Comments on: Suze Orman is a Buzzkill

By: Lily

Lily — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:42:45 +0000

What I get from Dave Ramsey is that as long as you live with payments your income is earmarked for something other that building up your savings and your future. You know just because we can afford the payments does not mean it is a good idea buy let’s say a car and have payments for the next however years. I don’t know about Suzy though because she is associated with the whole FICO website and really you can’t have a FICO score unless you borrow money.

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:47:23 +0000

I am not a die hard Suze Orman fan, but I’ve read her books and watched her show, and I don’t recall her using the word “stupid” much, if at all. I don’t put her in the same category of PF experts who attempt to berate their readers/listeners into making good decisions by pointing out what terrible decisions they are making now. Quite the opposite, in fact – I think she’s gotten way too mushy and “inspiring.”

By: Money Under 30

Money Under 30 — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:46:24 +0000

@Eric: Great comments. I know Orman is not the only personal finance guru guilty of debtor-bashing, and it drives me nuts. Those struggling with debt shouldn’t necessarily expect sympathy, but I don’t think abuse and scare-tactics are necessary to help. Maybe Orman and others do. Also, I loved your note about leasing. Very true: If you hate cars, spending more to lease may very well be worth NEVER having to think about them!

@DC

I’m glad Orman has helped. To be fair, there are parts of Orman’s message I like. I think she can be very empowering, but when she takes that same energy that empowers her audience and starts criticizing them, that’s where I draw the line.

By: DCBuppie

DCBuppie — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:31:48 +0000

Wait,
I agree Orman is ..aggressive with her tactics. I read her books. I watch her show. You cannot knock her educational value in her messaging. It certainly worked for me!

Really I don’t follow her words to the letter, because I know myself. Her audience is for those folks who cannot and do not know any better.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:02:24 +0000

I think I also caught some of the negative vibe when reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Make Over. Perhaps it wasn’t as harsh as suze orman but I did feel as though the first few chapters of his Total Money Make Over were well, saying I was dumb for getting into debt.

I used to have indulgences such as the daily latte, now instead of spending $4.20 twice a day for that latte I’ve switched to regular coffee which comes out to $2.00. I’ve also substituted my morning coffee for a bottle of water I grab from home before I leave, and have that morning coffee at work where my employer provides it free of charge. I took my $8.40 a day habit down to $2.00. That’s one way you can modify it because when you start doing the math, that $3-4 a day latte starts adding up.

For cars, I read somewhere if you Love cars buy used. If you hate cars by new (or lease). There are people who will change cars every couple of years. For those people it is often better to lease a vehicle than to purchase one and deal with the negative equity.

-Eric