josey711

I will be tuned in Gina.
I am getting my house ready for the market to sell.....and I will not be making any money on this sale. I need a serious downsize in lifestyle and selling my home is part of it.
My money is "too tight to mention" as it is sung by SImply Red

skguttovz

So... It's me again! Mom on a mission! I've been writing everyday to Oprah since Feb. 14th 2009 in some way or another. E-mails, snail mail, producers, O-mag... My mission is to recruit O to help us "Heart" families in spreading awareness of Congenital Heart Defects. Well, the good news is I'm no longer an army of one. There are now many "mom's on a mission" writing Oprah in hopes of having a show on children born with Congenital Heart Defects. May 1st will be a big day for you all receiving letters. We now have many mom's, families, grandparents, friends, and strangers writing letters. All will be sent out in hopes of arriving on May 1st. Hopefully with this flood of letters, we'll get someones attention! We need someone, with an influential voice, to scream our mission. We hope that will be Oprah. Recently there has been more media/entertainment outlets talking about CHD's. ER had a show about children living with CHD's and a Camp for these kids. I'm so happy to see that. So many people watched and hopefully learned about CHD's and what it's like for kids living with this. Recently Dr. Oz spoke of REGENERATIVE MEDICINE! Wow!!! The shock waves of emotion could be felt throughout the CHD community! This is so amazing. The idea of my daughter, who will proabably will need a heart transplant later in life, would be able to have her own heart is so reassuring!!!!!! No words can explain how wonderful this is for families!!!
Please consider doing a show on CHD's. There is an overwhelming connection between heart families and several topics that are currently hot on the Oprah show. Thanks for your time and consideration!
Mom on a Mission,
Sundie Guttovz
mom to Charlie (heart healthy) and Sydnie (HRHS, Pulmonary Atresia, 3 Heart surgeries= all before the age of 2)

polimil

Hi Gina,

My financial crisis may not have been born from the conventional source that we have all, unfortunately, grown so accustomed to hearing about in the news. However, it affects me every bit as much as the person who cannot afford to feed his children or the person who has been forced to foreclose on his home. I actually consider myself to be very privileged to have grown up in a great family and to have had things come fairly easily to me in relation to many others. This was until I entered the next "cycle" in my life, as I like to call it, when I began law school. Everything changed.

The fact that I was far from the honor student I have always been was certainly humbling, but my dad's death in the beginning of the second year of law school truly pulled the ground out from beneath me. It took all I had for me to continue with law school, mainly because my mom begged and pleaded with me to not give it up. I was now a financial burden on my mom, who no longer had the security of my dad's income and, more importantly, companionship. What kept me going was the belief that the legal education was an investment that would yield the return of securing a great job that would allow me to help my mom. Little did I know what I was in for upon passing the dreaded bar exam.

No one ever tells you that the title of "law school graduate" will be put to use mostly to impress the parents of one's significant other above all else. The law degree is considered to pretty much be a ticket to success. Hence the cliché of a "rich lawyer." Well, I have been licensed as an attorney in the state of Illinois since November, 2008. My grades in law school may not have reflected my abilities, but I received the same education as the number one student in my class. I worked in a law office all throughout law school, gaining practical legal experience. I am well spoken, well written, very presentable, and an overall good person. There is just one problem. I cannot get a job!

Who wants to hire a freshly licensed attorney when they can have their pick of the recently laid-off attorneys with years of experience, right? And the number of these laid-off attorneys seems to increase daily. I used to think that if I can land the interview, surely I can land the job with my "sparkling" personality. Yet, not even charm of George Clooneyan proportions can do the trick when there is no interview in sight.

So, here I am, the epitome of a newly coined title, "struggling attorney." I can imagine the average person's reaction, "Boo hoo! Struggling attorney. Get yourself a REAL problem!" The truth is, though, that everybody sees things through their own eyes and, to me, this is very much a real problem. I am a 28-year-old, educated female, still living with her mom, doing everything possible to not only be called an attorney, but to actually work as an attorney. The financial effects of not having a job are obvious. The emotional and psychological effects of investing five years into going through law school, passing the bar exam, becoming licensed and then not being able to utilize any of that run much deeper.

That's my story and I pray to NOT be sticking to it much longer!

clphasting

Hi,
I did not find a place to make suggestions for shows so I'm going to leave it here. A lot of my friends and myself are or have had to deal with aging parents. There is their living situation, their health, their finances and their mental decline. I believe a show on this topic would be helpful to all. The is a big group of people in their 50's and 60's who are viewers and living through this.

