Although I worship the words that Suze Orman speaks every Saturday night, I always get a bit ticked off at the overwhelming amount of callers who seem to call in to show off about their financial statistics. You know who I am talking about: The people who want to buy a yacht, or take a month long cruise vacation in the Mediterranean. Very rarely do we hear a caller who has 2 children and the combined income of the average American, about $50,000.

Here is a mock example of the typical American TOO EMBARRESSED to call Suze Orman.

"Hi Suze, I love your show"

"Thank you. Ok ok, stop buttering me up. What do you want to buy?"

"My husband and I would like to go apple picking with the children this weekend. We figure after the amount spent on gas, the admission fees, the costs for the apples, pumpkins, and cider, it will cost about 100 dollars. If we dine out for dinner, 175 dollars total."

"Is that a picture of an apple orchard close to your house?"

"Yes Suze. Near DeKalb, about an hour's drive away."

"OK Dear, SHOW ME THE MONEY!"

"Well Suze, we have a combined take home of $2,700. Our mortgage is 175k at 6.5%. We have no car payments because we drive a beat up 1997 Dodge Ram pick up truck and a 1994 Buick. We owe 16k at 15% in credit cards and have $350 in savings and 18k in retirement. I am 29 and my husband is 32. Our children are 6 and 4."

"Well, the thing is, with your income and your extremely high credit card bills.... btw, what did you charge to get yourself into SO MUCH DEBT?"

"Our electric, the groceries, the rent at times. It wasn't until recently that my husband got a generous raise".

"... I hate to do this, but you don't have the money! You want to spend HALF of your savings picking apples? I understand that you want to do fun things with your children, but what is more important? How about you go to the supermarket, pick up some apples, hide them in the back yard and do an apple hunt! That will cost only 5 dollars for the apples. So in response to your request, YOU HAVE BEEN DENIED! YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO DO ANYTHING THAT A TYPICAL AMERICAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO FOR FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT ON A TYPICAL WEEKEND! Folks, times are tough, and basically, if you make $50,000 a year or less, which is half of you, you will never be able to save a dime and now that credit cards are retracting their credit to you, you can never afford to have fun."

So to sum up and actually state why I wrote all of this: PLEASE SUZE, you express that people shouldn't spend, people should save, people shouldn't waste. Well, many of us HAVE cut out going out to dinner, cut out the Starbucks, cut out even magazine subscriptions, dropped our super cable and now only have basic cable or no cable at all, car pool, ride bikes, steal wireless internet connections to save 40 dollars a month. And granted, we're not getting DEEPER into debt, but we're not saving. Please don't say go get a second job, because they don't exist in the majority of the country.

Ok, what do we do now? Thank you.

Dear Redsox28,

Suze is incredible. I personally have many of her books and CDs.

I agree that the average american is just like your scenario in your message and probably worse.

As a nurse for 20 years I have observed how administration makes decisions or suggestions based on what the "numbers" are on a piece of paper. They don't have any idea what we actually do in a day and what is required of us based on their piece of paper. They need to spend a few days shadowing a nurse and get the real picture.

I know Suze has experienced financially hardships in her life and knows what it feel likes. She is trying to make a difference. What you stated in your message needs to be heard because it IS the "Real World".

I don't know the answer for our current situation. Hopefully Suze will have some suggestions, but for now,we don't need to focus on what we have done wrong financially, we need to learn from it and go forward and never live beyond our means agian.

I do know one thing that should happen NOW.We need to DEMAND our schools teach a personal finance class and get the appropriate education started for our children so this never happens again! (As well as adults)

I wrote Oprah a letter and put it on the message board in hopes that it will get to her and she will consider my idea.

Thanks

that is one show I would like to see ....lol

Greetings Ellen,

Thank you for you wealth of information! I too have read a couple of Suze's books, and I watch the show religiously. The best part is that the show airs on Saturday nights, so at the very least, we stay in and save money by not going out, woohoo!

Your idea of having a personal finance class in schools is brilliant. Perhaps (and maybe they do exist) adult education classes on personal finance would be beneficial.

Could you provide a link to the letter you posted on the message boards?

All the best,

RedSox28

Dear Suze,

I am on disability , which does not pay every much. What I was wondering is, the way the things are going will it hurt those of us on

social secuity or disability? No one has talked about the people in that area. I worry like everyone else what will happen if there is no

money.

Thank you,

Pat Luby

Uh, couldn't you do the trip for say, $50?

