‘Shark Tank’ investor Kevin O’Leary isn’t blaming the economy for your empty bank account. He’s blaming you. And he’s not shy about it.
“Listen, I’m going to tell you something most people don’t want to hear,” O’Leary said in a December YouTube video titled “If You Want To Get Rich, Stop Buying These 5 Things.” “You’re broke. Not because you don’t make enough money, not because the economy is rigged against you, not because you didn’t get lucky. You’re broke because you keep buying stupid things that are keeping you poor.”
From the first line, O’Leary makes it clear—building wealth doesn’t start with more income. It starts with cutting the nonsense.
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His first target? That shiny new car in your driveway.
“Buying a new car is one of the dumbest financial decisions you can make,” O’Leary said. A car drops 20% to 30% in value the second you drive it off the lot, he explained, turning thousands of dollars into dust—for nothing but “that new car smell.” And leasing? “Leasing is the absolute worst,” he said. “You’re renting a depreciating asset… You gave the dealership thousands of dollars for the privilege of borrowing their car.”
His advice is brutal but simple: “Buy a three-year-old certified pre-owned car. Let somebody else take the depreciation hit. That’s what rich people do.”
O’Leary isn’t just coming for your car. He’s coming for your kitchen—or more accurately, the one you refuse to use. “People tell me they don’t have money to invest. And then I watch them spend $15 on a salad for lunch,” he said. That’s not a splurge. It’s financial self-sabotage.
The average American spends nearly $4,000 a year eating out, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. O’Leary runs the math: investing that same $3,500 annually for 30 years at 10% could become more than $600,000. “You’re trading half a million dollars in retirement wealth for convenience and fancy meals you’ll forget about in 24 hours,” he said.
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Pack your lunch. Make your coffee at home. “These aren’t sacrifices,” O’Leary said. “These are smart financial decisions.” But when you do eat out, he says, at least make it count. “Don’t waste money on mediocre chain restaurants because you’re too lazy to cook. That’s not living well. That’s being financially irresponsible.”
Then comes the myth of the “forever home.” O’Leary doesn’t buy it—literally or figuratively. “Your home is your biggest liability,” he said. “An asset puts money in your pocket. A liability takes money out. And your house—the one you live in—takes money out every single month.”
Mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, landscaping—”It’s a money pit,” O’Leary said. And the bigger the house, the deeper the hole.
He says the real wealth trap is when people buy the most expensive home the bank says they can “afford.” That’s not a financial milestone—it’s a 30-year contract that benefits the bank far more than it benefits you. “They want you owing them for the next 30 years,” he said. “That’s 30 years of interest payments flowing into their pockets.”
His solution? “Buy half the house the bank says you can afford.”
It’s a theme O’Leary returns to over and over: wealth isn’t about appearances. It’s about margin. Living below your means isn’t a punishment—it’s the path to financial freedom. “Poor people spend money to look rich. Rich people spend money to get richer,” he said.
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And yes, that includes the clothes you’re wearing. O’Leary doesn’t care if you own the newest sneakers, designer handbags, or the latest iPhone. He calls it “a museum of bad financial decisions.” The real flex? A growing net worth.
“You know what impresses me?” he said. “A fat investment portfolio. A growing net worth. Financial independence. Not a thousand pairs of shoes that’ll be out of style in six months.”
Even your subscriptions don’t escape his fire. “It’s like a slow leak in your bank account—$10 here, $15 there,” he said. “Cancel them today. Not tomorrow. Today.”
Ultimately, O’Leary boils it all down to five habits: stop buying new cars, stop stretching for a big house, stop eating out constantly, stop chasing fast fashion, and stop wasting money on subscriptions you don’t use. Do that, and you’ve already taken five steps toward wealth—regardless of how much you earn.
“It’s not about your salary,” O’Leary said. “I’ve seen people making $40,000 a year build serious wealth because they understood these principles. And I’ve seen people making $200,000 a year living paycheck to paycheck because they refuse to learn.”
The choice isn’t complicated, he says. It’s just uncomfortable. “Don’t be most people.”
And if you’re still arguing that the salad was worth it—just know O’Leary’s not buying it. But he might buy your house. For half.
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