Suze tells it like it is in language that the financially challenged can understand. I watch her every chance I get.

G'day from Darwin, the tropical top end of Downunder in Australia's Northern Territory.

I am what is known down here as a self funded retiree - I pay my own way from our savings over the years - no government pension or assistance. Widowed in 2006 after 41 years of marriage I am concerned as to what will happen to my superannuation funds.

Rather than leave it till I find out the bad news I have started cutting back and living smart. I try to make sure I have a few dollars left over each week to put by - just in case.

A few common sense points I follow are :

No more credit card purchases if I cannot pay off the whole balance at the end of the month. If I can't afford to pay cash I don't buy it

Only buy fruit and vgetables that are on special. If not quite ripe leave out of the fridge until the sweeten up and ripen.

Buy soup packs of vegetables and make a big pot of vegetable and lentil soup (flavor with tomato paste or curry powder for different tastes). Put into generous serve containers, label and freeze. Tasty for lunch or dinner with a slice or two of wholemeal bread.

Big tins of salmon and tuna are much more economical than the little ones and you can make mornay, pasta sauce and curry out of the one tin.

No more magazines or paperbacks - I get all my reading matter from the local library.

I treat myself to a cappuchino a couple of times a week in a cafe that has the daily papers so I get to read the paper for free while I enjoy a leisurly coffee.

I love fresh tomatos and basil so I have a couple of pot plants on my balcony that keeps me in both ( and supply a few to friends and neighbours)

Oatmeal is very good for you and makes a fantastic healthy breakfast and can be varied with apple and cinnamon, banana and honey or a hand ful of frozen blue berrys.

A packet of dried powdered skim milk in the cupboard gives a constant cheap supply of fat free milk - 4 teaspoons with cocoa and sugar stirred up and zapped in the microwave makes an amazing hot chocolate that is GOOD for you... A couple of spoons full stirred into the oatmeal before it is cooked makes it taste lovely.

Treat yourself now and then to a nice glass of red wine - keep a screw top bottle in the fridge and it will keep fresh for a couple of weeks. One glass is as good as medicine and full of antioxidants and is much nicer than several of glasses of cheap cask wine.

Even if you eat alone take the trouble to set the table and make at least one meal a day an occasion to be enjoyed.

Invite friends on a bring a dish/bottle basis and then you can have fun at very little additional cost. Play scrabble or monopoly or another favorite board game instead of going out.

If you are on medications that are expensive talk to your chemist and doctor about taking cheap no name brands or support programs that may be available.

Last but not least is fix things as they break - don't let problem accumulate as they will get out of hand and once buried, it is very hard to dig yourself out.

Good luck, stay positive and keep happy.

Penni

Penni Tastula

Darwin NT Australia

Can't wait to hear what Suze has to say!

Penni,

What good, practical advice. I hope many will follow your lead.

Hi Penni. Just wanted to tell you how helpful your ideas were and useful. I'm in my mid-50s and have learned much of what you talk about here. Wish I could have fresh tomatoes and basil year-round, but not here in the Midwest US. My pot of basil is still flourishing -- for now. But Fall has begun and I'll try to bring inside this year and see if I can keep it alive. I especially like your idea about the powdered skim milk. I never would have thought of that and I'm going to try it. For sure, with the cocoa in it !

Best of luck to you. And to ALL of us. I think we're gonna need it and MAJOR lifestyle changes, as well.

Best wishes.

Chris - Liberty, Missouri

PS: I had a very dear friend who came from Sydney, and who died tragically many years ago. I miss her.

The media has contributed to the materialism that has driven the over spending. Sadly Oprah you are a part of that with shows like my "favorite things" which encourages people to want and have the things you have. Obviously you are not a substitue for peoples own financial judgement but shows like that are spirtually corrupt and empty.

Although some people seem to learn better from the "shame on you" in your face approach that Suze is so famous for, I can't help but think most people would have a more open mind if they weren't reminded of their failures so forcefully first, as Suze likes to do. I watched the show this morning and frankly, her style turns me off. She humiliated one couple and put herself up on her high horse once again by saying "you're talking to Suze Orman here!" Like they didn't know who was chastising them. Her berating the guests and condescending demeanor gets old really fast. I wish Oprah would get someone who could deliver the same good information in a more civil way.

