Tiffany Haddish Revealed She Once Lived Off $500 Per Month

Actress and funny woman, Tiffany Haddish has come a long way since her days of homelessness and trying to break into the comedy industry.

The California native was living in her car in 2005 and doing small-time comedy gigs to support herself. In the present decade, Haddish is a well-known figure in both the comedy and film industry, and she is only aiming higher.

The comedienne didn't spend her first experience with real money frivolously as she recently admitted that her only goal at the time was to create generational wealth, and the first step she took to do this was to purchase a home while living on only $500 per month.

Read on to learn more.

Haddish recently discussed how she moved from once being homeless to owning her first house in a cover story from Cosmopolitanmagazine. The actress revealed that when the money came trickling in from her screen features in "The Carmichael Show" and "If Loving You Is Wrong," she decided to create generational wealth and not to spend her earnings lavishly.

"I started trying to figure out how to create generational wealth. The fastest way to do it and the first way you should go about doing it is buy some land," Haddish told the publication. "So before we even got into Season 2 of 'The Carmichael Show,' I bought a house.

When the actress decided to buy a home with her earnings, the decision did not go well with many of her friends. Haddish, however, knew she was going to be okay in the end.

"Everybody told me I should wait, but I didn't care," she said. "I just knew I was going to have to always make enough money to take care of me and the house, and that's what I did."

The actress "lived off of $500 a month," then used the rest of her earnings from starring in "The Carmichael Show 2 "and "Keanu" to pay off half of the mortgage of the house.

Still, she was not content and pushed herself to finish the rest of the payment as fast as possible. Given her relentless drive, it was only a question of time before the house became paid for in full. Her earnings from the film "Girls Trip," which was about a group of women rekindling their sisterhood, ultimately paid off the mortgage and made her the property's complete owner.

She added: "The 'Girls Trip' check was the final check. People told me to spend it in other ways, but I used it to pay off the house because I was always afraid of being homeless again."

Now 42, Haddish has earned enough to not have to worry about money for the rest of her life. Between 2017 till date, the actress starred in a slew of films including, "Uncle Drew," "Night School," "Angry Birds Movie 2" "Like A Boss" and "On The Count Of Three."

She landed a 2018 win for the most Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series following her feature in "Saturday Night Live." Haddish's tv show "Black Mitzvah" also won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 2021.

While her features have ranked her among the highest earning comedians, Haddish told the magazine she's still "afraid of being poor again" and continues to spend a huge part of her income to "buy another piece of land or a house."

Haddish has less free time now that she is renowned. However, the comedian stated that she makes an effort not to accept every job because she knows she needs to look after herself.

She said, "I have to take care of Tiffany …. If a friend wants me to do a show or something like that, I have to be honest and say, "I can't do it. I gotta get up early in the morning, and the reason I gotta get up so early is because I need to go for a walk. So you just got to be selfish in a way, and I hate that feeling of being selfish, but I love the results."

In addition to enjoying leisurely strolls, the actress admitted that she goes surfing. When she has extra time on her hands, she also visits Bermuda and her island home in Eritrea.