Mark Cuban found a car abandoned on the side of the road — and got it for free with a phone call

Before Mark Cuban splurged connected sports teams and backstage jets, helium drove cars that didn't outgo him much than $200.

He adjacent got 1 for free, Cuban told Bill Maher connected a December episode of the Club Random Podcast. One of his archetypal cars, a 1977 Fiat X1/9 with holes successful the floorboard, died aft his cross-country determination from Indiana to Dallas successful 1982, helium said. He had to hitch rides with friends until, 1 day, they recovered an abandoned car connected the broadside of the road.

He made his friends propulsion over. The car was unlocked, and helium noticed an envelope stuffed with indebtedness papers sitting connected the beforehand seat.

"I knew from my ain idiosyncratic acquisition that idiosyncratic had abandoned [the car], due to the fact that they couldn't marque the payment," Cuban said. The adjacent day, helium called officials astatine the bank, told them helium recovered a car they were looking for and offered to instrumentality implicit the payments. They agreed, helium said.

The strategy isn't precisely replicable, Cuban noted: You can't trust connected uncovering a moving abandoned car and acquiring it legally, and it's harder present to telephone up a slope and actually talk to a existent person.

Other money-saving hacks from Cuban's 20s stay usable for today's young adults. At property 24, Cuban lived successful a three-bedroom flat with 5 roommates, helium wrote successful a 2009 blog post. He besides went to supermarkets successful the mediate of the nighttime to people nutrient discounts, helium told Maher.

"I utilized to spell to the market store astatine midnight due to the fact that they lowered the terms of chickenhearted and these large [bags of] French fries to $1.29," helium said connected the podcast. "And I would bargain a clump of them."

Cuban's youthful frugality, peculiarly erstwhile it came to cars, stemmed from his tendency to debar having to work, helium told Money successful 2017.

"I was determined to beryllium capable to retire," helium said. "I valued clip much than anything. I wanted capable wealth to beryllium capable to travel, person fun, and enactment similar a stone star, but inactive unrecorded similar a student. That was my motivation."

Cuban got his accidental to discontinue aboriginal after becoming a millionaire astatine property 32. He decided against it aft realizing helium was "too competitive" to exit the entrepreneurial world, helium told Wharton scientist Adam Grant's "Re:Thinking" podcast past year.

Still, his riches didn't alteration his spending habits "all that much," helium told Money.

"I bought a level ... due to the fact that the plus I worth the astir is time, and that bought maine time," Cuban said. "Other than that, I've lived successful the aforesaid location for 18 years and inactive person the aforesaid cars."

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