I remember my dad coming home from the factory with his packed lunch container, the same one he’d used for years. My mum would carefully save plastic bags, reuse aluminum foil, and plan meals around what was on sale at the supermarket.
Growing up working-class outside Manchester, I watched my parents get mocked for these habits by neighbors who had newer cars and fancier holidays. Those same neighbors also complained endlessly about money troubles.
Years later, after spending time in corporate London and running my own consultancy, I started noticing something. The wealthiest people I encountered had habits that looked remarkably similar to my parents’. They just didn’t talk about them at dinner parties.
The habits that get labeled as “cheap” or “stingy” are often the exact behaviors that separate those who build lasting wealth from those who just look wealthy. Here are seven of them.
1) They live in modest homes relative to their income
When I first started making decent money in my thirties, the pressure to upgrade my living situation was intense. Friends and colleagues would ask why I was still renting a modest flat when I could “obviously afford better.”
What they didn’t see was that I was building something. The money I didn’t spend on impressing them with a flashy address was going toward starting my own business.
Research shows that roughly 60% of millionaires live in homes valued under $500,000. Warren Buffett still lives in the house he purchased in 1958 for $31,500.
Think about that for a moment. One of the richest people on the planet chooses to stay in the same home he bought decades ago. He understood something most people miss: your home is shelter first, status symbol never.
People love to mock this behavior. They’ll call it stingy or say you’re not “living your best life.” But here’s the reality: every pound you’re not spending on housing to impress people is a pound that can actually work for you.
The gap between what someone can technically afford and what they choose to spend is where wealth gets built. My parents understood this instinctively, even if they never used those words.
2) They avoid lifestyle inflation like the plague
I’ve watched this play out more times than I can count. Someone gets a promotion or a raise, and within months their spending has expanded to match their new income. Sometimes it exceeds it.
The bigger salary becomes justification for the nicer car, the upgraded flat, the expensive gym membership, the pricier restaurants. Before they know it, they’re making significantly more but saving exactly the same amount. Often less.
Self-made millionaires take a completely different approach. When their income increases, their spending barely budges. They’re not denying themselves enjoyment. They’re simply maintaining the habits that worked when they earned less.
I learned this lesson the hard way when I left corporate to start my consultancy. In my first year, I made about the same as my final corporate salary. The difference? I had complete control over my expenses.
Watching cash flow as a business owner teaches you things quickly. I kept living as though I still had that corporate salary, even when client work picked up. That discipline meant I could weather slow months without panic and invest in opportunities when they appeared.
People will absolutely judge you for this. They’ll assume you’re either struggling financially or just being tight with money. Let them. Their opinions don’t compound at 8% annually. Your savings do.
3) They buy quality, not status
There’s a particular kind of person in London who needs everyone to know they have money. The designer labels, the conspicuous consumption, the performative wealth.
I spent enough time in corporate to recognize it instantly. What I also noticed? The truly wealthy people I encountered didn’t operate this way at all.
They’d spend real money on things that mattered. A quality coat that would last a decade. Proper shoes that could be resoled. A watch that would outlive them. But they weren’t buying these things to broadcast their wealth. They were buying them because they understood value.
One of the wealthiest clients I worked with during my consultancy days wore the same rotation of three suits. Good suits, clearly well-made, but nothing flashy. Meanwhile, junior associates were stretching their credit to buy designer pieces they hoped would make them look successful.
Self-made millionaires shop at consignment stores. They wait for sales. They buy end-cuts of meat to save money. They use coupons without embarrassment.
This gets mocked relentlessly. People assume if you’re wealthy, you should be above searching for deals. But that misunderstands the entire mindset. These folks aren’t looking for deals because they have to. They’re looking for deals because wasting money on status makes no sense to them.
My mum taught me this without knowing she was teaching it. She’d spend time finding the best value, not because we couldn’t afford the alternative, but because throwing money away felt wrong to her. That instinct serves you well regardless of your income level.
4) They prioritize investing over consuming
Here’s where the fundamental divide becomes clear. Most people see extra money as an opportunity to buy something. Successful wealth builders see it as an opportunity to invest in something.
When I started making more money from my consultancy work, I had a choice. I could upgrade my lifestyle or I could put that money to work. I chose the latter. Not because I’m some ascetic monk, but because I’d seen what compound growth could do.
Self-made millionaires consistently invest in assets that appreciate over time: stocks, real estate, business expansion. They understand that the money you invest today can transform into significantly more money tomorrow.
Meanwhile, most people are spending that same money on things that lose value the moment they buy them. New cars, the latest gadgets, expensive electronics. These purchases feel good in the moment but they’re wealth destroyers over time.
I’ve mentioned this before, but when I burned out on client work and transitioned to content writing, I was only able to make that move because I’d spent years investing rather than consuming. That financial cushion bought me freedom.
People will absolutely call you stingy for choosing investment over consumption. They’ll say you’re not enjoying your money, that you’re missing out on life. But wealth building requires delayed gratification. You’re trading consumption now for options later.
