"Dream - Frugal living, or living frugally, is increasingly trending among modern society that is aware of the importance of long-term financial planning. This lifestyle is not just about reducing daily expenses, but also a strategy to accumulate retirement savings as early as possible. By controlling expenditures and emphasizing the utility value of every rupiah spent, many people now see frugal living as the key to achieving financial freedom faster."

The lifestyle is also applied by a man from Japan. He has been practicing frugal living for 21 years and has successfully accumulated retirement savings of 100 million yen, equivalent to Rp10 billion. Want to know how his story goes? Here is a summary as compiled by Dream from various sources.

His efforts were not in vain. He was able to accumulate a retirement savings of 100 million yen or equivalent to Rp10 billion. It is known that this frugal living lifestyle began in the early 2000s. At that time, he already had a stable job, but it was full of demands. One of those demands was related to overtime that was quite excessive. This heavy work system was also accompanied by a doctrine that might sound toxic. Here’s how it goes: "Only by working hard and doing overtime, will you be able to achieve happiness in the future."

The Japanese man has prepared a strategy to live a frugal lifestyle. His annual salary is 5 million yen, equivalent to Rp538 million. For more than two decades, he has not lived in a private home or a rental house, but has lived in a company dormitory. He spends 30,000 yen, or about Rp3.2 million, per month on rent and collecting equipment and furniture. In terms of daily food, this man is also very simple and frugal. He only consumes plus sour, some salted vegetables, and a bowl of rice.

Sure! Here’s the translation while preserving the HTML tags: "Bahkan, terkadang ia hanya makan malam dan minum minuman berenergi yang diperoleh dari poin gratis yang disediakan oleh toserba. Jika microwave-nya rusak, ia memilih untuk mengonsumsi ubi jalar. Saat musim panas, ia memasak ubi jalar dengan meletakkannya di kaca depan mobil teman kerjanya. Suhu panasnya itulah yang bisa membuat ubinya matang. Tak hanya itu saja, ia juga tidak pernah menggunakan pendingin atau pemanas ruangan. Saat musim panas, ia menggunakan kaus basah untuk mendinginkan diri. Lalu, saat musim dingin, ia melakukan squad agar tubuhnya hangat." Translation: "In fact, sometimes he only has dinner and drinks energy drinks obtained from the free points provided by the department store. If his microwave is broken, he chooses to consume sweet potatoes. During the summer, he cooks sweet potatoes by placing them on the windshield of his coworker's car. The heat from the sun is what can cook his sweet potatoes. Not only that, he also never uses air conditioning or heating. During the summer, he uses a wet shirt to cool himself down. Then, during the winter, he does squats to keep his body warm."

"All of his sacrifices turned out to be worth it. At the beginning of the year, he announced through his social media that he now has savings of 135 million yen or around Rp14.5 billion. The money was accumulated over 20 years and 10 months of working. In addition, the man also has a work that can bring in extra money. That is by writing a book about tips on saving money based on his own experience. After living a frugal lifestyle, he can now enjoy 4 boiled eggs every morning and buy a microwave."

"However, unfortunately, the uncertain living conditions and economy, the man announced through his social media that his savings have drastically decreased. This is due to the yen depression that has been occurring since the beginning of the year."