HOUSTON - A retired public school teacher who was so frugal that he bought expired meat and secondhand clothing left $2.1 million for his alma mater, Prairie View A&M — the school's largest gift from a single donor.
Whitlowe R. Green, 88, died of cancer in 2002. He retired in 1983 from the Houston Independent School District, where he was making $28,000 a year as an economics teacher.
His donation shocked family members and friends alike.
"He was a very meager person. I didn't think he had a million," said Beatrice Green, a cousin by marriage. "He'd buy the cheapest things."
Sharon Green Mitchell, another cousin, said Green and her father stopped talking for a couple of years when Green denied owing her dad $6.76. On road trips, Green would equally divide the gas bill among the adults.
"Now it's funny, but years ago you would sometimes get annoyed," Mitchell said.
Green's frugality was matched by his belief in education and dedication to young people, she said.
He often talked about leaving money to Prairie View, a historically black university. Green graduated in 1936.
"He sacrificed for this. He would always tell us to make your money work for you, and he did," Mitchell said. "I remember him saying, 'I'm going to help black children get an education.' He did it."
Green's donation will be used to establish a scholarship fund.
My story is that while I like to be frugal, I'm never going to be that bloody frugal! Sounds like Mr. Green didn't enjoy himself enough. That plus expired meat, and I'm off the bandwagon.
Expired meat should not be sold, so how was he able to buy it? Could it be he bought meat on the day it expired and quickly froze it? That's more likely.
Which is more risky? Eating expired meat that's fully cooked, or eating raw meat and raw fish (rare steak & sushi, for example)?
He gave money to a school as opposed to his family. Was this bad? What if he considered the human race to be his larger family? Was he wrong?
Nobody said he suffered. They're just po'd that they didn't get the old man's money! There's nothing wrong with buying the steaks that "expired" yesterday - beef is just as good one day as the next! I scan the butcher case and bread rack everytime I'm in the store for the "expired" meat and bread!
manuel
Greedy Member
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 3:42p
brokestudent said: He sounded more stingy than frugal in his day to day relationships.
Stingy is a word frequently used to describe folks whose money we want to spend. He sounds like a great man to me.
TheGrayMan
Tired Member
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 3:43p
dcwilbur said: They're just po'd that they didn't get the old man's money!
SoBeyondTheNorm
Greedy Member
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 3:49p
TheGrayMan said: dcwilbur said: They're just po'd that they didn't get the old man's money!
There must of been some reason WHY he decided to leave it to the school and not the family...
Exactly. How do you guys know he suffered or didn't fully enjoy life? Just because he didn't drive a Ferrari? He obviously didn't feel a need for one and instead wanted to help people. As for the expired meat thing, more than likely thats an anecdote from one of his survivors thats probably exaggerated. I do most of my grocery shopping in the middle of the night and I often check the meats for things that have been marked down because they are at their expiration date. Its no big deal.
Mark
skankmofo
Member
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 4:13p
Doesn't sound like he was married or had any kids either. Makes it much more believable.
If he really wanted to help, he could've given that money to the school a little at a time. I'd be willing to bet this guy was just a cranky jerk who wanted to rub in the face of his family that they weren't getting any of the cash he saved up... the same family that would have had to endure a miserable stingy person.
jowaju
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 5:03p
Lets do some basic math here: 2.1Mil / $28k per year is 75 years of working. I'm sure some of that 2.1mil came from interest, but seriously, this is taking frugal to a whole new level. What the shell are you doing saving that much money? Live a little, enjoy life, take a trip, see the world, go out, meet new people. Do something other than go to work all day every day for 50 years so you can have enough money for someone to think you may have been somebody. A simple savings calculator shows an initial deposit of $5000 would take monthly deposits of $2500 for 40 years to reach approximately $2.1 million at 2.5%APR. This guy only brought home $2333 a month pretax. Even with 50 years to reach the goal is would take $1750 a month for 50 years, which is quite likely close to 100% of his bring home pay. Life is short people, live it up at least a little.
jowaju said: Lets do some basic math here: 2.1Mil / $28k per year is 75 years of working. I'm sure some of that 2.1mil came from interest, but seriously, this is taking frugal to a whole new level. What the shell are you doing saving that much money? Live a little, enjoy life, take a trip, see the world, go out, meet new people. Do something other than go to work all day every day for 50 years so you can have enough money for someone to think you may have been somebody. A simple savings calculator shows an initial deposit of $5000 would take monthly deposits of $2500 for 40 years to reach approximately $2.1 million at 2.5%APR. This guy only brought home $2333 a month pretax. Even with 50 years to reach the goal is would take $1750 a month for 50 years, which is quite likely close to 100% of his bring home pay. Life is short people, live it up at least a little.
