Those who have experienced severe lack of money and gone on to become financially successful often display frugality and prudence in handling money. The authors of \u201cThe Millionaire Next Door\u201d reported from their over 2 decade study of mostly self-made millionaires across America, that majority of them built their wealth slowly and from scratch too. <\/p>\n
We are told that many of them enjoyed long years of marriage and in most cases the couples actively collaborated to find ways to both save money, and also grow the money they saves.<\/p>\n
Many had\/have a penchant for seeking bargains in shopping for clothes and other consumables. They rarely chose to buy from expensive high end stores patronized by free spending celebrities and career persons living high consumption lifestyles.<\/p>\n
He co-authored the paper I recently got approved for international publication on use of Excel-VB Software Development for Feed Formulation by Smallholder farmers and Extension Specialists.<\/p>\n
The last time we saw each other was in 2005, when I\u2019d visited the University of Ibadan (Oyo state, Nigeria) to get my transcript. <\/strong><\/p>\n During our conversation, he\u2019d shared his experiences in academia with me, and I\u2019d left with a copy of his extensive and very impressive resume. Some weeks later, in consultation with him, I\u2019d created a web based version of that resume and hosted it on a sub domain on my website. <\/p>\n He would eventually move to a university in Botswana, while participating in various international projects. <\/p>\n We\u2019ve come a long way. Keeping in touch since we both graduated in the same set, in 1992, from the department of Agricultural Extension Services of the University of Ibadan. We came top of the class back then. <\/p>\n Today, our collaboration on an international level marks the beginning of a new era. There is so much value we can add to smallholder farmers across Africa. <\/em><\/p>\n We went outside the hotel grounds to have lunch. <\/p>\n For me, it was way too high. Those who have read my first article about why I relocated to Benin Republic will have noticed my deliberate emphasis on low cost of food in that small country.<\/p>\n Dele made a valid point that we were only going to eat there for that day, and would not return afterwards. I agreed with him, but noted that it still pained me anyway, and that if I\u2019d been alone (and the one paying), I\u2019d have chosen to go elsewhere.<\/p>\n For me, I find it greatly upsetting that food should differ so sharply in pricing between two neighbouring countries. That\u2019s why anytime I visit Nigeria these days, and I have to buy food outside the home, I feel like I\u2019m throwing money away.<\/p>\n My experiences with lack of money, and the discovery that I can get good quality food, in Cotonou, at almost a third of the price I pay in Nigeria, makes it hard for me to do otherwise. <\/p>\n For me, that money could be put to better use, if not saved away for the future. Dele expressed agreement with what I said by recalling a Yoruba saying that water dripping slowly, if left to continue, will eventually fill up a room, should it find no outlet to escape through.<\/p>\n At that point I let on that people have criticized me for being miserly, or even stingy with regard to money. <\/p>\n One day, John D. Rockefeller used a pay phone to make a long distance call. He\u2019d put in a number of one dollar coins to cover his call. By the time he was done, and he checked how long he\u2019d been on, he realised he\u2019d used up less time than he\u2019d estimated he would. His calculations showed he would get at least one dollar change back from the machine. <\/p>\n But after he hung up and waited a while, nothing happened. So he knocked on the pay phone, shook it, thinking the coin got stuck. Still no money came out.<\/p>\n Determined, he dialled the operator and said \u201cHi. I just made a call and spent less time that I\u2019d put coins in the pay phone for. But despite all my efforts, it\u2019s refused to produce my one dollar coin change!\u201d<\/p>\n The operator apologized and said \u201cCan you tell me what your name is Sir?\u201d<\/p>\n He was about to say \u201cJohn D. Rockefeller\u201d, when it occurred to him that being a millionaire, the operator would be shocked to discover he was the one complaining about a mere one dollar of change!<\/p>\n So he said \u201cNever mind. I\u2019ll let it go.\u201d And he hung up.<\/p>\n They are made to realise that every dollar adds up, and must therefore be well accounted for when spent. I have adopted that mental attitude, and actively coach my kids to do the same thing at every opportunity. <\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just with food. In every area of life, the same rule should apply. <\/p>\n Anyone who wants to build long lasting wealth will adopt this approach to handling money. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Those who have experienced severe lack of money and gone on to become financially successful often display frugality and prudence in handling money. The authors of \u201cThe Millionaire Next Door\u201d reported from their over 2 decade study of mostly self-made millionaires across America, that majority of them built their wealth slowly and from scratch too. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","category-self-development"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":1226,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3742,"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3741\/revisions\/3742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tayosolagbade.com\/sdnuggets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Today, he is the Director of the School of Agricultural Sciences at North West University, in South Africa.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
While speaking with the attendants, we noted that the price for virtually every item on the menu was really high. <\/h3>\n
Like I told him, it\u2019s not just about the money. <\/h3>\n
In response I\u2019ve often told them the anecdote I read about John D. Rockefeller.<\/h3>\n
John D. Rockefeller explained that in the Rockefeller family, every child from a very early age is taught to have a very high regard for the smallest unit of money. <\/h3>\n
\n This attitude is what has helped the Rockefeller family preserve its massive wealth from generation to generation.<\/p>\nWhen you can eat a good, satisfying meal for N100, why spend N200? Why not spread that N200 over 2 decent meals? <\/strong><\/h3>\n