a Goodwill store.  There are some bargains there if you look hard enough.

5% of the assed value???

 

sorry, could not help it!!  btw I really do appreciate your feedback and agree with you also!!

[Turboguy]

I had to read that three time before I caught the misspelling and then agree it is quite funny.

[Saltheart]

Very cool site called fatwallet.dot.com - hot deals forum - not as good as it used to be, but you can find some positively outstanding deals there...  for example - 6 years ago I outfitted a new sattelite office with:

7 Dell E550 (I think) CPU's, 17 inch flatscreen monitors with 3 gigs ram for a total of $2,100 - SHIPPED -- new with 2 year warranties... Dell has since changed how they do deals, but these people are phenomenal with finding and timing the manufacturer and resller rebates, etc... lots of stuff you can get FAR as they call it which is essentially Free after Rebate...  it's pretty fun actually to find a couple smoking deals.... another one was I got a 50 inch visio plasma 5-6 years ago I think for I believe $1,800.00 which was absurdly cheap at that time...think they were around 4k then.  Hope that helps a little.

[Rubicon]

Excellent!!  Thanks for posting.