My husband and I don't own a house but we're looking into buying a home so our children have a place to run around and have plain fun. We've been watching our money really hard for the last 3 yrs because we make under $30,000 a yr together. We're under paid and over worked and we fall below the poverty line. Everyone on the news are talking about how everyone is feeling the pinch due to the recession. Well, here's a question for ya, Suze.......If the rich and the upper-middleclass is NOW feeling the pinch, how do you think people like my husband and I have been making ends meet for a long time? I was a single mother for 2 yrs and I had a really hard time making ends meet living in a tourist town and where I was living before I moved to the Branson, Missouri area. Our gov't needs to get their head out of their butts and start thinking about the families who sacrifice their children for a war that's not needed, due to current costs can't save or do anything, and have to work 2 jobs and can't still make ends meet. We (the poverty and below) have to decide whether to put food on our table to feed our kids or to put gas in our cars so we can keep our jobs. The gov't needs to give us pay raises so we can afford health care for ourselves and maybe to start putting money away for retirement and college for our children, instead of giving themsleves pay raises without our approval 3 times within the last 15 yrs.

Suze is warning about getting money out of uninsured money markets on the show. Wasn't it in the news that even uninsured accounts will be protected for the next year?? Shouldn't something have been added to the show telling this so people don't rush out and cash in their money markets? It seems irresponsible to air that on the show if it is incorrect. Or am I misinformed? Any one have info?

I totally agree with you. I watch Suze Orman and this it is great and I feel like I don't buy much and our debt, besides the mortgage which has never been late, is around $1000. At times this seems overwhelming until I see what other people have and it is totally workable. So I try to spend less and live with what I have but then Oprah will have a show about make-overs and what items everyone MUST HAVE in their wardrobe and then they say the price and Oprah makes a comment of how reasonable that is and I think I have never bought an item of clothing that cost that much! I just get frustrated sometimes when I feel like I "must have" something one day and the next I should stop spending all together. My goal for this year is to be a little more financially sound which is difficult when the price of gas and groceries and diapers are constantly increasing and the money coming in is staying the same. We already decided we are not going on any vacations next year (except for the one that was postponed but already paid for) and we are making the holidays a little simpler this year. I wish everyone luck in his hurting economy.

For that couple from Florida. The state offers medical insurance for children called Healthy Kids (it is as cheap as $5 a mth a child). There is no reason their children cant get covered. I paid $15 for my 3 girls and never had a medical bill went to the same doctor they do now with my insurance thru my work.

Thank you,

Jackie Mendolia

PS tell Oprah I love her

Bigdoglvr - I have to agree with you. I think Suze Orman is a very financially wise person but her approach is demeaning. Obviously these people KNOW they screwed up, otherwise they wouldn't have written the show. What they need now is a plan not a lecture! I can relate to what that couple today is going through and YES I realize that we have screwed up as well. We aren't living on credit cards but we can't afford the home we have because medical reason forced me to resign last winter. We have tried to work out something with the mortgage servicing company but they really could care less. We are just trying to buy some time so we might be able to sell our house instead of having it foreclosed. We have always been a hardworking family and this is both embarrassing and humiliating and I wish I would have been smarter but now I'm forced to live with the consequences. I'd love some real advice but what I don't need is a lecture telling me what I already know...I screwed up I get it. Now what should I do?

Yes, it's time to listen to Suze, with her highlighted hair and fake tan....we need to live honestly. She speaks from experience after going losing everything from living a lifestyle she couldn't afford. Why can't she tell people to keep their homes, and lose the $100 hair bills or fake nails. Prioritize people.

sadly, i just found out about her today... i wished i had her advise 10yrs ago.... though i still wish i could talk to her... my husband and i are about 60k in debt..... none of it is credit cards... all of it is medical or student loans... though our life as improved somewhat.. we are still paycheck to paycheck w/ no savings.... but he will always have diabetes and i will always have a pacemaker... it seems like as soon as we get one paid off... we have more to get through. fruggle is my middle name... but even with all my cut backs, and do it yourself... there is still no savings... and that is extremely frustration.

The core of the Suze Ormans' talk is that we need to 'live within our means'. I still have 3 credit cards but pay my balance in full each month. This gives me a comfort in knowing I don't owe. My only concern is to whether I should continue to put money into my 401K and should I leave what money I have there or pull it out. I've got 5 different opinions from 5 different people. Everyone is worried but no one is really sure what to do given the unsteadiness of the market.

oogiegator@ yahoo.com