50 miles round-trip = 3 gallons of gas ($10 - right now)

bushel of apples = $20

admission = $25. Skip the cider. Ask for samples. Buy a half-gallon there ($3) and bring cups.

Could you find a place to pick apples with FREE ADMISSION?

I live in Apple Country, New York. and most places that sell apples here don't charge admission!!

And you will use the apples to make applesauce etc. so that's good.

You've got to make memories and picking apples is one thing your kids will always remember.

PS -- Your Suze dialogue was hysterical!

Re the personal finance course:

Those courses are offered, but no 16-year-old that I know is going to say, "Gee, mom, skip the iPod and invest in a CD instead. The bank kind, of course."

Kids don't care.

I have a friend with a 16-year-old daughter who, when presented with the family budget, says, "Well, you just need to get a better job!"

I think people on disability WILL be affected and it will be tough.

In the future, I think the government will give incentives to companies/organizations that work with people on disability to help them earn SOME kind of income.

The system DOES seem to be screwed up and there seems to be a lot of DISINCENTIVES for people on disability to even TRY to get off or to earn a little bit of money (ie, loss of medical assistance).

Good luck.

Good morning Dimmzy,

Your figures sound quite accurate. Please keep in mind that this was a mock phone caller, not myself. I have been "shopping around" for an apple orchard to go to, and every place I have found in Illinois charges admission. I am originally from New England and don't ever recall being charged admission to an orchard. Also, every orchard seems to have a pumpkin patch (and that has an admission price too!) Plus corn mazes, the orchard store, etc. Yes, a family of four could go apple picking for cheaper, but, then what would be the point? May as well just go apple picking in the supermarket.

Also, the mock caller had a beat up pick up truck and an old Buick, both of which are gas guzzlers at 8 miles to the gallon Plus the mock caller filled up both tanks up LAST week when the price of gasoline was $4.09 in Cook County so a 140 mile round trip uses 12 gallons at $4.09. That's a lot of money!

Enjoy the weather in Upstate NY! It must be beautiful there this time of year.

RedSox28

I appreciate all the attention the Oprah show is giving to educate people and give advice on how to better their lives.

However, on each of these shows about the financial crisis, something that is being said over and over and it bothers me.

Oprah, you talk about this crisis being a spiritual message, and Suze talks about being responsible with your finances, YET - in every show the banks are getting the blame for their greed and the poor "Annie" is given the free excuse of being the victim. Where is the personal responsibility? In a recent Eckhart Tolle book class, the ego was addressed in great detail, and Oprah, you agreed with Tolle at that time. Yet now with this financial crisis, that message is thrown out the window. Is it that the message only works when it serves the purpose at hand? Someone once said, we can always find a good excuse to excuse what we want to do.

Today I re-watched the show with Ali Velshi and Suze. And again the banks are blamed for the greed and the poor unsuspecting "Anne" is sold into taking this higher mortgage or larger line of credit. Ignorance may be bliss for some however in the larger picture ignorance is no excuse.

It appears Ali speaks more about personal responsibility as he says "WE thought that things will be better for us financially year after year, the banks encouraged that concept. WE are powerful people, because WE caused this". The banks like the grocery store and the wheat supplier are entitled to make a profit from their business. When they profit, they too create more jobs.

The American public is not that ignorant. They KNOW if they can afford the bigger house. They KNOW when they are exceeding their credit limits. They KNOW where to get information to make an informed decision. And instead when they want the ego satisfaction of the house, the clothes, the credit cards, the stuff, they now get to play the victim? These were personal choices, not victimization. They may have a personal self worth issue which they believed could only be satisfied with more stuff, however that is still their personal responsibility.

Just because a person has low self esteem and they feed that void with candy and they get fat or develop an illness because of their overweight, does not make the candy manufacturer the blame. This person is not the victim, they are the participant who bought and ate the candy. The candy manufacturer produces candy to make a profit, and knew that some people would want this candy, but not all people do.

Suze refuses to believe that it started with (regular people) and she is entitled to her boisterous belief. However, how does refusing to take personal responsibility help people to not do the same thing again in the future? She adamantly blames the banks and their greed. Isn't it really more of which came first, the chicken or the egg? What good is being accomplished by relinquishing people of their responsibility to stay informed before making their decisions.

We live in a country where we have the right to inform ourselves about our political issues and candidates before we vote. We have the same availability of information to educate ourselves on financial decisions before we make the decision. The "Annies" are not the victims, they are the participants.

