On July 19, 2010, in New York, USA, a woman with short hair was intently rummaging through items in a street trash can.
The woman looked to be in her thirties, wearing a shirt that had worn out many holes, a pair of loose shorts, and a duck-tongue hat.
The woman was pleasantly surprised to find that there were a lot of expired foods in this garbage can that had not yet been opened.
She carefully took the food out and put it in the satchel she carried with her, and even couldn't resist opening a packet of snacks to taste.
When people on the side of the road saw the woman's depressed look, they couldn't help but show sympathy.
But what they didn't know was that the woman, dressed like a tramp, was a high-class white-collar worker who had a house in downtown New York.
Who is this woman? Why did she end up in the street rummaging through the trash cans?
"If you can't spend money, you don't spend money"
The woman rummaging through the trash can for food was named Kate Hashimoto.
Kate's family is not bad, and he is also very hard-working, and is a senior certified public accountant at a company in New York, USA.
She earns a lot of money every month and buys a house in downtown New York.
However, she lived a very simple life, which can even be called a door-slamming life.
Kate's concept of consumption is "if you can spend no money, you can't spend money, and if there must be expenditure, then the cost should also be minimized." ”
In order to implement this principle to the end, Kate only allowed himself to spend $200 a month, which is equivalent to 1273.08 yuan.
The thousand dollars include not only Kate's living expenses for the entire month, but also her transportation expenses, property taxes and other expenses.
Of course, many times Kate travels on foot, and will never take a car unless you are in a hurry.
Even if she takes the car, she will only take the cheapest public transportation and live a life of meticulous calculation.
Kate's family has accumulated a lot of coins, and these coins are her living expenses.
She would carefully pack the coins into envelopes, lay them out when she bought something, and haggle with the shopkeeper.
Sometimes, the owner would feel that she was too depressed and erase her, and Kate would thank the owner gratefully.
Whether it's buying clothes or other necessities, Kate will negotiate prices with the shopkeeper.
If the price really can't be said, Kate will choose to change stores, or simply abandon the idea of buying.
Kate hasn't bought clothes in 8 years, and the last time she bought underwear was in 1998, 24 years ago.
Many of the clothes in her closet had been washed white, loosened, and even worn out of holes.
But even then, Kate hadn't thought of buying clothes.
She had never bought socks, and the socks she wore on her feet were all she rummaged through in the trash.
There are even several pairs of shoes that were discarded by others and picked up by Kate.
Many of Kate's clothes don't fit well and don't quite fit the current aesthetic, but she doesn't mind at all.
She had a pair of pants she bought back for $15 in 1999, and to this day, Kate still often flips them out and wears them.
At the time, the pants were just discounted, and Kate took a look at it and immediately brought it home.
"After buying these pants, my heart ached for a long time, and I didn't buy anything for a week." Kate recalled.
Today, the waistband of these pants has long lost its elasticity and no longer fits well.
Kate would put a few clips on the waistband of his pants and still wear them to work.
Kate also had a lot of clothes that her mother bought for her when she was a child, and she kept them until now.
Even though the clothes had been sewn by Kate many times, she would still wear them out the door.
Kate never washes her clothes in the washing machine at home, and she never takes her clothes to the laundromat outside to wash them.
"I heard that it costs $3 to wash clothes once at a launderette, which I can't accept."
Every time she takes a bath, Kate puts the clothes she needs to wash in the bath tub and washes them with the bath water, because this saves water.
After washing her clothes, Kate would hang them in the bathroom doorway to dry, never using a dryer.
She never washes her clothes alone, and when she gets dirty, she puts them aside and washes them together when she's done in the shower.
After the shower, Kate would pick up the scissors and fix her hair in the mirror.
Her hair was trimmed by herself, and the last time she went to the barbershop was in college.
Practice the skill of "wool wool"
The occasional sofa in Kate's living room to entertain guests was brought back from the school gate when she graduated from college.
This sofa followed Kate north and south, accompanying her through more than ten years.
Although it has rusted, it is still one of the most important pieces of furniture in Kate's home.
"I'm not going to throw it away, and even if I pick up a better couch later, I'll leave it behind."
Kate's kitchen was equipped with furniture such as a dishwasher, gas stove, and range hood, but she never used it.
For her, the dishwasher not only wastes water, but also consumes electricity, and she has transformed it into a "cupboard" dedicated to storing cutlery.
Similarly, Kate never used a gas stove.
The gas stove was covered with a few old books and turned into a table for eating.
"Once you use a gas stove, you have to pay at least $17 a month, which is the minimum standard." Kate explains.
To save $17, Kate cut off the gas and stopped using it.
Sometimes, she will eat food that has become cold and hard, and if she really needs to heat it, she will take out an electric stove.
This electric stove was redeemed with a free gift certificate, and Kate can use it with peace of mind.
In order to maximize cost savings, Kate has developed a "wool wool" skill.
She knew that some malls would issue free gift certificates, so she would regularly visit these malls and bring back a large stack of gift certificates, and that's how her electric stove was brought back.
Kate subscribes to various brands of emails, which regularly send questionnaires to customers, as long as the questionnaire is filled out, you can receive product samples.
Kate wouldn't let go of any chance to take a sample, and her family had a hoard full of loot.
She also sorted out a lot of websites that would send free trials, regularly paying attention to the above activities, and trying to get as much wool as possible.
Whether it's toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, tampons, contact lens fluid, or razors, she actively collects them.
As long as he doesn't want the money, Kate will take them home and hoard them even if they don't use them.
"I would never spend money on toiletries, which have been enough for me for a long time." Kate proudly patted the loot chest.