Those options compound over time. The ability to walk away from bad situations. The freedom to take risks. The capacity to help family members when they need it. That’s what you’re really building toward.
5) They eliminate debt ruthlessly
I remember watching my parents carefully plan how to pay off their mortgage early. They’d put any extra money toward it, even small amounts. At the time, I didn’t fully understand why this mattered so much to them.
Years later, after running my own business and seeing how debt can strangle cash flow, I understood completely. Every pound you spend on interest is a pound that can never work for you.
Self-made millionaires treat debt like a disease to be eliminated. Outside of mortgages, they work to reduce and ultimately remove all debt. Credit cards, car loans, consumer financing, all of it gets targeted for elimination.
This makes perfect sense when you think about it. If you’re paying 18% interest on credit card debt, you’d need to find investments returning more than 18% just to break even. That’s incredibly difficult to do consistently.
The average person doesn’t see it this way though. They see manageable monthly payments. They see opportunities to have things now rather than later. Credit card companies and car dealerships love this perspective. It’s how they make their money.
During my corporate years, I watched colleagues finance lifestyles they couldn’t afford. New cars on finance. Holidays on credit cards. Designer furniture on payment plans. They all had explanations for why their situation was different.
Meanwhile, the people I knew who were actually building wealth were living well within their means and eliminating any debt they’d accumulated. They understood that you can’t build wealth while bleeding money to lenders.
People mock this mentality as overly cautious or unsophisticated. Surely you should leverage debt to build wealth? But there’s a massive difference between strategic business debt and consumer debt used to finance consumption. One builds, the other destroys.
6) They educate themselves constantly
One of the wealthiest people I encountered during my consultancy days had a habit that initially seemed odd. Every morning before starting work, he’d spend an hour reading. Not emails, not news. Books.
He’d read about industries he didn’t work in, historical periods that seemed unrelated to his business, psychological concepts that had nothing to do with his daily work. When I asked him about it, he said something that stuck with me: “The patterns repeat. If you know enough history and psychology, you can see what’s coming.”
Self-made millionaires invest heavily in their own education. Not necessarily formal education. Many of them are self-taught in the areas that matter most to their success. But they’re voracious learners who understand that knowledge compounds just like money does.
This means different things for different people. Some read extensively. Others attend workshops and conferences. Many seek out mentors and advisors who know what they don’t. What they all share is curiosity about how things actually work.
I’ve carried this forward in my own life. The books I read about political science, history, and psychology aren’t just for enjoyment. They’re investments in my ability to understand what’s happening in the world and why it matters.
People sometimes mock this kind of learning as impractical or ivory tower thinking. What good is knowing about historical patterns or psychological biases if you’re trying to build wealth?
But here’s what I’ve discovered: the people who build lasting wealth aren’t just good at one thing. They’re good at understanding how systems work, how people behave, and how to recognize opportunities that others miss. That requires a broad base of knowledge, not just narrow expertise.
When I transitioned from consultancy to writing, that broad knowledge base was what made it possible. I wasn’t just switching careers. I was deploying everything I’d learned across multiple domains into a new context.
7) They maintain their habits after becoming wealthy
This might be the most misunderstood aspect of how the wealthy think about money. People assume that once you’ve made it, you stop being careful with money. You’ve earned the right to spend freely, to stop worrying about prices, to live large.
But self-made millionaires don’t abandon the habits that got them there. They still look for deals. They still avoid waste. They still think carefully about purchases.
It’s not that they can’t afford to be careless. They absolutely could. But the habits that build wealth are the same habits that preserve wealth. Stop following them and you’ll watch your wealth evaporate faster than you’d believe possible.
I saw this firsthand when I worked with business owners during my consultancy years. The ones who maintained their success over decades were the ones who never stopped being mindful about money. The ones who assumed they’d “made it” and could finally relax? Many of them ended up in serious trouble.
My parents never became wealthy, but they understood something profound about money. It’s not about how much you make. It’s about what you do with what you make. The discipline matters more than the amount.
When my consultancy started doing well, I had to actively resist the urge to upgrade everything. Part of me wanted to finally live like I’d “succeeded.” But I’d seen too many people follow that path straight into financial stress.
The habits that seem stingy to others, living modestly, avoiding lifestyle inflation, buying for value, investing rather than consuming, these aren’t sacrifices. They’re the foundation of financial security and eventual wealth.
Conclusion
The gap between those who build wealth and those who just earn money comes down to daily habits. Not luck, not genius, not secret knowledge. Habits.
Those habits often get mocked. You’ll be called cheap, stingy, overly cautious. People will assume you can’t afford better or that you don’t know how to enjoy life. Let them think whatever they want.
My parents faced that judgment their entire working lives. They were right and their critics were wrong. The choices that looked like deprivation to others were actually investments in stability and security.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been at this for years, the principles remain the same. Live below your means. Avoid debt. Buy quality over status. Invest rather than consume. Keep learning. And maintain those habits regardless of how much you earn.
The wealth you build will give you something more valuable than any luxury purchase: options. The freedom to make choices based on what you want, not what you can afford. That’s worth being called stingy for.