Thank you. Claudia

carolsuth

Hi Gina,
I have been enjoying all the shows lately. In 2003 after 18 years of being single, I met my husband. At our first meeting, we had the 10 second kiss, he asked me to marry him. That was it - I "knew."
Just like Steve Harvey says -there is the perfect right person for everyone.
Blessings, I hope you are well and thriving.
Caroline Sutherland

sarahe1973

In 2007 the company that my husband worked for asked him if he'd like to resign or be fired. He resigned and started to focus on his own business. One month later I gave birth to my son. My dream job of being a stay at home mom had come true! When my son was 2 mths old I was diagnosed with breast cancer and also suffering from fissures due to pushing the baby out too hard. Had surgery on my boobs & butt. A few months later I learned that I was 2 degrees from getting back surgery due to scholiosis. Thankfully it has not changed and no back surgery yet. After going through chemo (and being bald & boobless)& having reconstruction we still managed to get by. My husband worked for a client in 2008. Feb. he only made $500 for the month & I started going to the sharing center & churches for food. Family and friends have helped here and there. Due to the economy my husband was laid off recently. We are on food stamps (for the first time in our lives) and are still waiting to hear back from unemployment. We've even filled out an application for temporary cash assistance. I hope that my husband finds something soon. I don't want to loose the house & I'd love to repay family members back. Also my husband misses working & feeling confident about providing. If anyone has connections with a major dependable company my husband is looking for positions in either of the following: Business Analyst, Marketing, Financial Analyst (Corporate/Executive non-sales prefered). We are willing to move but do prefer the south east area.

cmurph27

Hello Gina

Lets see my finanical crisis has been going on for almost 2 years. My husband left a job of 8 1/2 years to join the police department. after 10 weeks in training was let go, he could not find a fulltime job since. We have a small pool cleaning business, that I have been left to do buy myself. I don't mind, doing it but it hard work and the Las Vegas heat will make you more tried. In October of 2008 my husband could not get more than one day of work in Las Vegas, so he had to leave and go to Vernal UT to work in the oil fields. It has been hard to live apart for the past 6 months, and now with some of cute back there we can no longer pay our bills, and even our house that we fought so long to keep. We have no choice but to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. We are looking forward to being back together as a family, and we are very thankful for the job he does have and the little money he is making. We don't care about the things we have we just want our boys to happy and live together again. And just keep telling ourselfs this is a small moment in time and this too shall pass.

jwimberger

It is important during these difficult economic times to decide how best to spend our money. We certainly look carefully at things that are considered luxuries. Decorating our homes and our lives may seem like something that we can skip. Yet, it is important to make our homes comfortable reflections of our lifestyles and who we are. We also need to consider who we support when we make purchases with our discretionary spending. I work for a company called Artful Home that represents over 1000 of North American's finest craftspeople. These artists sell their work directly from their studios to their customers. It is in effect and online gallery. It is an opportunity for artists to reach a vast audience without going to shows or displaying in costly galleries. Many of our artists are struggling during these tight economic times. It becomes even more critical for consumers to choose carefully who they support. Buying from an artist maintains the integrity of the American crafts' movement. I encourage all people to consider this as they purchase gifts, decorations for their homes or themselves. Supporting the American craftsperson is very important.

dilehmk

Hi Gina, you have a very interesting blog and job. My husband lost his job of 23 years, Jan 2008. We were left with out health insurance, because I was self employed for years and didn't carry any. He lost his job to dirty politics, and I reassured him to take his retirement and it would be the best thing that ever happened. A blessing in disguise it turned out, and I got a job with insurance, working with mental disabilities, and loving it.
Love Peter Walsh and Suzi Orman, having been waiting for ever for Peter to help me declutter and now since my 90 year old mother n law moved in we have a ghost in the house. half of our basement needs decluttering. That show on the young couple brought memorys, my husband was 14 years old and I was 13, dated 10 years, will be married 30 years, April 28, 2009. Still love him soooo much!!!!!

