“… it’s better to buy appreciating assets than depreciating. No yachts, no sports cars.”
That’s an idea I try to impress upon my students every year; in fact I even wrote a blog about it.
So imagine my surprise, and excitement, when I read the above quote in a recent Wall Street Journal story, especially when the person behind the quote is Washington Redskins’ starting quarterback Kirk Cousins, who drives a dented GMC Savana passenger van to work.
The types of cars one might see in the parking lot of any professional sports team would likely make one drool, but that is not always the case at the Redskins parking lot.
Running back Alfred Morris, who makes a base salary of $1.5 million, usually rides a bike to work, but when he leaves it at home, he drives a 1991 Mazda 626.
Pass rusher Ryan Kerrigan signed a five-year, $57.5 million contract earlier this year, but he still shares his apartment with a roommate. Kerrigan’s most important housing requirement? It’s within walking distance of a Potbelly, and a short walk from Chipotle.
The article also talks about the time that Cousins and teammate Tom Compton took a garage-full of unwanted furniture from a teammate, and moved it themselves rather than hiring movers.
Classic examples of living the frugal lifestyle.
Cousins, who just had a breakout year, is likely to get a lucrative contract during the off-season. While he’s learned to spend a little more as his career progresses, he still seems committed to being smart about his money. “… you don’t know how long you’re going to play, you’ve got to save every dollar even though you are making a good salary,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen so I try to put as much money away as I can.”
Words we can all live by, no matter how much we earn.
(Although those words wouldn’t apply to me if I win the $700 million Powerball jackpot this Saturday…)
*illustration by Scott Pollack of the Wall Street Journal
Borden's Blather 