Oprah's Debt Diet IV

[arminnie]

Why would anyone, especially someone in so much debt, spend that much on pants? My wife has 3 or 4 pairs of jeans at any given time and I think the most she has ever spent is about $25 and most were less than that.

I agree. I usually spend about $15 for a pair of jeans. I remember just agonizing over a purchase last fall - I bought a pair of Jones New York corduroy pants at Sam's. They cost $22, and I really debated spending that money!

Years (okay decades) ago I used sew to save money. I can't make my clothes for the price I can buy them for now.

Forget about the money part, I would HATE to eat out three meals a day. Heck, I don't even like to do that on vacation. Too much time wasted.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I wonder what the people on Exteme Home Makeover do?? Some of those homes are multi-million dollars!!

Supposedly ABC worked around it by "renting" the home from the homeowner for the duration of the build. (basically the renter updated the home and that would release the tax liability of the homeowner).

However--I seriously doubt that works too well.

In some cases--since the property tax woudl increase astronomically--I think that is one of the reasons they pay of some mortgages...b/c the tax payment will replace it. I'm sure they get creative on the rebuilds to minimize property tax liability--or at least I hope so.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I wonder what the people on Exteme Home Makeover do?? Some of those homes are multi-million dollars!!

Actually there is a loop hole that they use. The show rents the home for one week and makes improvements. All improvements made by a tenent is the property of the owner and there is not 1099 issued. So they owe not more than they did before the show.

 

[arminnie]

I get similar calls but from my mortgage company, not the CC. They call to offer me a home equity loan/line. They just don't seem to understand when I say I don't need or want to borrow any money.

I think I used to drive my mortgage company bonkers. I bought my condo when the market was way down in the early 90s in CA - values skyrocketed after that so I had a LOT of equity.

Why would I want to take it out to spend it? I love Disney, but I didn't go for over 10 years because I couldn't afford to. My home was a real fixer upper, and that took a lot of money for several years.

I am now retired, and I can go to Disney as much as I want because I was prudent and didn't spend my home equity money. When it was time to sell I got to keep the profit not use it to pay off home equity loans.

 

[Debbie]

They only think about the absolute cost - $10 or $20 and that doesn't sound that bad. But when you actually look at the interest rate, it is outrageous.

That makes sense. That is how I would think of it, too. A service charge as opposed to an interest charge. Doesn't matter, because I wouldn't use that sort of thing. I don't take out cash advances on the credit cards, either, although I do use my LOC. Well, I used to use it. Now I'm paying the sucker down. Slowly but surely, but
d
o
w
n she goes!

 

[disneysteve]

Forget about the money part, I would HATE to eat out three meals a day. Heck, I don't even like to do that on vacation. Too much time wasted.

We thought the same thing. We don't even do it on vacation. We always eat breakfast in our room unless the hotel provides it for free. And we usually do at least one dinner in our room, even if it is just ready made food we picked up and brought back though we usually make a grocery stop wherever we happen to be. The only vacations when we truly eat "out" every meal are cruises but that's a little different.

 

[Mickey & Minnie Mom]

Yes, Lisa Bradley made A meal for her family & was deemed "Queen of Cooking," but did anyone notice that they were eating the meal with plastic forks?????

I think the dishes looked disposible as well...at least they didn't match the new ones provided by the show.

That really peeved me. Just another flip of the nose to the show & those working to reduce their debt.

Lisa...you are the Queen of Denial!!!

 

[Nicolepa]

I think the dishes looked disposible as well...at least they didn't match the new ones provided by the show.
[/SIZE]

I did notice that they were using paper plates. It took me quite awhile to belive it. I kept thinking, Oprah wouldn't pick out plain white dishes, would she?

 

[Free4Life11]

Yes, Lisa Bradley made A meal for her family & was deemed "Queen of Cooking," but did anyone notice that they were eating the meal with plastic forks?????

I think the dishes looked disposible as well...at least they didn't match the new ones provided by the show.

That really peeved me. Just another flip of the nose to the show & those working to reduce their debt.

Lisa...you are the Queen of Denial!!!

Yep, I noticed it. I couldn't believe it. Maybe they are trying to use up the plates? Who knows though...

I'm still not convinced the Bradley's really "get" it. I just have this feeling that it's a big game to them.

I wonder why the other families didn't get gifts?

 

[DVC Sadie]

I have a feeling that Jean Chatsky had them return the leased SUV and instead buy one outright. I could be wrong. If the Car company did take the Bradleys leased vehicle back then someone from the Oprah show would have to have helped. I don't know of any car dealerships that will allow you to return a car prior to the lease being up.

 

[kaseyC]

Yes, Lisa Bradley made A meal for her family & was deemed "Queen of Cooking," but did anyone notice that they were eating the meal with plastic forks?????

I think the dishes looked disposible as well...at least they didn't match the new ones provided by the show.

