NBC "The Tonight Show" comedy host Jay Leno was the funniest comedian of the three plus comedians who tried to carry a late-night talk show. He was witty, mocked both sides of the aisle, stayed away from embittered political punditry. He also relied on submissions of funny photos from the audience. Having watched some of Johnny Carson's segments from previous broadcasts, I think that Leno was funnier than Carson.
out of the red thanks to one simple strategy: He didn't buy on credit.
It. "I didn't buy anything I couldn't afford to pay for in cash. I always
liked, 'Here is the money, give me the thing, transaction over.'"
Makes sense. Don't get into a habit of going on credit if you have the money to begin with.
teen. A few years later, when he was jump-starting his career as a comedian, he
had to supplement his comedy gig earnings with money he made working at a car
dealership. At first, the paycheck from the dealership was the bigger of the
two, so he banked that and lived off the other.
job that reportedly earned him as much as $30 million a year. But even today,
he prefers not to pay for anything in installments, he tells CNBC Make It:
"When you own something and you don't have to write checks every month,
you're just better off."
![]("https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-21lFnIaRKbc/W5NNsl3j6HI/AAAAAAABKoo/ULYsw9CsuOs6JCdt1TcXghwNQAEX3zirQCLcBGAs/s1600/Jay%2BLeno.jpg")
own everything. I own my buildings. I own my cars. That way, if it ends
tomorrow, I know what I've got," says Leno, who now hosts CNBC's "Jay
Leno's Garage." "It's a little old fashioned, I suppose, but it seems
to work pretty well for me."
establish good credit — that will allow you to make larger purchases in the
future, such as a car or a home — and one way to do so is by opening a credit
card. The good news is, if you stick to a few basic guidelines, you can easily
use one without going into debt.
already racked up credit card debt, Leno's cash-only solution may work for you.
From this parents, who had survived the depression. They knew what it was like to live in dire poverty, and not know when they would get out of it. A generation of Americans died with all their life savings saved in mattresses in their homes because they had lost all their money when the stock markets crashed in 1929, and then financial liquidity dried up all over the world because of bank runs and government meddling.
Leno's parents taught him to live frugally, turn off the extra heat, electricity, etc. These habits are good to build upon. Leno has a thriving business, life, practice, everything. He has done quite well for himself, one could say.
Stay out of debt, pay with cash when you can, work, save, invest, and live well.