There’s no doubt Keke Palmer has raked in significant cash from her Hollywood career, but the 31-year-old recently made it known that she’s not about the ostentatious life as living frugally is “incredibly important” to her.
During an interview on CNBC Make It, the former child star emphasized that she cannot do without living below her means. “I live under my means. I think it’s incredibly important,” Palmer stated.
“If I have $1 million in my pocket, my rent is going to be $1,500 — that’s how underneath my means I’m talking. My car note is going to be $340. I don’t need a [Bentley] Bentayga, I’ll ride in a Lexus.”
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Palmer first gained attention as a child actor in Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004) and earned acclaim for her starring role in Akeelah and the Bee (2006). Her fame saw her earn so much to make her a millionaire at the age of 12.
Palmer in a November appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay revealed that it was during her teenage years and after securing her own Nickelodeon show, True Jackson, VP, when it hit her that she was actually making more money than her parents.
“My parents, at their best, made $40,000 a year,” she told Sharpe. “I was making that a show.”
Despite out-earning them, Palmer told CNBC Make It that she learned from her parents “very early on because they knew their limitations with money and finances.” She also said she believes in “saving and frugality … I don’t play around with that.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the One of Them Days star also advised young people and young women to gain education in economics.
“Be curious about that kind of stuff, because you don’t want to do things based off of survival,” Palmer said. “You want to do them out of choice. That’s something that my mom and my dad taught me very early on.”
Despite living frugally, Palmer doesn’t mind sharing her wealth with her family, which is something she touched on during her appearance on Club Shay Shay.
“Someone might say, ‘That’s your money.’ But we’re a family. And everybody’s sacrificing so I can be where I’m at,” Palmer explained. “My dad gave up his pension for me to have an opportunity for my dreams. My mom gave up everything so she could travel with me.”
“How I feel about it is, What’s mine is theirs and what’s theirs is mine,” she added. “I would do it again. I would sacrifice 20 more years of my life working in this industry so that I can provide and we can have the business we have today.”
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