how to get rich... don't spend

Here is some advice on how to get rich...

Meet Australia's tightest man

Article from:
Ellen Connolly

April 13, 2008 12:00am

FEW would readily admit to it, but Paul Squires is proud to be one of Australia's tightest men.

NO yacht ... author Paul Squires with his son Aiden in Sydney, reckons he's Australia's tightest man.

The penny-pincher has dedicated himself and his family to a life of avoiding spending at all costs.

He advocates money-saving choices like avoiding family gatherings, limiting your friends and ignoring Mother's Day.

"I'm tight, but I'd like to think there are people out there much tighter," Squires, 43, said.

"There are times when my wife is even tighter than I am."

The father-of-two from Melbourne believes the average Australian can put as much as $50,000 back into their own pockets within five years by making "astute" fiscal choices.

He believes many Australians are living beyond their means, and there is a "river of money slipping through people's fingers every day".

He says by changing spending habits, Australians could pay off debts faster and better understand financial fine print that often leads to hidden and costly traps.

Among his strategies for a financial makeover, as outlined in his new book Wealthier Than You Think, Mr Squires suggests a weekly blackout night, where no electricity is used.

"It not only saves on the power bill but also gives people 'time out' to reflect," he said.

The multimillionaire also recommends avoiding family get-togethers, particularly Christmas and Easter.

"There's nothing but heavy stress, heavy drinking and, among some families, some deep-seated issues come up," he said.

"You spend a lot of money to partake in it and seriously, without being too negative, people come out mentally scarred. The reality is, why do it?"

As for friends, Squires believes people need to limit the number of mates they have, and reduce the amount of time spent with them.

"Invariably, catching up with friends involves spending money and some of the people you socialise with don't like you that much, anyway," he said.

Squires, a real estate agent, rejects any suggestion that his methods and advice are "extreme" and says much of it is based on doing a little bit of financial homework and research and reverting to common sense rather than greed.

He concedes that some members of his extended family "don't understand what we are doing".

Luckily, Squires' accountant wife of 16 years, Krystina, has bought into the frugal life.

Squires believes his book is particularly relevant in today's climate of rising interest rates and spiralling debt levels.

"The driving force (behind the book) was seeing the level of debt and the amount of consumption out there," he said.

"It just wasn't logical."

Kind of defeats the purpose of actually having money.

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Kane and I had a big adventure this morning, which you can read about in Kane's blog.

I spent most of today doing nothing, apart from catching up on the latest season of Battlestar Galactica. I've given up waiting for it to screen on TV.

The house is still untidy.