alansmithe

My Recession,

I guess I will start off by first saying that I am a very hard worker and no matter where I have ever worked I have always given my employer 100 % and put their needs before mine. The one thing I loved to do was work, but that was taken away from me. I loved to work because it gave me the ability to work towards my goals and dreams and hopefully someday if I was luck enough to have my own family and provide for them. It's been over two years now that I have been out of work. I held down two jobs at the same time working full time at both jobs to save for my future and to pay bills. I worked from July of 2006 to mid February 2007 every day and I mean every day. If I was not working at one job I was working at the other and half of the time I worked at both jobs. Anyways, I noticed at one of my jobs I was shorted hours on my pay check and confronted my boss about this and she said that it was an honest mistake. I had been keeping close track because I had noticed that my previous checks may have been short as well. After I made the complaint I was met with a gauntlet of ways I was retaliated against from my hours being taken away from me to even taken me off the schedule saying that I had not completed some work even though I had the documentation to prove it and showed them so they had no choice but to put me back on the schedule. Then in February I get a call that I was being fired and they quoted "my work up there was not any good" even though I had received two good reviews and never had any complaints about my work up there. I presented evidence supporting my case that I was still owed the hours and that is why I was fired. It was later found out months later that I was telling the truth and in fact was still owed the hours. On a side note I contacted the Department of Labor and was told if I wanted to keep my job I shouldn't have complained about my hours. Imagine blaming the victim I was been told that it was my fault because I requested that I be paid for all the hours that I worked. Of course they had to call me at my second employer to fire me. I work in a call center environment. All incoming calls were monitored and recorded for quality control and callers calling in were notified of this via a message. A week prior to them making the call I received a raise and was in the process of interviewing for other positions within the company. After they made the call I was told I was not eligible to interview for other positions within the company, changing my hours, and a list of other stuff. The made a second call later with a list of different accusations which were untrue and I was fired the following day.
I had worked at least 6 months at either one job or the other waking up at either 5 or 6am I had dreams of buying a house, hopefully getting married someday. Of course when you have no money coming in your dreams sort of just go out the window and you do what you can do to survive. I use to be proud of myself and how hard I had worked since high school to pay my own way through college while working full time. Since graduating from college the majority of the time I have worked 2 jobs to work towards my goals. Anyways, so having lost two jobs within two months I was bound and determined to get a better job. I went on interview after interview and was getting nowhere. This went on for about 8 months and then I came to the conclusion that maybe my previous employer was saying stuff about me that prevented me from getting a job sure enough they were. I had people call up there secretly to verify this. I talked to several lawyers of course they wanted money up front which I did not have because I was not working. I talked to some legal clinics and was on the waiting list for over 6 months and was told finally they could help me out to only be told they could not help me because they had a over load of cases. And then there was the lawyer that said I had a good case, but there was not enough money in it for him so he told me to contact him back in six months, continue to look for a job and if I had not found anything contact him back and he would take the case. So about seven months later I contact him and he tells me he is too busy.
This has almost been going for two years now and with the bad economy I have been unable to find a job. I feel as though I have lost my purpose in life and have no direction. Some days I think I am all in a bad dream and when I go to sleep I will wake up the next morning and everything will be fixed. That's when I wake up and realize this is real and I wonder what I did to deserve all this. What really bothers me is that there have been numerous times that I have asked someone for help whether it be a individual or an organization to only be let down even though I have always been willing to help people out in their time of need. It' gotten so bad where I don't believe in anything and think a miracle is the only thing that will bring me back. I struggle to get out of bed every morning and am slipping into depression. I sometimes wish I had just died and that things would be better. As of today's date they have dragged this out for over two years now and they have stalled at every step in the process. Please help me.
Sincerely,
Alan Smithe

mdavis4452

Hi Gina, My name is Michael and I've written a couple of other producers about this but I just can't hold my silence. You wanted to hear about our stories well here's my amazing story in a few sentences. I'm legally blind, I've had over 23 surgeries at a local children's hospital when I was a kid, and I have glau coma. I'm also the first legally blind graduate from the University of Richmond's business school but thats not what I'm writing about! Last year, I recieved a new pair of glasses called "Bita Vision" glasses. The government offers lots of services to blind individuals and they provided me with these glasses after I got a new doctor who specializes in new technology for blind individuals. With these glasses, I was able to see stars in the night sky, street signs, license plates, facial expressions, and the list goes on! I hope that you read this and please check my youtube channel "xxclassic08" and the video called "Can Anyone See This Video?" It shows pictures of what my vision was like before and how much these glasses have CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER!! I'm a HUGE fan of Oprah and she likes to know things like this. I think it'd be great if she could do a show about things like this! I just need for people to know ok because I was denied services from the government for most of my life for stupid reasons and I want to help other people that are going through what I've been through. The thing is these services are there but if they deny access to them then they might as well NOT offer them. Please let me know what you think via the e-mail address I've created VolunteerForVision@gmail.com.

