Living an expensive lifestyle is one thing, but a lot of people live expensive lifestyles when they don’t have the means to. Contrary to what many people think, millionaires don’t necessarily throw their money around all the time. They live very frugal lives interspersed with luxuries. It’s what keeps these luxuries so potent.

Thomas Stanley and William Danko conducted a study on millionaires and the sort of characteristics most of them shared in their book The Millionaire Next Door. Here’s how a millionaire lives, and it’s also how you can start earning hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Living Below Your Means

The sign of someone who lives a rich and experience lifestyle isn’t throwing cash around on pointless items. It’s about making the expensive items count. Most millionaires don’t live in huge party mansions just outside London. They live in well-furnished city centre apartments and middle-class suburban neighbourhoods. This was the case in 50 per cent of cases. The other 50 per cent said they only moved into richer neighbourhoods after making money.

Frugal Living

The people you see tossing money around without a care in the world often go broke soon afterwards. Most millionaires don’t buy a new car each year, nor are they constantly jetting off to Barbados and Bermuda for a relaxing three-month break in the sun. They look for bargains and take care of their money.

When the time comes to go on a luxury cruise, it means so much more to them.

Self-Employed

Millionaires are passionate about what they do and have made a success out of this passion. They’re self-employed and take orders from nobody. Some work from home in the living room, whereas others have offices in the middle of business-orientated cities like Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham.

Investments

They make money work for them. Much of their days are spent monitoring investments and searching for gaps in the market. It doesn’t just sit in an account. It works for them and helps with covering more long-term expenses. Its why even in tough economic times they can continue to enjoy fine living.

Smartest People

You don’t need to finish top of the class or hold a master’s degree to become rich and successful. Most millionaires finished with average grades and simply had a superior work ethic to their smarter peers. It’s why they have managed to turn themselves into a success and live an enjoyable and relaxed lifestyle.

Expensive Lifestyles

This doesn’t mean they never enjoy their money. Millionaires still enjoy living expensive lifestyles. The difference is instead of throwing money around they like to make the most out of it.

It’s true. Millionaires dress well and look great. They can afford the designer labels, if they want to. And it’s also true they can drive high-end cars, if they want to. The key thing is they have the choice to do or not to do so. It’s the power of money and the power of a millionaire. They can pay for a VIP Mercedes, but their purchasing power means it’s entirely up to them.