Basically callers ask her if they can afford something they want - sometimes it’s a new car, a pony or a cow, or expensive boots, etc. They have to provide her their basic finances (often times it isn’t nearly detailed enough for my tastes, but I realize it’s a very quick rapid fire type of set up).
I loved it when some (paraphrasing from memory here so actual numbers are probably not right) 11 year old girl called in who had saved around $600 and wanted to buy a $100 doll. She already had several of them and wanted another one. Suze started screaming that no she had a car to buy, and college, and no she just couldn’t afford it. I thought it was hilarious hearing here telling the poor 11 year old girl she couldn’t buy the doll because she had other responsibilities to save for.
Do you guys watch it?
BTW, you can download her 2009 Action Plan book for free until the 15th of this month.
Sometimes I like Suze, but sometimes I think she is a tad strident. Like on tonights show there was a 23 year old who lived with her mother and paid no rent and wanted to splurge on a $300 pair of shoes. The girl had plenty of money for it but Suze said DENIED because she felt the girl should be paying rent.
Why is a 23 year old living with her mother and not paying rent? I’d say she needs to take stock of her situation and not just buy expensive shoes because her mother lets her live free. She should be working towards getting herself into a situation where she either a) moves out on her own or b) helps out Mom.
From what I can tell, this is more and more normal.
When I graduated from high school, all me and my friends wanted to do was GET OUT of our parent’s houses. We scrimped and saved and lived 4 to an apartment because nobody wanted to live with the parents.
Nowadays, kids don’t do that. I know one 21 year old who not only lives rent-free (and doesn’t pay for groceries or anything like that) but works full time at a real job with decent pay & benefits. WTF? I have no clue why that kid’s parents allow that.
At 18, all I wanted to do was get out from under my parents’ thumb. So much so, in fact that my parents’ prybar to get me to win a scholarship to college was the threat that if I didn’t, I’d have to stay at home and go to the University of Houston.
After college, I did live with them for 5 months, but that was strictly long enough to get enough cash saved up to get my own apartment, furniture, pots, pans and other accoutrements of civilized living that I didn’t have from school, as well as build up a small nest egg.
I’m trying *really *hard and failing to imagine what sort of person needs Suze Orman to approve their purchases. All I can come up with is it must be the same person who needs Dr. Phil to tell them whether or not their spouse loves them.
I’d like to think that no one needs help deciding if they can afford something but given the number of foreclosures and people with maxed-out credit these days it appears that some people are unclear on the concept.
When each of us turned 17 my mother made it clear that we were either going to college, moving out or getting a job and paying a full share of the rent and household expenses when we graduated from high school. I left for college that year and my brother and sister lived with (mostly off) her until their late 20’s. She was never very good at keeping up her end of a threat.
Anecdotal, but my best friend still lives with his parents, and he’s 27. While he works full time, and travels a lot, his residence is still his Dad’s house. Why? Dad wants to make sure that he can afford a home of his own when he moves out this year, and doesn’t have to rent or pay on the car note. So far it seems to be a pretty good arrangement, he and his new fiance’ are considering their options in regards to home buying or working overseas for a while first. Either way they will be financially secure enough that they won’t be subject to disaster if a bump comes along in the road. Good for them as far as I’m concerned. Neither of them are wealthy, both working class tradesmen. I see it as a family effort to make certain that their collective asses aren’t struggling.
I’m usually sympathetic to the failure-to-launch folks, but I agree with Orman. If you can afford $300 shoes for yourself, you can afford to provide financial assistance to the household. Even if it’s not needed.
That’s assuming the girl isn’t helping around the house in other ways (cooking, cleaning, errand-running,etc.), of course.
Maybe Mom doesn’t need the financial help but it’s to their mutual benefit that the daughter lives at home with her. I’m in that category. I’m an only child and my father died when I was a kid. There’s no mortgage, just the typical bills, and mom has a very nice income. I’m able to work part time and I’m about to go back to school, mom gets a free chauffeur and housekeeper to do what she can’t do because she has a visual impairment.
My income is small, but I have been able to save and purchase myself nice things (computers, cameras, etc.) and I’d not have many good things to say to anyone who suggested that because of my age I shouldn’t be able to purchase anything because I should be giving my mother more money or that I should be living somewhere else. Not all situations work that way.
Our adult daughter lived with us rent free for several years after college. For most of those years, she was in a lowpaying job. However, she did most of the cooking, was a whiz at cleaning, and almost always was happy to run errands. She finally got a good paying professional job, and moved to the East Coast. I miss her, mostly because I love her, but also because I miss her cooking and cleaning! She was darn handy to have around!
I should have listed a few more of the details. The girl said she helps with the bills, buys groceries as well as other things. She also lives frugally normally and wanted the shoes as a one time splurge to treat herself for her birthday.
I personally think high end shoes are a waste, but Suze seemed to want to just make a point that I don’t think was really needed for a one time, fairly small purchase.
If my 23 year old daughter was living with me, rent free, and came home with a $300 pair of shoes, it would be the last month of free rent she ever got.
