Mark Cuban mightiness beryllium a billionaire present but, earlier helium became a palmy entrepreneur, Cuban had to pinch pennies.
While successful his 20s, soon aft moving to Dallas with only $60 successful his pocket, Cuban tried each money-saving hack helium could deliberation of to agelong what small currency helium had, helium told Bill Maher connected a recent episode of the "Club Random Podcast."
One of Cuban's strategies: Going to supermarkets successful the mediate of the nighttime to people deals connected food.
"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."
Some markets inactive connection discounts for late-night shoppers, according to a 2021 Instacart report. In the evenings, they mightiness people down perishable items that won't past until the adjacent day, similar caller produce, nutrient and baked goods.
More commonly, large grocers connection deals connected circumstantial days of the week. Several market stores statesman play specials connected Wednesdays, according to the Instacart report. That's apt due to the fact that the bulk of their customers store connected the weekend, expert and laminitis of Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert told TODAY successful 2018.
Cuban, who lived successful a three-bedroom flat with six roommates astatine the time, didn't conscionable look for deals connected food, though. He told Maher that portion helium needed to get to and from his bartending gig and marque it to occupation interviews, helium couldn't spend a car.
Cuban had "credit cards chopped up" and "bill collectors" connected his trail, helium told Maher. But 1 day, helium was with his friends erstwhile helium saw an abandoned conveyance connected the broadside of the road. They pulled over, and the car seemed to beryllium successful bully shape. Better yet, it was unlocked and had a heavy envelope afloat of indebtedness papers connected the beforehand seat.
"It wasn't f—ed up," Cuban explained. "I knew from my ain idiosyncratic acquisition idiosyncratic abandoned it due to the fact that they couldn't marque the payments."
He took the papers and called the slope the adjacent day. Cuban asked if helium could instrumentality implicit the payments, and the slope agreed.
Other 20-somethings wouldn't apt beryllium capable to transcript his roadside strategy, helium told Maher. After all, not everyone tin trust connected uncovering a moving car near untouched connected the broadside of the road. Plus, Cuban pointed retired that it's astir intolerable these days to debar an automated assistant erstwhile you telephone the bank.
Still, Cuban has said successful the past that his days of scraping by helped motivate him. "I had nothing. So I had thing to lose, right? It was each astir going for it," Cuban told The Dallas Morning News successful a 2011 interview.
That cognition led Cuban to instrumentality a changeable astatine selling software, contempt having been fired from aggregate jobs. He past launched his ain machine consulting business, MicroSolutions, which helium sold for $6 million successful 1990 astatine the property of 32.
Today, Cuban is grateful that his experiences successful his 20s taught him to question originative ways to prevention money, and led him to bask his existent wealthiness each the more. Now that helium doesn't person to interest astir moving retired of money, Cuban told Maher the champion portion of his occurrence is the state it affords him to take what helium eats and what benignant of car helium drives — not to notation however helium spends his days.
"People are like, 'What's the champion portion astir being rich?'" Cuban said connected the podcast. "Freedom, right? [And] time. I get to power my time."
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