Riches. Fame. Wealth. Power. These are the benefits of accumulating large sums of money—things that are out of reach for the typical individual in their lifetime. Everyone's, or at least most people's, dream is to be wealthy, yet there are only so many people who can be successful. We can only aspire to get there eventually by observing and taking financial lessons from the rest of them.

 

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It is not surprising to learn that a certain millionaire owns a yacht, a mansion, or a sports team. It is what the affluent are supposed to buy, according to society. On the other hand, most people might consider buying gold-plated toilets, ghost detectors, and dinosaur bones with hard-earned or trust fund money to be eccentric extravagances. Here, we go over ten of the oddest financial practices of the wealthy, ranging from frugal to frivolous.

 

Dogs Day Out

 

 

Do you recall the performer of "Touch My Body" and "All I Want for Christmas Is You"? It appears that the pop star only wants the "soft life" for her dogs. Mariah Carey, a gifted artist with a fortune of over $320 million, acknowledged in an interview that she spends more than $34,000 year on her dogs. Wait. Hold on. $34,000 spent on dogs Even while most of us would find a way to spend that much on our dogs even if we had the money, Mariah Carey didn't have to worry about that.

 

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The singer’s pets have a full-time groomer, chauffeur, and occasional trips to the spa. If you add the monthly standard cut and blow dry services the pets get, the cost can easily surpass the said amount. This is a habit we won’t be jotting down notes on.

 

Warren Buffet Still Lives in His Original House

 

 

A self-made millionaire who is also a mentor, a strong proponent of investment, and—most importantly—just a regular guy. I know. Using the terms "billionaire" and "ordinary" in the same phrase is demeaning, but Warren Buffet exemplifies this. The 88-year-old business magnate has an estimated net worth of over $82.7 billion, which allows him to live in any opulent home he chooses. Contrary to popular belief, Warren Buffet still resides in the 6,000 square foot Omaha home he paid $31,500 for in 1958.

 

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Unsurprisingly, $31,500 wasn't a tiny sum of money in 1958. Warren was able to stay on track, though, since he was able to ignore the "trends" and stick to his values. He can afford any contemporary home with a view of the beach, yet he insists on staying in his old house.

 

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With his billions, when asked to give a list of his best investments, he values his house at number three. Can you guess the first two? Twenty yachts and 15 private jets? Wrong! The first two are the wedding rings he bought for his first and second wife. Warren embraces other frugal and strange financial habits, such as looking out for buffet coupons and affordable hobbies. Interestingly, he used a Nokia flip phone for a long time, even after smartphones hit the market.

 

Mike Tyson Tigers

 

 

Mike Tyson and Warren Buffet are two wealthy individuals with disparate but equally peculiar spending patterns. Tyson, sometimes known as "Iron Mike," is one of the best boxers to ever step foot inside a ring. Although you wouldn't anticipate him to have Chihuahuas or normal kittens as pets (no offence), keeping tigers might be improbable. To begin with, tigers are wild animals that consume their food whole; in order to domesticate them, you must have an appetite that matches theirs.

 

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With an estimated net worth of over $400 million, Tyson spent about $70,000 on three Bengal tigers. The International Business Times reported that he then recruited a trainer for them who received a salary of $125,000 annually. Additionally, Tyson gave his first wife a 24-carat gold bathtub for Christmas for $2.2 million. Later, after divorcing his wife, he declared bankruptcy in 2003. Despite the fact that we can't label Mike's spending patterns as "dumb," they are unusual.

 

Ghost Detectors

 

 

Everyone agrees that ghosts are unsettling, therefore no one goes to sleep expecting to see one. We can only do so much to discourage them, though. If you're religious, you might, for instance, say a prayer or put a holy book under your pillow. But not for Lady Gaga. With ghosts, she doesn't take any chances. Her fear is so intense, in fact, that she spent $50,000 on a ghost detector. The musician and actress, who has won Grammy and Academy Awards, has a net worth of almost $150 million at the age of 34.

 

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With that much money, you could anticipate that she would invest it or use it to promote her brand or fashion, as is typical for many affluent and famous people. The fact that Lady Gaga loves unusual behaviour only serves to accentuate her personality.

