From $3 McDonald’s breakfasts to $18 haircuts: Inside Warren Buffett’s frugal life

In a past interview with CNBC and Yahoo Finance, he shared that he never felt the desire for multiple homes or cars.

So how does the billionaire spend his fortune?

A collection of Ukulele

Buffett is an avid bridge player, sometimes logging more than eight hours a week at the card table, according to Business Insider.

He also enjoys golfing and spends much of his time reading. He also has a passion for the ukulele and, as he revealed in 2020, owns 22 of them.

At one point, he even donated 17 Hilo ukuleles to the North Omaha branch of the nonprofit Girls Inc. and personally stopped by to give a group lesson.

Flip phone, Chinese suits and $18 haircuts

Despite Berkshire Hathaway’s massive stake in Apple, he relied on a Samsung SCH-U320 flip phone for years. He eventually switched to an iPhone in 2020, but still uses it only “as a phone.”

When it comes to fashion, he owns around 20 suits, all custom-made by Chinese designer Madame Li, whom he has built a close friendship with over the years.

Buffett’s frugality extends to grooming as well, occasionally spending $18 on a haircut from a barbershop located in his office building.

McDonald’s and Coca-Cola

Buffett kicks off most mornings with a $3.17 breakfast at McDonald’s on his way to the office.

His go-to meal usually rotates among three options: two sausage patties, a sausage, egg and cheese or a bacon, egg and cheese. He always pairs it with a Coca-Cola.

“I eat like a six-year-old,” he told Fortune in 2015, adding that he has a habit of downing five 12-ounce Cokes daily. “If I eat 2,700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I do it every day.”

A home bought in the 1950s

Buffett lives in a modest home in Omaha, Nebraska that he purchased in 1958 for $31,500, which would be around $342,000 today.

The 6,280-square-foot (583 square meters) property has five bedrooms and has undergone security enhancements, including fencing and surveillance cameras. Its value is now estimated to be around $1.4 million.

He once described it as the “third-best investment” he ever made in a letter to shareholders of his firm, Berkshire Hathaway.

In addition to his primary residence, Buffett once owned a six-bedroom vacation home in Laguna Beach, California. It was bought in 1971 for $150,000 and renovated before being sold in 2018 for $7.5 million.

Modest rides and one sky-high indulgence

Warren Buffett has never been known for flashy cars. For nearly a decade, he drove a 2001 Lincoln Town Car bearing the personalized license plate “THRIFTY.”

After auctioning it off for charity, he switched to a 2006 Cadillac DTS and eventually upgraded to a Cadillac XTS in 2014. He told Forbes that he rarely buys a new car since he only drives about 3,500 miles a year.

While he keeps it simple on the road, Buffett bought a used Falcon 20 private jet for $850,000 in 1986. Three years later, he sold it and spent $6.7 million on another used jet, which he and longtime business partner Charlie Munger jokingly dubbed “The Indefensible.”

A legacy of philanthropy

Buffett ranks among the most generous philanthropists in the world. Over nearly two decades, he has donated more than $60 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares, which would now be worth around $230 billion.

If Buffett had kept those shares instead of giving them away, his net worth would have reached nearly $400 billion by the end of this April, according to Bloomberg. That would place him ahead of Elon Musk, who is currently the world’s richest person with $335 billion in wealth.

Buffett has also pledged to give away 99.5% of his fortune to a charitable trust managed by his three children after his passing.

“Were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks on ourselves,” he once said, referring to shares of his company.

“Neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced. In contrast, that remaining 99% can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others.”