mopayne21

Dear Gina,

I would assume that you and the rest of the producers get many suggestions on topics for the Oprah Show, so I want to thank you for taking the time to read this. My suggestion is a show on re-writing the "Will" when it comes to romantic relationships. I have been discussing/debating all the many aspects of romantic relationships for some 4 or 5 years now trying to come up with a better understanding of where we go wrong when engaging in romantic relationships. Through dissecting the romantic relationship, I have come up with some very interesting information that I believe the viewers of the Oprah Show would love to hear. I have written something like a guide to help people understand what exactly is going on when they engage in romantic relationships (it was written only because I got tired of repeating myself to friends and family...lol). I have covered "Verbally Committing, Knowing, Emotions, Enthusiasm, Expectations, Time, Definitions, Labels, Change, Sex, Levels of Hurt, Actions vs. Words, Balance, and Communication". I have broken the romantic relationship down to its simplest form and have found many contradictions that we are unaware of because we do it unconciously. I would love for the opportunity to be able to explain more to you on this topic. I also have a diagram that depicts what we create when we engage in romantic relationships that the audience would be able to interact with to see on paper how unhealthy our current approach to serious romantic relationships is. As the times have changed, we need a new approach towards serious romantic relationships that eliminates the possibility of anyone "cheating" on anyone. I believe I have found a way! Hope to hear from you soon!

Regards,
Maurice Payne

bushmanism

Dear Gina,

As an immigrant, I always knew that we could not rely on our jobs and the economy to be peachy all the time. Therefore, I planned and executed a money management way based on a bushman living in America. In so doing, I managed to pay off my two mortgages on my two homes. I bought the newest home in 2004 for 585k (including upgrades). Thanks to God, I have not lost my job yet; but if it happens to me, I will be in a better shape to deal with it than the average American. I know exactly how it feels to be laid-off because I have been laid-off before a few times. I am also the author of - How I Became a Millionaire Bushman.

Thanks,

E. T. Ande (Bushman)

mrhawkins

I had worked in the construction industry for over 25 years. This past year has been horrible. I have lost everything. It is quite humbling to be college educated and make 60k a year to being offered 8 dollars an hour for a new job. After 8 months of unemployment...you are willing to take anything...I empathize with your recent guest who at 57 just lost her job. She has received offers at half of what she is making and refuses to take them. I was the same way but she has only been out of work for 30 days....Wait till it becomes 12 months and she is not getting unemployment. I did not qualify for unemployment so I did not have that luxury either. I do not think that the banks truely understand how many lives they have ruined.

mkonz1223

Hi Gina,

While like most people I have been affected by the recession, I have found it to be sprinkled with some blessings. I was laid off from my job in November, but luckily because I was attending graduate school (Anthropology/Archaeology) in the Washington, DC area, I had been saving a little. I found that losing my job gave me permission to attend graduate school full time and fully commit to a new career path. Sometimes we need a little push to make change, especially at a scary age! In addition, my niece moved into my two-bedroom apt when she got her Masters degree in Political Science (we started grad school at the same time and attended the same university). This helps her afford to make student loan payments and her small contribution towards the rent helps with my new unemployed/student status. We both seem to love the arrangement ¿ I sometimes think she is too comfortable living here and will never leave.

I love my new path and my new roommate. The only problem has been adjusting to the loss of my extra room which used to hold all my personal and school related papers, books etc. Reorganizing both of our work/personal space on a limited budget has been challenging and most of it has ended up in the dining room. Any advice for downsizing office/work space or sharing the apt?

Thank you!
Madeline

jesuscamp

Hello I can't get anyone to finance me. I lost my job in 06. It turns out I was also forced out. The union partnered with my former therapist which received hush money to frame me as a mental patient. I am a target. Certain coworkers didn't like me having a mind of my own. They knew people in places. The rules at the agency stunk. Everyday I monitored in my home and car. Certain relatives were privy to the private conversations I had with the therapist. I still talked with certain family members knowing that they plot all the time to keep me down. On top of all I am going through I am in my own home. It's frightening to know I don't have a fix and how will I contine to live off of my disability check. The above and some more haters didn't understand how I escaped the clutches of their criminal intentions against me. Since my house is bugged and all my calls are monitored going and incoming it is enough to make me sad. I won't get sat. There are so many people in my business. My own former Bishop help distroy my reputation so I would not look good at my hearing. I ran to another church where this Bishop is rich he threatens to sue for what I say on the internet. Another home I have that is not fit to live in a judge stole it and I got it back it is in a small town and their way of life is more run for your life then where I live. No one is helping me.