 

Saving Meals for the Next Day

 

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One of the original investors in Google was a businessman named David Cheriton, who was born in Canada. By making investments in the massive search engine and other businesses, he amassed fortune. Cheriton can afford to eat in several nations every day because to his estimated net worth of $10.1 billion, yet he chooses not to. He actually acts in the complete opposite way.

 

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Authentic accounts indicate that the businessman reserves half of his restaurant meals for the next day. If this had been a different person, we could have inferred that he didn't enjoy cooking or couldn't afford to buy food frequently. However, cooking or purchasing food doesn't seem like a luxury for a man of Cheriton's status.

 

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Furthermore, he has been shaving himself for the past decade. He has never paid a cent to a barber. No wonder the rich stay rich; they don’t spend their money, to begin with. We’ll be keeping these strange strategies in our back pocket.

 

Another Ticket for the Hat, Please

 

 

What prevents you from leaving the house? preferred jacket? Phone? Wallet? Keys? Without keys, you won't get very far. But are you that attached that you spend money on a plane ticket to return home and retrieve the object you left behind while on vacation? If we could, maybe we would!

 

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The well-known guitarist and musician Bono is known for his $1,700 plane ticket purchase for his hat. You might have assumed that the sum was sufficient to buy another hat from him wherever he went. We agree, but Bono is the expert. He asks for and receives his favourite headgear. If you have a net worth of more than $700 million, you can afford to hire a plane to bring back your priceless item of clothes. Just maybe refrain from making this a habit.

 

Living in Space

 

 

Elon Musk is a person who continues to spark controversy. We can't really question him because he has a net worth of almost $220 billion, but we do wonder why he makes odd financial choices. He recently sold all of his homes, for instance, and as a result "owns no home." Elon Musk currently stays at friends' homes to sleep. You would expect him to possess as many mansions as he wants as one of the top five richest persons in the world, yet he made the opposite decision.

 

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Considering Musk is the co-founder of Tesla and his recent investments in Space X, chances are he is no longer interested in residing here on Earth. If anything, he has been looking at the possibility of relocating to Mars.

 

Kim Basinger Purchases an Entire Town

 

 

"All right, pay attention, everyone. This town is privately owned as of right now. As we await additional instructions from the new owner, we advise everyone to maintain their composure. We can't help but assume that when Kim Basinger purchased the entire town of Braselton, Georgia, in 1989, the locals there awoke to such a revelation. She envisioned turning the area into a hub for tourism attractions and promoting significant film festivals.

 

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She was finally permitted to pay $20 million for the town after protracted talks. It is safe to assume that this was a failure as well as an odd financial choice. She was declared bankrupt five years later and the town was resold for $1 million.

 

Drinking Water Made from Poop

 

 

While there are water shortages in some areas of the world, ask yourself how far you're willing to go to fix the issue. In order to advance his cause, millionaire Bill Gates chose to drink water made from recycled human faeces. Of course he owned 18.6 million shares of Waste Management, Inc., and he invested in the company, but was drinking dung water really necessary?

 

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The billionaire could have simply made investments and delegated the drinking to others. After all, he had already contributed significantly. But Gates' campaign was extremely successful. In order to recreate the toilet for the most underprivileged of varied peoples and places, he organised a team of leading scientists and sanitation experts from around the world. Put your money where your mouth is, people.

 

Divorce

 

 

"After considerable deliberation and hard effort on our marriage, we have decided to divorce." Do you remember this quotation? Yes, this was Bill Gates' initial comment when he announced his and Melinda Gates' divorce.

 

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For most, it’s impossible to look at divorce as a cost, but for all those billionaires and millionaires, they know it doesn’t come cheap. For example, Melinda Gates ended up with billions worth of stock in various companies following her divorce from Bill Gates.

 

 

Nobody goes into marriage hoping to divorce. On the other hand, it is hard to ignore that 35 out of 72 billionaires who have tied the knot have since divorced and spent a lot of money in courtrooms. This means that 35 people were willing to part with some of their hard-earned cash just to see the divorce through. It is a strange financial habit because not everyone is willing to share their money with people they no longer have relationships with.