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5 Frugal Celebrities to Emulate on Pay Day

Topics: Career Advice

Few things are sweeter than Pay Day. Whether it’s every other week, the first and 15th, or every Friday, you’ve got that day more carefully locked in your head than your Mom’s birthday. It’s how you gauge whether to get that second happy-hour drink, or whether it’s going to keep you from making rent. But wouldn’t it be lovely if we didn’t always have to live paycheck to paycheck? You may dream of that day when you’re making celebrity money and don’t have to do that — but maybe it’s possible right now.

cost cutting 

(Photo Credit: Tax Credits/Flickr)

The Stars: They’re Just Like Us!

Do You Know What You're Worth?

If you’re reading this, you’re probably not pulling in the six-figure-a-month salaries that some of these entertainers are. But that doesn’t mean we can’t scale their numbers down with the valuable lessons that they teach us.

In fact, if we can learn anything from gratuitous salary figures (especially noting that some three-quarters of NFL players are under financial stress within two years of retirement), it’s that there’s no number that will keep us from going broke. It’s all about how you spend it.

Marshawn Lynch

Not a man of many words off the field, Marshawn Lynch has always done things his own way: announcing his own retirement being no exception. But there’s a lot we can learn from him even without an in-depth interview.

Business Insider recently reported on an interview indicating that Mr. Lynch hasn’t spent any of the nearly $50 million he’s accrued from playing in the NFL. Instead, he’s ostensibly lived off of the endorsement deals — side income — he’s earned from his exceptional hard work on the field. Capitalize on what you’re good at, and don’t ever do it for free.

Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar truly operates on his own level. Including his unprecedented Grammy nods for “To Pimp A Butterfly,” Lamar has been nonstop since the worldwide success of “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.” And it clearly hasn’t gone to his head.

While many in his position are willing to put down on homes well into the double-digit millions, Mr. Lamar bought a reasonable $524,000 house right down the road from the city that raised him: Compton, CA. It speaks to a deeper level of humility and level-headedness which we should all aspire to emulate.

Zooey Deschanel

Keeping a budget can be intimidating, but you know who isn’t even a little intimidating? Zooey Deschanel. But in fact, there’s more to this TV star than her sing-songy charm, sharp wit, and comedy chops: she’s an extremely shrewd investor.

The hard thing about being a celebrity is that everything you do is under the microscope, especially the sad stuff. Ms. Deschanel’s divorce was no exception, and it left us with more than enough information about her life and goings-on. What it revealed about her finances is she puts aside more than half of her earnings into investments — indicating that she doesn’t spend out of her means, and intends for her current income to stretch long into the future. That’s advice you can take to the bank.

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard

As this writer is intimately aware, weddings can be quite the expensive venture. One popular wedding blog, The Knot, estimates that the average human’s wedding costs just over $31,000. Now, add the usual celebrity grandeur and you can imagine the costs get well above that average. Think Kim K. was cost-cutting on that TV special?

There’s at least one celebrity couple whose wedding budget is friendly to almost anyone: Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell spent just $142 on their special day. It may have been a City Hall affair, but it’s not out of the ordinary for the known coupon-clipper and her husband.

Tell Us What You Think

Who’s your budget inspiration? Are you weirded out by this author’s ability to shower celebrities in gossipy adoration? Tell us what you think in the comments below, or join the conversation on Twitter!

Peter Swanson
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