Top Five Frugal Celebrities

After my tongue-in-cheek comparison with Gywneth Paltrow last week I thought it might be interesting to look up which celebrities out there are super careful with their budgeting. There has to be a reason that they got to be as rich as there are, right?

So let’s take a look at the frugal celebs and see if we can whittle them down to a Top 5…

Let’s start with arguably one of the most powerful women on the planet – Michelle Obama. She obviously has a very sensible head on those shoulders according to her husband who revealed that her favourite shopping spot is Target – the second largest discount store in the US after Walmart which, incidentally is the personal fave of John Travolta. He even recommends buying Christmas presents from there!

From Michelle Obama to another powerful woman – Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge, who reportedly loves nothing better than rifling through the racks of TK Maxx.

Half-pint-sized actress Cristina Ricca is famously frugal proclaiming that although she enjoys shopping, she really doesn’t enjoy parting with her money – we can all empathise with that sentiment!

For one so young Robert Pattinson has a surprisingly mature attitude to wealth keeping a very tight hold of his purse strings. He’s reported as saying “Never spend money ever, and you’ll be rich.” Hmmm, thanks for that RPatz, not sure how we manage to action that in the real world though.

Now where does the tipping point come from frugal to cheapskate? Surely it’s okay to be careful with your cash regardless of whether you’re a busy mother of 3 or a Hollywood A-lister. I guess what I wouldn’t do is send all of my friends a signed calendar of me for Christmas with a note saying “Don’t like it, sell it….” which is allegedly exactly what young Leonardo DiCaprio did one year. I’m not sure I’d have been complaining.

Sarah Jessica Parker may be famous as the spendthrift Carrie Bradshaw but in real life she’s much more careful with her cash. Growing up in conditions that she herself has described as ‘Dickensian’, SJP was determined from an early age to distance herself from her welfare dependent beginnings. These days, despite a reported $130million amassed wealth she still takes advantage of the freebies heaped on her by brands and is very careful with her spending. All sounds very sensible to me.

So who goes in the Top Five? I think mine has to be 1) Michelle Obama 2) SJP 3) Kate Middleton 4) Leo DiCaprio (for being downright hilarious in his thriftiness) and finally 5) RPatz – not because he’s got it sussed on the budgeting front, just because he’s RPatz….

 

Tuesday, 12th July 2011

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