In my own life, the sooner I accept my responsibility in a tough situation that find myself in, the sooner I can find my strength of character, and move forward again.

Choosing to stay in the victim arena empowers no one.

Dimmzy,

That is EXACTLY the reason we need to DEMAND that every school in America have a personal finance course. There is only a handful of states that it is required. Kids graduating from high school don't even know how to balance a checkbook.

I have been told parents should start teaching basic personal financial literacy at home. I absolutely agree. I know that does happen in some homes but obviously not enough. How can it start at home when the parents do not even understand?

I cannot help but think if we as Americans had been educated and understood how mortgages worked and loan interest calculation we might not be in this financial circumstance. Let me make it clear, I am not blaming anyone or stating we are not intelligent. Only we have not been educated on these issues. So we HAVE to get American educated so what HAS happened to our economy will never happen again!

Yes, Dimmzy, there are courses offered. There are many different books and programs on this subject. Many of us would read a book or take a class, but how many people do not. There are many reasons fear, cost, or they do not have the resources to purchase these materials Whatever the reason, at this point in the game we need to quit complaining and blaming. Life isn't fair. So you can make a choice. Dwell on what isn't fair and right or realize it is what it is and move forward with all that energy and make a difference.

Don't misunderstand it make me furious what has happened. I am a wife and mother of three, two in college. We are "the average middle class American family."

I don't know what all the answers are but I know I am not going to waste anymore time talking about how unfair, can you believe,we should of, they should of and on.

I have started a Debt free community project. I will go family-by-family, school-by-school, and community by community-in efforts to educate on what I have learned. My mission statement is to provide American families the financial education and resources necessary to become and remain debt free.

So thank you for your input. If "Kids don't care" now, I think in the next few months WILL.

Re: "Can You Afford That?" with Suze Orman "Can You Afford That?" with Suze Orman ellen1061 Oct 11, 2008 Dear Oprah, I have a challenging plan to propose to you! After watching your show with Marcus Buckingham, and a lot of consideration, I decided to resign from Nursing after 20 years and open a financial business. This has become my passion. Much to my surprise, I realized how uneducated people are on mortgages, on how the interest is calculated and the effect that it has on your mortgage. All they seemed to know was what their monthly payment was. Not having any idea of the whole picture and maybe more importantly, they have no idea about their FICO score and how dramatically it affects so many areas of their personal finances. In March of 2008, I watched a segment on MSNBC. Muriel Siebert "Fighting financial illiteracy" Mickie was the first women on Wall Street. She wrote a personal finance curriculum approx 10 years ago and just recently finished the updated version. Mickie is offering it FREE to anyone. She will even adjust it to the standards of your state. She hopes a personal finance program will become mandatory in every school in America. I was so impressed by her story I found her phone number, and called her. I have been in contact with her and her staff ever since then. She has sent me several copies of the curriculum and I have dispersed them to the schools in my community as well as to other individuals. Mickie also stated she would be more than happy to talk with you. In addition, I emailed Suze Orman and received a telephone call in response to my email. I also talked to Jean Chatzky on Oprah and Friends XM radio. I emailed and left a message to you, Gail King, Jean Chatzky, and The Peetes. I have not received a response yet but I am not giving up. You are on my vision board! After speaking with Mickey, schoolteachers, and other financial experts, some information I learned are as follows: * 1. Why is personal finance not included in the curriculum? The answer I received was that there is not enough "room" in the curriculum to add this course. Teachers are required to focus on the subjects that are on MAP testing. The MAP test (is what MAP testing is referred to in Missouri) is known as an end-of-year or standardized test. The purpose is to make sure our public schools are adequately teaching the correct material to the correct grade level. What happens if your school does not score high enough on the test? They do not get state funding! It can end up being something the state can hold over your head and even take over your school for if you do not do well. Does it sound as if the all mighty dollar plays a factor in this? Maybe the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education - DESE needs to reevaluate the curriculum. If you do not have basic personal financial skills, all the History, Math, English, etc... (Which are important) will not matter if you cannot manage your finances in the real world. * 2. Parents should start teaching basic personal financial literacy at home. Hum, do you think maybe that that might be a problem? How can it start at home when the parents do not even understand? There are many different books and programs on this subject. Many of us that would read a book or take a class, but how many people do not. There are many reasons fear, cost, or they do not have the resources to purchase these materials? Finances scare people, they get overwhelmed. I cannot help but think if we as Americans had been educated and understood how mortgages worked and loan interest calculation we might not be in this financial circumstance. Let me make it clear, I am not blaming anyone or stating we are not intelligent. Only we have not been educated on these issues. So we HAVE to get American educated so what HAS happened to our economy will never happen again! Therefore, what do we do to educate our America? Below are some ideas. * 1. As far as myself, I will continue with my Debt free community project. I will go family-by-family, school-by-school, and community by community-in efforts to educate on what I have learned. My mission statement is to provide American families the financial education and resources necessary to become and remain debt free. * 2. Give the American people the information needed to DEMAND to make it mandatory to take a personal finance course in every school in America!. What you did to get the US Senate Bill 1738, Protect our Children Act! WOW, That is powerful * 3. Request that Suze Orman, Mickie Siebert, and Jean Chatzky and other experts get on board with their knowledge and skills. * 4. Have an online course similar to The New Earth so we can start educating adults in America. In BABY STEPS. One subject at a time. If it takes 5 weeks to understand a topic then continue until people understand. Once the adults become knowledgeable, they can start volunteering in their community. Go to schools, library's etc to continue educating. * 5. Have a 101 program similar to Finance Crises101 with Ali Velshi on the bail out. He explained the process so the average American could understand. Most people have a TV or access to one. People are more likely to watch a TV show rather than read a book .The Oprah Show gives Americans hope, viewpoints and answers to many questions and problems. People are terrified right now with our economy, and are hungry for knowledge on personal finance. * 6. Use Mickie Sherbets curriculum it is already COMPLETED AND FREE! Oprah, I believe YOU can help make this happen. I am requesting for your help. If anyone can get the American public's attention, it would be you. I will continue my mission person by person. I am requesting help from you to get this information out to everyone in our Nation. Your record of accomplishment proves you can make this happen. I am not asking for money nor do I want recognition. I want to make a difference! If something, is not done what will happen to our children and the generations to come? I would like to know when I retire someday that we did everything we could to help our youth. (Remember they will be the ones taking care of us when we get old)! With my deepest sincerity, Annette

