He, perhaps, went a tad too far in the name of frugality (not sure which forum)

[SpendyMcSpend]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Elwes_(politician)

"The greatest influence on Elwes' life was his miserly uncle, Sir Harvey Elwes, 2nd Baronet, of Stoke College and MP for Sudbury, whom Elwes obsequiously imitated to gain favour. Sir Harvey prided himself on only spending little more than £110 on himself per annum. The two of them would spend the evening railing against other people's extravagances while they shared a single glass of wine"

[wreing]

£110 =~$174
$147 in 1775 = $5000 in 2012

Which puts him a little under Jacob from ERE expenses.  But not by that much.  :)

Wes

[shedinator]

John Wesley is reported to live on ~30 pounds per annum from 1731 until his death in 1791. In 1775, his income was over 1400 pounds, and he still lived on only 30. (source) Of course, rather than saving for retirement, he simply gave the extra away every year.

[smedleyb]

“While the miser is merely a capitalist gone mad, the capitalist is a rational miser”

-- Karl Marx.

[erwannabe]

That is pretty darn low, not sure I could ever reach that level.