After attending the public toilet outside the mall, Kate would put the cleaner toilet paper and the toilet paper from the toilet into the bag she carried.
She would take the toilet paper home to dry and reuse it multiple times.
If she goes to the bathroom at home, Kate basically doesn't use paper.
After urinating, Kate washes directly with water, and when she has a bowel movement, she washes it with soap and then dries it with dry toilet paper.
Even so, the toilet paper would not be discarded, and she would wash it, dry it and continue to use it.
Rummaging through trash cans has become a daily routine
Turning over the trash can is Kate's daily routine, and many of the things in her home are brought back from the trash can.
Kate's bed is made up of stacks of yoga mats, all of which have been thrown in the trash.
Kate took the yoga mats home and turned them into sleeping beds where she spent countless days and nights.
The chairs and tables in the house were also retrieved in this way by Kate.
Every day on the way home from work, Kate always focuses on checking the trash cans that pass by.
As soon as he found something available in the trash can, Kate would rummaging through it, not caring about the strange eyes of the people around him.
She expertly climbed into the trash, found some furniture from it, tried it, and would take home the right furniture.
"I rarely spend money on furniture, and A lot of things I get back in the trash can, so I've saved at least a few thousand dollars for that."
In addition to furniture, most of the food in Kate's refrigerator is also picked up in the trash can.
"I used to spend $100 a month on meals, which was really incredible." Kate recalled.
But now, she never eats out and rarely eats with relatives and friends unless they invite them.
Occasionally, the family invites guests to dinner, and Kate is the last to leave because she wants to pack up the uneaten food and take it home.
Every night, Kate would wear a lot of torn clothes, a duck-tongue hat, and carry a satchel to rummage through the trash can.
After years of groping, she knows that many high-end restaurants will throw away some expired or expired food when cleaning at night.
Kate often wanders around the doors of these high-end restaurants, picking up food from the trash can that is still neatly packaged.
Some vegetables have begun to rot, and Kate will take the broken part down and take the good part home.
Kate never cares if these foods expire, because "I eat all these things, and some of them are still eaten after several years." ”
In order not to be driven away by the restaurant staff, Kate dressed up like a tramp, because this can get the sympathy of the employees.
Kate would come home every night with a bag full of food and fill the fridge.
Some foods she will eat directly in her mouth, and will not perform the steps of disinfection and heating at all.
Unless it's pasta and lasagna, which must be cooked to eat, Kate will come up with her beloved electric stove.
Entertain friends with food in the trash
This way of life of Kate naturally attracted the attention and curiosity of those around him.
Once, Kate's colleague's girlfriend heard about her and was very curious about her and wanted to visit Kate.
The colleague had a good relationship with Kate, and when he asked Kate a request, she only hesitated for a moment and agreed.
To entertain two guests, Kate had put on her ripped clothes the night before and had made a long walk to pick up leaks in front of a famous upscale restaurant.
She rummaged through the trash cans, trying to pick out well-packaged, relatively clean food, as it was for the guests.
She was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a box of packaged turkey rolls and a box of vegetable salads.
Afterwards, she also found a box of well-packaged cakes and a chunk of chocolate cake.
Kate opened the packages of the cakes and sniffed them carefully, feeling that the fragrant food was enough to entertain two guests.
Unfortunately, Kate's behavior was soon spotted by the clerks, who shouted at the door to get Kate away.
Kate patiently explained his situation to them, then rummaged through the trash.
Kate specially puts these foods on an electric stove to heat them, and then puts them in a bowl for friends to eat.
However, because these foods have been frozen for too long, the shape of the ingredients themselves cannot be seen at all when heated.
Subsequently, the colleague took his girlfriend to Kate's house.
Kate enthusiastically introduced them to the origin of the furniture in the room and told them about his money-saving tips.
While eating, Kate brought out two bowls of dishes that could no longer be seen.
The colleague and his girlfriend took a bite and curiously asked Kate "what the hell is this dish" because they couldn't eat it at all.
Kate introduced them to the dishes and generously stated that they had been picked up in the trash last night.
The faces of the two guests changed drastically in an instant, and they no longer had the heart to eat.
After the meal, Kate took out the cake he had picked up and entertained the two friends, admitting that they were also picked up.
Out of courtesy, they picked up their forks and ate a small bite, then chatted with Kate for a while and quickly left.
"Although I don't approve of her lifestyle, she works hard and we all admire her." Kate's colleague later said.
The reason why Kate lives so extremely is because she encountered a financial crisis shortly after graduating.
During that time, Kate lost her job, had no savings, and lived a very hard life.
"Since then, I've vowed to save money, and only money can give me a sense of security." Kate recalled.
Later, Kate got used to minimalism and bought his first home in downtown New York in 2010.
Not only that, but it only took her 9 months to pay off all her mortgages.
On April 10, 2022, Kate, 42, still takes a detour to a nearby bin on his way to work.
On this day, she found a lazy couch in the trash.
Kate tried the lazy couch on the floor and found that it could continue to be used, but it was just a little dirty.
She found a pair of sneakers in the trash that were only slightly worn, and Kate tried them and found that the shoes also fit well.
She took the shoes home with the couch and placed them behind the door.
When Kate was about to take a shower in the evening, she dragged the couch into the bathtub and soaked it in the bath water.
Kate had never used soap before when washing clothes, and had scrubbed them directly with bath water.
But she liked the orange-yellow lazy couch so much that she washed it with soap for the first time.
Looking at the sofa that had been renewed, Kate was very happy and cherished it in the middle of the living room.
Although many people do not agree with Kate's lifestyle, she enjoys herself and hopes that she will always be so happy.
-Ends-
Text | Don't mistake the little stars