Oprah show on Friday about getting out of debt.

[pearlieq]

I don't know who would be BLAMING Oprah. I'm simply saying she's an odd spokesperson for frugality, and not one I'd really take seriously.

It's little like Elvis' stint as a DEA agent...

 

[etwinchester]

Did/Do they have any "average Joe" people on the show? Maybe just overspending on normal things or DH got laid off and had tuff times.

I don't know of anyone who spends 7,000 on their hair and wouldn't be able to relate to their situation. I would like more down-to-earth people.

 

[Free4Life11]

Oprah's Favorite Birthday Things

Here is some Oprah humor courtesy of SNL...enjoy! This is one of my favorites.

 

[imsayin]

I have to crack up at this thread. I just went back & reread the posts here. No one ever blamed Oprah for peoples' spending happens.

 

[dvcgirl]

I have to crack up at this thread. I just went back & reread the posts here. No one ever blamed Oprah for peoples' spending happens.

I'm not blaming Oprah.....

In fact right now she's talking about being in debt herself when she was first starting out. So far, the show is good. One of the experts is David Bach, who is cool. He said..."America is leasing a lifestyle it can't afford". Also...that 70% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

 

[Free4Life11]

So far I like this episode. Much better than the Dave Ramsey one beacuse this time they sound like they are actually going to give tips.

That one lady...UGH. I can't imagine anyone just THROWING AWAY the bills?

ETA -- did you see when she said, "You have FIVE CARS. Two of them? Buh-bye!" The lady looked like she had seen a ghost!!

 

[dvcgirl]

So far I like this episode. Much better than the Dave Ramsey one beacuse this time they sound like they are actually going to give tips.

That one lady...UGH. I can't imagine anyone just THROWING AWAY the bills?

Yes, it is good. And keep in mind....all of the cases we'll see here will be extreme. However, carrying 20K in CC debt can be just as paralyzing. I'm just happy to see the topic talked about as much as it has been lately.

 

[lesroi]

I don't know how it works with other loans or interest, but I know when it comes to student loan interest you can deduct the full amount paid, up to $2500.

Actually, it is a PORTION dependent on your income for that year. We can not deduct all of the student loan interest that we are paying on my husband's loan as we make "too much" according to Uncle Sam.

Tracy

 

[barbeml]

I have no sympathy for any of them. Even as the bills piled up, they kept spending. Too lazy to cook, too lazy to wash dishes. Nauseating. Who the heck needs FIVE cars? They all seemed to need some therapy to find out what is so lacking in their emotional lives that they need to make up for it with things.

The show certainly had merit, since so many Americans are on the road to ruin due to narcissism and materialism. However, I'd like to see a show about helping people recover financially from catastrophic losses that were no fault of their own.

 

[Free4Life11]

Actually, it is a PORTION dependent on your income for that year. We can not deduct all of the student loan interest that we are paying on my husband's loan as we make "too much" according to Uncle Sam.

Tracy

That's true but I am so far from the income limits I tend to forget them.

 

[LauraAnn630]

You do know getting out of debt means NOT going to Disney!

 

[Free4Life11]

I have no sympathy for any of them. Even as the bills piled up, they kept spending. Too lazy to cook, too lazy to wash dishes. Nauseating. Who the heck needs FIVE cars? They all seemed to need some therapy to find out what is so lacking in their emotional lives that they need to make up for it with things.

Yep. They all need some mental help. At the end of the episode, they had no one on the show I could relate to. Good advice though, but what they need is a good butt-kicking.

$3500 a year on hair? $100 a day on take out -- WHAT kind of take out are they eating? Good grief.

 

[dvcgirl]

You do know getting out of debt means NOT going to Disney!

That's right...if you're in debt (other than the mortgage or cars), even paying cash for Disney while still having CC debt is hiding from the problem. And this program is talking about getting out of consumer debt, not saving yet. I wonder what the stats are on people who spend every single penny they make....and save nothing.

 

[mickeyfan2]

It's not Oprah's fault the interest rates are climbing-but again the people who pulled money from their home to live or improve things are not the well to do-they are people like my wife and I who wanted to paint our home and make other improvements.

As for Bush and the Fed-Bush picked the Fed chairman.

Also-rates have been steadily rising since Bush was put in office--those with tons of money in savings are now gaining more interest (getting richer)--while those with HELOCs and needing future credit are paying more (the poor get poorer).

One good thing is the more interest I pay-the more I can write off in taxes-I would rather the mortgage company and myself have the money over anyone in the federal government.

You did not have to pull money out of your house, you could have saved it to do improvements. That is what we did. We save then improved, repeated many times. Greenspan was not a Bush cronie. He was there during Clinton and before thim too. Raising interest rates are a way to cool an overheated economy. That has been the policy for 20+ years.

 

[Imzadi]

Wow! FIVE pages under the title about the Oprah show "Debt Diet" & not one post about the actual show when/after it finally came on.

Maybe it's time to start a new thread for those who actually want to talk about the show & any tips in the upcoming shows about this topic, instead of about Oprah's "Favorite Things" episode or what a hypocrite people who can't afford those items, think she is.

 

[sk!mom]

I have no sympathy for any of them. Even as the bills piled up, they kept spending. Too lazy to cook, too lazy to wash dishes. Nauseating. Who the heck needs FIVE cars? They all seemed to need some therapy to find out what is so lacking in their emotional lives that they need to make up for it with things.

The show certainly had merit, since so many Americans are on the road to ruin due to narcissism and materialism. However, I'd like to see a show about helping people recover financially from catastrophic losses that were no fault of their own.

I think that this was exactly the show that many need. The truth of the matter is that most Americans who are in debt are overspending. Those who are in financial difficulty due to no fault of there own are the small minority.

Certainly these cases are extreme but this is where overspending leads.

 

[imsayin]

instead of about Oprah's "Favorite Things" episode or what a hypocrite people who can't afford those items, think she is

I was one of the people that said Oprah is a hypocrite. It is not because I can't afford those items. I could buy plenty of her "items" with cash, not credit. I choose not to, because I don't think it is a great way to spend my money. So, I am not calling Oprah a hypocrite because I can't buy what she taunts, I am calling her a hypocrite because that is what I see in her shows.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I don't know who would be BLAMING Oprah. I'm simply saying she's an odd spokesperson for frugality, and not one I'd really take seriously.

It's little like Elvis' stint as a DEA agent...

Just because someone has "made it" doesn't mean she never had a problem with DEBT. She came from very meager beginnings and I am glad she is financially able to buy what she wants when she wants. Since when have "we" become a nation that would "shoot the messenger". Everone has a personal responsibility in regards to their debt.

 

[mickeyfan2]

You do know getting out of debt means NOT going to Disney!

OH NO!!!!! Say it isn't soooooooooooooooooo.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Wow! FIVE pages under the title about the Oprah show "Debt Diet" & not one post about the actual show when/after it finally came on.

Maybe it's time to start a new thread for those who actually want to talk about the show & any tips in the upcoming shows about this topic, instead of about Oprah's "Favorite Things" episode or what a hypocrite people who can't afford those items, think she is.

Sorry I cannot talk about the show since I did not see this post until it was already over here.