Mishka lived frugally despite the splurge of renting a room in a private home. He would have one glass of beer – no more – in Theresa's kitchen with these men and then he'd walk home. There, he would sit with the family in the living room to listen to the radio – and in later years, watch television – until it was time to go to bed. In that way he knew he wasn't wasting their electricity. Mishka saved his money. He told his landlady that he had family in the old country, and he would send them money occasionally. But he was really saving most of it to move back to his home country after he retired. He wanted to return as a rich man, a man who could take care of his sisters and their children, a man who would be respected and loved by them, taken care of in his old age, remembered in his village as a good and great man.