Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/10/16/chow-yun-fat-lives-so-small-th.html
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“I don’t wear clothes for other people. I just wear whatever I find comfortable.”
Righteous!
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$100 a month???
He must OWN everything he needs. It is a lot easier to be frugal with no debt 
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Good on him; this shows that being prosperous and successful doesn’t mean you ‘have to be’ greedy and wasteful.
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I think this might have to do with earning the money versus “getting” the money. The psycho-rich seem to often be bankers/shareholders/inheritors/etc.
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True, but it strikes me that if he avoids the highest-cost items that depreciate quickly such as a car and the wasteful expenses that accompany it such as parking space, tolls, etc., he would actually be increasing his net worth, which would allow him to pass on an even greater gift. I can only imagine that by the time he was able to buy real estate in HK, it was worth significantly less than it is today.
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Universe brain: Paying most of your wealth in taxes so a democratic process can decide what to do with it now, not 50 years in the future.
Yeah I know he lives in Hong Kong and that country is far from democratic. This may be the least bad option for him, assuming the government doesn’t just loot this wealth anyway.
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Hopefully he uses at least some of the money to get some airtight contacts in place around his fortune.
Actually, your post reminds me of this poor soul, another selfless frugal giver:
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Eh? I’m pretty sure he pays his taxes.
That was beyond fucked up, and a little microcosm of everything wrong with higher education funding. The UNH board that did that deserve a special place in hell.
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Yeah, If I were to suddenly find myself immensely wealthy (fingers crossed) I would still shop at Goodwill and look for bargains on ebay and craigslist (I might stop buying from the dollar menu at Wendy’s though.) The very idea of going into some fancy boutique and buying clothes that cost more than my car makes me feel uncomfortable.
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I left home at 16 in 1976, this was the weekend go to thing back then for folks out on their own, everybody would jump into a car and head on down to the thrift stores for bargains. Very fond memories from those thrifting moments of bliss.
PS. Still have some of those items too!
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It depends on what you wear to the ball.
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I feel the same way about Marshalls/TJX
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I would have said earning vs “making” money, but yeah, this is probably a huge factor.
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He’s hoarding wealth and locking it up so no one else can use it till he’s dead. Living ‘frugally’ when sitting on so much wealth seems unethical to me.
I think there is some middle ground there that you are ignoring… I shop neither Goodwill nor boutiques.
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What are you going to do when all kinds of friends come out of the woodwork with ideas about how to spend that money? Or when all those distant relatives find you to tell you all about their medical ailments?
(just a thought experiment, not trying to put you on the spot)
Thrift stores are awesome because they have much better selection than what’s “hot this season”, and you can much more easily tell if the items are well made or not. Oh, and price is good too! 
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I’m in admiration of the frugal lifestyle Chow Yun-Fat is living, but there are a couple points here to be made:
In Hong Kong, taking public transit and not driving is kind of expected-- I have relatives there and the expense of owning your own car is ridiculous-- and the public transit is amazing, so it’s not surprising nor especially odd that he does so.
Also, eating at street food stalls is some of the best food you can find in Hong Kong.
Now, sticking with a flip phone in the age of the iPhone, that one I can’t figure out. 
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Going to thrift stores is just fun, anyway. I mean, I love to shop and I’d happily drop $400 on a nice Kate Spade when I can but it’s not the same as finding a treasure in a packed Value Village.
Last winter I found a lambswool/cashmere overcoat for $20. Could I have bought one new at Nordstrom? Probably. But it was all the more enjoyable because I got it for a tenth of the price.
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