ssmith750

I have been extremely effected my this economic crisis. I live in New York City, I have been looking for a decent full time job for five years now. I even took a course in computers, and a school with a job placement program, yet I never got placed. I start online college in three weeks my latest effort to kick off a career, I hope having a BBA will change all that. Thank you. Sharon R. Smith jobless in New York City

bhaysrn

Hi Gina and thank you for taking the time to read this comment. I am a single mom (for the second time) and continuing to struggle financially. When my oldest son was 3 I went to a university and obtained my Bachelor's in Nursing and soon after earned my state registered nursing license. This was a huge accomplishment for me and my son but little did I know how I had buried myself in the process of reaching my goal. I had very little family support financially so put myself through school via grants, loans and working. I had never had a substantial income and after graduating and getting my first "real" paycheck I thought I was rich! I went from living on $600 a month to earning $24,000 a year. The problem is not knowing how to manage this new income. I came from a family who lived paycheck to paycheck and knew no other way hence debt was my destiny. Credit card companies prey on college students and new grads and my naivity thought "wow I can have credit cards now cause I'm making soooo much money". I have now been a nurse for almost 16 years and my school loan amount has tripled due to my deferring the amount due. I've worked 2 jobs most of my time since graduation, been through a marriage, divorce and birth of twins and am more broke than I was before graduating!!! I am so tired of seeing all of the financial support for "Moms to go back to school"--what about those of us who went but can't afford to pay our loans back??? I understand the above comments about trying to feed their families--I'm there now. I think universities should have better education regarding money management-the quick little exit survey one has to do when graduating is not sufficient. Anyway, I think you get my point and thanks again.
Sick and tired of working all the time and still being broke

37fraz

Hello Gina and thank you for looking at this. I checked all avenues and God lead me to send this email. Now I'm a woman of pride, strength, and intelligence, but even I get tired. My husband passed away on 2/26/2006 leaving me with two small children. He suffered a massive heart attack at his job. Unfortunately, we were young and did not plan ahead. No insurance or monies stored for such a crisis. So there I was left to be strong for my girls, not even able to properly grieve, I had to get back to work. I was promised many things by MAN, but I am the only person struggling to raise my children. I do not recieve any State benefits, however, I did recieve a Medicaid card, since I was forced to drop my insurance through my employer because I could'nt afford it anymore. I went to my local DHS office humbly and applied for food stamps. To my surprise, I was denied those benefits because to them I made too much money on my job. I was denied SSI benefits for my daughters because my husband worked in his family's business and to my surprise he never paid into SS benefits. There's just no humanly way possible I could afford to take care of my children alone. My monthly gross is 2600$! I cannot supply all of their needs. I am utterly depressed and just mentally drained. I cannot afford to miss a day of work and expect to pay my important bills, as some are ALWAYS left unpaid. I even feel like some days I don't even want to live in this world because of the stress of daily life. How can one expect me to be the best and only parent for my children? When there is no help for a situation like mine? I want to raise my children to my fullest potential. I feel like I'm not being the best parent I could be. I wonder how many other young women are in my situation? My heart aches for them! I'm writing this email to make you aware of everyday life that is common to many here in IL. I hope that you can be my advocate and fight for the rights of young widowers! Tell my story to America! God bless you and I will wait patiently for my time to rise above my horrifc life circumstances. Thank you for taking time out of your day and listening to my story.

dddoolin

Nov 13, 2009 9:57 AM

  |   in response to: alansmithe

Hii Alan Smithe,
This comment was left at my blog and I share it with you to answering your question or plea "Please help me." Don' give up. Trust in yourself. You've accomplished alot already I see. Keep on believing!
"Now on my third book of Daya Devi-Doolin's, I can assure you there are indeed many secrets revealed in her writing. Ever wondered who am I, where am I from, where am I going and why do the things that happen in my life happen? Have you ever dreamed there could be a secret answer book or guide to help direct you? Look to "Americans Saving Ourselves Together: How To Thrive in The 21st Century" for such a guide. This "how-to" is more than informative. You'll find inspiration in the secrets about life that are revealed and seemingly too simple to be true. The answers are at our mental fingertips and easily achievable once you learn the methods and understand how very powerful each of us are in determining the course of our lives. It's easy to realize your greatest dreams once your previously darkened path is lit with your own bright light and can travel it with ease." L. G.

Daya Devi-Doolin