History Main / AffluentAscetic

** A characteristic trait of ''every'' incarnation of quadrillionaire Scrooge [=McDuck=], from comics to animation, by any author. While his fellow millionaires waste money on useless status symbols, pointless luxuries, and foolish habits like gambling, he resists spending a single cent if he possibly can, with his only ''unnecessary'' luxuries being his large bed (at times stuffed with banknotes) and the Money Bin itself (that contains the part of his wealth that he made ''directly'' because he likes to watch it, rather than having it in banks and investements like the rest). Sure, he'll occasionally force himself to spring for things like employees, limousines, airplanes, and submarines, but only because they're necessary for his business or to fuel his adventure addiction, not to flaunt his wealth. To Scrooge, money is something to be saved and savored, never spent if at all possible.
** As befitting his status as an EvilCounterpart of Scrooge, Flintheart Glomgold is an even ''worse'' miser, rarely springing up money for anything he doesn't need for his business or to compete with Scrooge.

* In ''ComicBook/TheMetabarons'', the Metabarons have planetary-scale wealth but because of their ascetic Bushitaka belief system, they rarely spend much of it barring materials for new weapon systems and luxury items for spouses who aren't Bushitaka. Even when it comes to rebuilding a destroyed Metabunker and its arsenal, those things can come free as the Metabarons' robots simply jack an uninhabited planet and convert its resources.

SisterTrope to NonIdleRich and SuperTrope to ModestRoyalty. Compare with SecretlyWealthy. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] a wealthy person like a BourgeoisBohemian who goes for a SimpleYetOpulent coupled with an AsceticAesthetic (they have a "modest Manhattan "pied à terre" for when they're in BigApplesauce and a "simple beachfront cottage in Del Mar, California"), which is just a subtler form of ConspicuousConsumption.

* John Chapman, better known as UsefulNotes/JohnnyAppleseed, dressed in used clothing and often ate at a campfire. (He was a vegetarian and proselytized for Swedenborgian Christianity.) He was also a successful businessman, eventually owning more than 1,200 acres of orchards across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

SisterTrope to NonIdleRich and SuperTrope to ModestRoyalty. Compare with SecretlyWealthy. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] a wealthy person like a BourgeoisBohemian who goes for a SimpleYetOpulent couple AsceticAesthetic (they have a "modest Manhattan "pied à terre" for when they're in BigApplesauce and a "simple beachfront cottage in Del Mar, California"), which is just a subtler form of ConspicuousConsumption.

* ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'': Xizor zig-zags this. As the head of the largest criminal enterprise in the galaxy, he is one of the wealthiest people alive, and while he does own some extravagances, like his own space station and a palace that's said to be second only to Vader and the Emperor's own in size, these are practical purchases, as they provide space and facilities for his private army. He even throws away a valuable jewel that one of his clients sends him as a gift since he has no use for it. He notes that Darth Vader is the same way since he has access to all the resources the Empire can offer but doesn't care for money at all. However, he also spends ludicrous amounts of money on gifts for his mistresses (the text notes that he bought a girl he broke up with a ''mansion'' as a consolation gift when he left her) and dines at the most exclusive and expensive restaurants on Coruscant.

* ''CombicBook/{{Maus}}'': Vladek Spiegelman, partially due to his trauma stemming from surviving UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, is extremely frugal despite his wealth -- he even swipes paper towels from restaurants to avoid having to buy napkins for his home. His wife remarks that he has hundreds of thousands of dollars in his bank account, but lives like a pauper.

** A characteristic trait of ''every'' incarnation of quadrillionaire Scrooge McDuck, from comics to animation, by any author. While his fellow millionaires waste money on useless status symbols, pointless luxuries, and foolish habits like gambling, he resists spending a single cent if he possibly can, with his only ''unnecessary'' luxuries being his large bed (at times stuffed with banknotes) and the Money Bin itself (that contains the part of his wealth that he made ''directly'' because he likes to watch it, rather than having it in banks and investements like the rest). Sure, he'll occasionally force himself to spring for things like employees, limousines, airplanes, and submarines, but only because they're necessary for his business or to fuel his adventure addiction, not to flaunt his wealth. To Scrooge, money is something to be saved and savored, never spent if at all possible.

* A characteristic trait of ''every'' incarnation of quadrillionaire [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge McDuck]], from comics to animation, by any author. While his fellow millionaires waste money on useless status symbols, pointless luxuries, and foolish habits like gambling, he resists spending a single cent if he possibly can, with his only ''unnecessary'' luxuries being his large bed (at times stuffed with banknotes) and the Money Bin itself (that contains the part of his wealth that he made ''directly'' because he likes to watch it, rather than having it in banks and investements like the rest). Sure, he'll occasionally force himself to spring for things like employees, limousines, airplanes, and submarines, but only because they're necessary for his business or to fuel his adventure addiction, not to flaunt his wealth. To Scrooge, money is something to be saved and savored, never spent if at all possible.