Secrets rich people won’t tell you about their habits and lives

When you open up the paper and you see those coupons, it looks like dollar bills staring you in the face … It’s how I grew up. Why not? – Actress Hilary Swank to talk-show host Kelly Ripa, on clipping coupons.

So if I save $2,000 by not flying first class, that’s the same as someone paying me $2,000. Wouldn’t you sit in an uncomfortable chair for three hours for $2,000? – A successful plastic surgeon.

“That way, I’m forced to stay on a budget without counting pennies and saving receipts. I can spend only what is in my wallet. I turn it into a game where each week, I reduce my ATM withdrawal amount by $20 to determine how low I can really go.” – Alan Corey, author of A Million Bucks by 30.

Millionaires tend to pay about $16 – including tip – for a haircut at a traditional barbershop. – Researchers from the University of Georgia Survey Research Institute.

When negotiating a new salary, always end the negotiations with a request for a nine-month review, instead of the usual 12-month review. It always gets approved, and it gives you a three-month head start on a potential salary raise or bonus. – Alan Corey.

It’s amazing how much smarter everyone thinks you are once you have money. Two days after I sold my company, I got asked to speak at a conference I had been trying desperately to speak at for six years. – Peter Shankman, entrepreneur and angel investor.

I once went all the way to the head of customer support at Dell over a problematic computer that was out of warranty, and I was shipped a new one the next day. If you are willing to go up the chain, you will very likely reach someone who is willing to bend the rules to rectify a complaint and fix the problem. – August Turak.

I was working at AOL in the 1990s when the company let go of 300 people. I was one of them. The movie Titanic was coming out, so I took my rent money and had 500 T-shirts printed that read, ‘It sank. Get over it.’ If I didn’t sell those shirts, I was homeless. I sold 500 shirts in six hours and made five grand. Then I called USA Today and gave a reporter the story. I sold 10,000 shirts on the Web over the next two months and ultimately racked up 100 grand. That was my very first company. – Peter Shankman

If it’s modest, people think, All she bought me was a vase? But when you give something over-the-top (I bought someone a house once), people say, ‘She’s showing off.’ – A retired California tech executive and multimillionaire

And the rich don’t all have teams of high-priced lawyers and accountants to do the paperwork. Many of them do their own, just like the rest of the world. – A partner at a prestigious law firm