I love your example redsox28. However, I would be more impressed with Suzie if she tackled a typical American family problems.

Say someone who is not up to their ears in credit card debt. a family that makes less than 45K a year. A family of 4 and the wife is a SAHM because it actually saves them money in daycare costs for 2 young under-school aged kids, and gas. The family that doesn't and has never gone out for coffee in the morning. doesn't go out to eat, never got their nails done. does their own hair cuts, sits at home instead of going to anything that would be "family fun" becuase of gas. Who is thrifty, but refuses to feed her kids and family junk food because she can get a $1 of coupon for frozen pizza. cooks all her meals from scratch. has a very very modest mortagage (and i mean UNDER 100K) drives a used car not new. Their only "fun" purchase is their cable ..

So Suzie what is your advice for this hypothetical family, because Suzie my dear...... THIS is what the typical American family is! They are not the ppl you are talking too soooooooo rudely and tellign them to sell their house in a dead market and to strap down and not spend and never have any more fun, have 4 credit cards and have over 50K in those credit card debt. Nope Suzie my dear...... the typical American family is in the lower-middle class. Let me quess, your advise to them would be

"oh tell your kids that Santa clause will be missing their house this year because he is broke, so dont' expect any presents under the tree kids.

And any responsible parents' response to a 16 yr old saying such rude and disrespectful things to them and not showing one ounce of graditude for raising them, clothing them, feeding them, and putting a roof over their head would be

"Why don't YOU go get a job!"

What a crock! I know Suzy takes calls every show from real people who only make $12.00/hr and have no 401K. Oprah, the guest you brought on was a slap in the face! You claim to relate to people, but I was insulted to hear this poor woman who makes over $8th a month and has $339th in retirement already whining if she can retire early.....what a whiner!

I happen to be one of those people who is only able to rely on the points I am collecting against my payroll check for my social security as my retirment cusshion. Where is my advice? I was completely irked to see you brought on such an unrealistic guest for Suzy to consult! What happened to dealing with the real people? Have you gotten so famous that you have created this bubble around you where no real people are allowed to enter?

Shame on you Suzy too! Shame on you for not stopping Oprah and telling her to bring a guest more characteristic to the real world!

Once you ladies get this taste of fame you get so rightous! Shame on you!

Real world folk