Saki Tamogami, 37, lived extremely frugally for 16 years to achieve her dream of owning three houses by age 34.
Tamogami’s dream first manifested when she was 18.
Through various means of saving money, 27-year-old Tamiami bought her first house in Saitama, Japan, for 10 million yen (approximately $75,000).
After two years, Tamogami made her second purchase for 18 million yen (approximately $140,000).
In 2019, 34-year-old Tamogami fulfilled her wish with a final purchase of 37 million yen (approximately $280,000).
In order to achieve this goal, Tamogami revealed a maximum daily spending of 200 yen (approximately $1.50) on food.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter
A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.
Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.
Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.
Her main dish was udon noodles with vegetables, which cost 50 yen (approximately $0.38) to make. To save dish soap, the woman revealed she would eat directly from her pot.
Tamogami’s other meals included a slice of bread with jam and fish with rice. Tamogami also shopped solely for items or ingredients on sale.
Rather than purchasing new clothes, Tamogami chose to recycle clothes from her relatives and used clothing centers. At 29, Tamogami went as far as cutting and selling her hair for 3,100 yen (approximately $23.40).
Today, Tamogami works in real estate and collects rent from tenants occupying rooms in her properties.
The frugal woman also operates a cat cafe called Cafe Yunaagi from her third property. All of Cafe Yunaagi’s cats are rescued strays.
Related stories:
