In 2019, Saki Tamogami, 37, appeared in the Japanese TV show Happy! Bomby Girl. The show is about young women who change their lives through hard work and perseverance.
Here, Saki surprised the audience with her super frugal lifestyle. She revealed that she only spends 200 yen (about 34,000 VND) per day on food.
According to SCMP, at the age of 19, Tamogami set a goal of owning 3 houses before the age of 34. She said she feels comfortable and safe when saving money, and is happy to see her savings increasing.
After graduating from college, she worked for a real estate brokerage company and was very frugal with her salary. To minimize costs, she cooks her own meals, usually consisting of simple dishes such as toast, udon noodles and discounted radishes, at a cost of no more than 50 yen (about 8,500 VND) per meal.
Occasionally, she will make slight changes to the menu, such as adding jam on bread or a piece of salmon when eaten with rice. However, she rarely spends more than 200 yen/day on food. Saki also doesn't buy a bowl but eats directly from the pot to save more money.
For many years, she has always been loyal to the motto: "Never buy anything that isn't on sale."
Since the age of 19, she stopped buying new clothes and instead used old clothes given to her by relatives. Her belongings were also picked up from landfills.
Saki has never dyed or curled her hair. She can even sell her hair for 3,100 yen (about 530,000 VND) when it is long enough. This amount is enough for her to cover living expenses for half a month.
Thanks to diligent savings, she bought her first house in Saitama in the Kanto region, north of Tokyo, for 10 million yen (about more than 1.7 billion VND) when she was just 27 years old.
After that, Saki rented out the house and used the money to pay off the mortgage. Two years later, she bought a second house for 18 million yen (about more than 3 billion VND). In 2019, she achieved her goal of owning a third house for 37 million yen (about 6.3 billion VND).
Saki said her motivation to live frugally came from her desire to rescue stray cats, after she raised a cat as a child. They became her comfort in difficult times.
She has realized her dream of opening a cat cafe called Cafe Yuunagi on the ground floor of her third house. The shop provides shelter and support for many stray cats.
Despite being financially free, Saki continues to live frugally and plans to use income from rent and salary to buy more real estate.
Saki's story attracted many people's attention when it was posted on social networks. Some netizens admire her ability to save money, while others think that Saki is too strict with herself, making life less enjoyable.
