Saki Tamogami was 19 when she set herself a goal that sounded impossible: to buy three houses before turning 34.
To achieve it, this Japanese real estate agent, now 37, stripped her life down to the bare minimum. She spends a maximum of 200 yen a day, just 1,4 dollars, on food. Her diet consists of udon noodles, toast and discounted radishes, in meals costing no more than 50 yen. She eats straight from the pot to save even the water used to wash the dishes. When her hair grows too long, she cuts it and sells it for about 20 dollars to stretch her budget.
Her discipline paid off: she bought her first house in Saitama at 27, the second two years later, and in 2019 achieved her goal with the third property, where the rescued-cat café she had always wanted to have now operates. She went viral after appearing on a Japanese TV program that same year, and although she has already achieved her goal, she continues to live with the same frugality that brought her there.
