Mark Cuban drove a rusty old car and lived on mac and cheese in pursuit of his ultimate goal to retire early
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Mark Cuban’s big childhood dream wasn’t to be a millionaire — it was to retire by 35.
He lived as frugally as possible in his 20s to make this dream a reality, including driving “the worst possible car” with a hole in the floorboard, living on mac and cheese, and sharing his space with five roommates.
Speaking to Spanx founder Sara Blakely for Money.com, Cuban said, “You’ve got to have discipline in how you spend your money, first of all. When I was getting started, I used to read this book, “How to Retire at 35.” The whole premise of the book was that if you could save up $1 million and live like a student, you could retire. I believed heavily in that book. It was a big motivator for me.”
Say what you will about his lifestyle in early adulthood, but this commitment to frugality is exactly what paved the way for his financial success.
Cuban wanted financial independence, stat. He said, “I was determined to save money. I was determined to be able to retire. It wasn’t like I thought, “Okay, I’m going to be super-rich.” I valued time more than anything. I wanted enough money to be able to travel, have fun, and party like a rock star but still live like a student. That was my motivation.”
The key to making that happen was planning and saving for retirement right from the start.
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Cuban wasn’t born rich. He had to build his bank account, dollar by dollar, much like Blakely.
In the interview, she states, “What I did was start small, think big, and scale fast. I didn’t ever get ahead of myself on spending. I only spent what I absolutely needed to… I have that mentality on everything. If I can save money here or there, I’ll do it.”
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