Looks good. Inheritance and passive income begets more income. Looks like he also drove a late model caddie so he knew when to be frugal and when to drive a caddie. I'll bet his house was also sold to add a large chunk to the estate.
borntoclone
Greedy Member
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 6:15p
This is an old cliche story.. check the guiness book of records. I'm drawing on memory from over a decade ago, but there was some bag lady that lived on the street who died with a few million in the bank.
If he inherited a large portion of the $2.1 million, then what does that have to do with being frugal? If I inherit a million dollars and die the next year and leave $1.5 million to a charity, thats a whole 'nother ballgame from saving the $1.5 mil myself.
anakinskywalker
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 8:45p
Let's not call him stingy or whatever.
He lived his life with his own principles and beliefs.
He did not want to live a good life, see places, drink starbucks, meet people, have fun, get drunk, buy stuff, spend money.
He wanted to constribute to society (the African-American community in particular) to the maximum extent he could, with his meagre resources.
I imagine he must have had the same temptations as any of us; but every day he must have forced himself not to splurge on tasty cookies or mouth-watering ice-cream, or a cool soda on a hot day, with the dream of someday leaving his money for African-American kids, whom he must feel for deeply.
Of course, it is unusual for a man to be so excessively "frugal". But it is disrespectful to call him "stingy".
Just because he is different from most of us, we should not make fun of or look down upon him as "stingy old man" etc.
It is un-American to not respect a person's right to live life on his/her own terms, making their own "unusual" choices, to live their own personal dream.
His story reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel's haunting song "A Most Peculiar Man".
anakinskywalker said: Of course, it is unusual for a man to be so excessively "frugal". But it is disrespectful to call him "stingy".
Just because he is different from most of us, we should not make fun of or look down upon him as "stingy old man" etc.
What a bunch of crap. He stopped talking to presumably a brother over 7 dollars... He made people split up the gas bill on trips... and i'll bet those where the kindest words they could come up with to describe him. I think stingy is too tame a term to describe someone like that.
jowaju
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 10:33p
It is un-American to not respect a person's right to live life on his/her own terms, making their own "unusual" choices, to live their own personal dream.
Actually, it would be un-American if we weren't allowed to talk about him, whether our feelings for him are good or bad, we still have the right to express them. You attempting to prevent us from exercising that right is the most un-American thing imaginable. You are correct in your thinking that he is within his rights to live how he wants. Fortunately for us, we are within our rights to think this guy was just an old crankzy basshole, ala Mr. Scrooge. Frugality is one thing, this is waaaaaayyyyyy over the top.
Edit - He was also 88 when he died of cancer, which means he had been living off his retirement fund for some 25+ years, so he almost certainly had MORE than $2.1 million at some point.
vinhboy
Tired Member
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 11:43p
jowaju said: It is un-American to not respect a person's right to live life on his/her own terms, making their own "unusual" choices, to live their own personal dream.
Actually, it would be un-American if we weren't allowed to talk about him, whether our feelings for him are good or bad, we still have the right to express them. You attempting to prevent us from exercising that right is the most un-American thing imaginable. You are correct in your thinking that he is within his rights to live how he wants. Fortunately for us, we are within our rights to think this guy was just an old crankzy basshole, ala Mr. Scrooge. Frugality is one thing, this is waaaaaayyyyyy over the top.
Edit - He was also 88 when he died of cancer, which means he had been living off his retirement fund for some 25+ years, so he almost certainly had MORE than $2.1 million at some point.
But then again, its un-American to not spend every dollar you make. If it werent for consumerism the American economy would be a piggy bank.
kikek
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jun. 20, 2005 @ 11:50p
It might be a part of a mental peculiarity / disorder that I think has been described in professional and fiction literature. I wonder if he hoarded all kinds of stuff like grocery bags, twisty wires from garbage/produce bags, rubber bands, ketchup packets from takeout meals, (if he ever bought takeout fast food). ?
anakinskywalker
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jun. 21, 2005 @ 12:09a
You misunderstood me, jowaju.
I never said you are not allowed to call him anything you want. You can abuse him if you like. It is certainly un-American to stop you from doing so.
