Frugality Facts

The founder of IKEA was worth $50 billion. He drove a 1993 Volvo. He flew economy. He ate at IKEA. He bought his clothes at flea markets because "it's a waste to throw out good things." His employees were embarrassed to ride in his car. Ingvar Kamprad built the world's largest furniture empire and lived like he was furnishing his first apartment from it.

Geoffrey Holt was the quiet caretaker of a mobile home park in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. He rode a lawnmower around town, owned no TV, and had almost no furniture. When he died at 82 in 2023, his will revealed he had secretly amassed $3.8 million through decades of shrewd investing - and left every cent to his town of 4,200 people.