How a Washerwoman With a Sixth Grade Education Accumulated More Wealth Than a Famous NBA Star

This article is part of our 12 Keys to Lasting Wealth Series – (Key 1: Avoid Lifestyle Inflation).

Ms. Oseola McCarty wasn’t a television star. She wasn’t a famous celebrity, lecturer, or best selling novelist. Ms. McCarty spent a humble life as a local washerwoman in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Yet, near the end of her life Ms. McCarty received awards most of us could only dream of. President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Citizens Medal. Essence Magazine awarded her an Essence Image Award. The National Urban League presented her with the Community Heroes Award and the AARP’s bestowed on her the Andrus Award – just to name a few.

How did such a humble women earn such recognition? Ms. McCarty provided the American people with a living example of how hard work and frugality combined with a spirit of selflessness can affect the lives of others. In essence, she was a living, breathing example of the best of America.

Born in the deep South, Ms McCarty had aspirations of becoming a nurse. Unfortunately, she was forced to leave school in the sixth grade to take care of an ailing aunt. This was the last time she would see the inside of a classroom.

Ms McCarty spent the rest of her working life washing and ironing clothes for customers who brought their laundry to her modest home. She lived below her means, placing extra money in a nearby bank. Decades later this frugality had turned her meager earnings into a nest egg of nearly $250,000.

In 1995 Oseola McCarty donated $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi in order to provide scholarships for deserving students, providing them with the educational opportunity she never enjoyed.

Years after her death in 1999, Ms. Oseola’s gift is still providing students with the opportunity of a higher education.

At 6 foot 9 inches, Antoine Walker had it all as the young brash star of the Boston Celtics. Over his playing career he earned an estimated 110 million dollars. Antoine’s lavish lifestyle grew just as quickly as his out-sized salary. He was the poster boy for lifestyle inflation.

Over-sized entourages, $1,800 dinners, and $15,000 hands of cards in all night gambling sessions was his norm, not to mention the closets full of custom made suits, the Rolex watch collections, an over-the-top mansion, and a driveway full of luxury automobiles.

Yet, the problem with lifestyle inflation is that it robs you of the opportunity to build wealth, and when the money runs out trouble is not far behind.

In July of 2009, sheriff deputies arrested Antoine Walker on charges of writing nearly one million dollars in bad checks. At the end of his career, with no job prospects in sight and debtors calling, the future looks bleak for this superstar who had more money than most of us could dream about.

Clearly, it’s not always about how much you make but what you do with it that counts.

Ms. McCarty, earning a meager salary, endowed a university scholarship that endures. Antoine Walker’s legacy is one of debt, bad checks, and squandered income.

How many of us follow the frugal savings habits of Ms. Oseola by spending less than we earn and saving or investing what’s left over?

How many of us tend to follow the free spending ways (although on a lesser scale) of Antoine Walker by buying expensive cars we can’t afford and closets full of designer clothes, shoes, and handbags that drain our bank accounts?

Our financial future just may depend on the answer.

In the next post we’ll take a look at the first step necessary to conquer lifestyle inflation once and for all.

Tagged as: Frugality, Life-Style Inflation