Mark Cuban may be a billionaire entrepreneur now, but his humble beginnings taught him how to make ends meet when times got tough on his wallet.
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Cuban recently appeared on the “Club Random with Bill Maher” podcast when the two men began discussing wealth and how their lives have changed since making it big in their respective industries.
The duo talked about how having money has offered them the opportunity to do what they want, when they want, something Cuban points to as a gift.
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When speaking about what the “best part” of being wealthy is, Cuban said that the answer is “time.”
“I get to control my time,” he said.
Still, he wasn’t always rich. When Cuban was in his 20s and first moved to Dallas from Indiana, he told Maher he didn’t have much to his name, so he came up with a money-saving grocery hack.
By eating at off-hours, he could score lower prices on easily perishable items. Since most grocery stores can’t put items like cooked poultry back on shelves that will be expired by morning, some vendors will slash prices during later hours.
“I used to go to the grocery store at midnight because they lowered the price of chicken and these big French fries to $1.29,” Cuban explained to Maher of his late-night shopping. “And I would buy a bunch of them.”
The billionaire also talked about his love of canned cheese, and the unsanitary way he’d consume it —and then leave it for unsuspecting customers.
“I’d take the Cheez Whiz, open the top, [eat it], and put it back,” Cuban said.
Cuban’s current net worth is an estimated $4.6 billion, which tells us he probably isn’t going for any more midnight cheese runs anymore.