I simply said that he did not harm you in any way, and hence I do not see any good reason for you to call him "stingy" and what-not, just because it is within your rights to do so.
It is within our rights to do a lot of things; that does not make them justified or right. For example, it is within our rights to not contribute to charity. That does not mean it is the right thing to do.
I am not a controversial person. Please do not take my comments in an adversarial way. I have great respect for the FWF community because of the immensely helpful people who frequent these forums, and I would not like to vitiate the atmosphere by partaking in discussions in anything but the most friendly and good-natured spirit.
Anakin Skywalker
jowaju said: It is un-American to not respect a person's right to live life on his/her own terms, making their own "unusual" choices, to live their own personal dream.
Actually, it would be un-American if we weren't allowed to talk about him, whether our feelings for him are good or bad, we still have the right to express them. You attempting to prevent us from exercising that right is the most un-American thing imaginable. You are correct in your thinking that he is within his rights to live how he wants. Fortunately for us, we are within our rights to think this guy was just an old crankzy basshole, ala Mr. Scrooge. Frugality is one thing, this is waaaaaayyyyyy over the top.
Edit - He was also 88 when he died of cancer, which means he had been living off his retirement fund for some 25+ years, so he almost certainly had MORE than $2.1 million at some point.
anakinskywalker
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jun. 21, 2005 @ 12:14a
I would also like to clarify that I am not criticising anybody who may consider this guy "stingy".
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and I have respect for everybody's opinions, whether I agree or not.
I am not making any value judgements, or criticising anybody; I simply expressed my personal opinion about this poor man who put the needs of society so far above his own personal enjoyments.
Anakin Skywalker
anakinskywalker
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jun. 21, 2005 @ 12:16a
thank you csrbuddy !
Anakin
CSRbuddy said: Anakin gets a green lightsabre!
Dealing
Senior Member
posted: Jun. 21, 2005 @ 1:34a
Perhaps the word "investing" is foreign to you? 2.5% interest - even fricking CDs would pay more....if you do not buy into his lifestyle, it is one thing - trying to bring maths to prove your baseless hypothesis is ludicrous
jowaju said: Lets do some basic math here: 2.1Mil / $28k per year is 75 years of working. I'm sure some of that 2.1mil came from interest, but seriously, this is taking frugal to a whole new level. What the shell are you doing saving that much money? Live a little, enjoy life, take a trip, see the world, go out, meet new people. Do something other than go to work all day every day for 50 years so you can have enough money for someone to think you may have been somebody. A simple savings calculator shows an initial deposit of $5000 would take monthly deposits of $2500 for 40 years to reach approximately $2.1 million at 2.5%APR. This guy only brought home $2333 a month pretax. Even with 50 years to reach the goal is would take $1750 a month for 50 years, which is quite likely close to 100% of his bring home pay. Life is short people, live it up at least a little.
jowaju
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jun. 21, 2005 @ 7:22a
Ok, even at 5% return it would take monthly deposits of $1400 for 40 years to get to $2.1Mil, have you not seen the statistics on consumer saving accounts? The majority of people with savings accounts have less than a 1% APR. Yes I have heard of investing, but it's a very hard topic for most people of his age to trust in. I do not know a single person over the age of 50 who does anything more than pay into a retirement plan at work and invest in CD's. Longer term/higher yielding investments are something they are not interested in. I am not old enough to know how interest rates were 20 or 30 years ago, so I used what I see as a middle of the road in today's market as my basis.
didYOUsearch
Cranky Member
posted: Jun. 21, 2005 @ 7:25a
he was an economics professor, he's not your typical financially ignorant American. He probably did significantly better than 5%
jowaju
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jun. 21, 2005 @ 7:29a
Ahhh, missed that part, I suppose you are right. I'd still like to know how much the "inheritance" was, that would give a lot clearer picture as to just how frugal he was.
psuJC said: anakinskywalker said: Of course, it is unusual for a man to be so excessively "frugal". But it is disrespectful to call him "stingy".
Just because he is different from most of us, we should not make fun of or look down upon him as "stingy old man" etc.
What a bunch of crap. He stopped talking to presumably a brother over 7 dollars... He made people split up the gas bill on trips... and i'll bet those where the kindest words they could come up with to describe him. I think stingy is too tame a term to describe someone like that. what he said...
This guy reminds me of my grandfather. My grandmother worked and paid all her own bills, he never gave her, my mother or myself a gift EVER. Never a birthday, christmas, or wedding present. Not even a darn card.
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