That really peeved me. Just another flip of the nose to the show & those working to reduce their debt.

Lisa...you are the Queen of Denial!!!

I hate to be negative but IMO, the Bradleys are not going to be successful with the debt diet. They need to take drastic measures and Lisa will never be willing to truly sacrifice.

I agree with others that it was probably a mistake to give Lisa high end appliances, pots and upper tier dishes. This is a woman who is all about appearances and feels she deserves the best- even though she cannot afford it. I think it would have been more effective if Lisa would have been dragged to some big box discount store, given a set budget and had to purchase the same kitchen items and stay within her budget.

 

[LauraR]

Yep, I noticed it. I couldn't believe it. Maybe they are trying to use up the plates? Who knows though...

I'm still not convinced the Bradley's really "get" it. I just have this feeling that it's a big game to them.

I wonder why the other families didn't get gifts?

I have to say I find this woman really irritating. I know her husband is in there too, but he at least seems willing to get with the program. It's hard for me to conceive of someone that clueless about grocery stores, cooking and washing dishes. It really makes me wonder how she was raised. Are her parents eccentric millionaires, and she just can't deal with a middle-class life?

I also agree with some of the previous posters about eating out: it's fun now and then but it gets old fast.

Can't wait to find out what's up with that SUV....

 

[Imzadi]

I wonder what the people on Exteme Home Makeover do?? Some of those homes are multi-million dollars!!

There is a jewelry commercial here where a woman who had gotten one of the Extreme Makeovers on herself (not the Home Edition) is bragging on the commercial how her fiance was given the chance to give her a "free" engagement ring, courtesy of Exteme Makeover, but he turned it down, prefering instead to buy a ring from the jewelry store.

All I keep thinking when I see the commercial is, "Yeah right! Probably the taxes he would have had to pay on the EM ring was triple what the ring he ended up buying was.

 

[Chicago526]

The only vacations when we truly eat "out" every meal are cruises but that's a little different.

I just had an image flash through my head of you in a cabin, hunched over a hot plate making oatmeal!

Anyway, what Oprah should have done was give Lisa a set amount of money, say $400, and then take her to Target with a list of apliances, dishes, and cookware she must buy, and another list of optional items that would be usefull but not truely needed, then make her work out the best balance of number of equipment she could afford, price, name brand, etc. I do think it's okay for the show to give her the money to buy the items, even at entry level prices it takes a lot of money to set up a kitchen, after all that's why we throw women bridal showers. But the lesson would have been better if she had been made to comparison shop at a discount store. She could have decided for her self if the price differance between a 2 slice toaster and a 4 slice was worth "everyone having toast at the same time" or if the differance could have bought her a can opener.

 

[barbeml]

I think the Bradleys were an unfortunate choice because I don't think their overall situation or their reactions to the debt diet are particularly helpful to most people, just distracting.

I still don't get how the Bradleys and the Marnie bunch (can't recall their last name) have sailed on so long without facing any real consequences. Who goes 14 months without paying the mortgage and does not face foreclosure?

As I've said before, I would LOVE to see Oprah grill some of the banks and credit card companies on their practices. Some of them are no better than drug pushers in terms of their tactics.

 

[Imzadi]

I can believe it. I'm a New York City gal... We pretty much ate out every day. We loved it, since there was such a variety of food, I grew up loving everything from soul food to thai to ethiopian food.

I live in NYC too. It IS pretty much part of the culture here to eat out for lunch then buy take out to bring home to eat rather than cook. It is sooo easy as there are multiple delis, salad bars, fast food places or quick service restaurant with take out service, to easily pick up something on the way home. Or else you can order delivery when you get the munchies at night, once you're settled in.

Add to that, the tiniest, most non-functional a kitchens the size of closets. Most people I know don't cook at home. It stinks up all 3 rooms of the apartment.

Usually, when I order delivery, I order extra large portions to last me a few meals. Since any meal automatically STARTS at $6-$8, I realized that by adding on only a few dollars more (not double) for double the portion oe extras, I can stretch out the meal to last through 2 -3 meals & on one delivery tip.

I also factor in the extras that come with a restaurant meal, like an included salad or bread, or rice, with the entree. It's almost the same expense, cooking for one, if a lot of the extra ingredients get wasted, being tossed out of the fridge at the end of the week, because they weren't all eaten in time before spoiling.

If I buy bagged salad fixings for $4/bag, + dressing & a box of croutons, I've spent $10, for salad I might eat twice that week. (Yes, I know the bottle of dressing & croutons will last through many more meals.) But it's so much easier to go to Wendy's & get a Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad for $5 & get the chicken & oranges included. It seems more cost effective. But, overall, it's still too expensive living on take out.

 

[eliza61]

I agree. I usually spend about $15 for a pair of jeans. I remember just agonizing over a purchase last fall - I bought a pair of Jones New York corduroy pants at Sam's. They cost $22, and I really debated spending that money!

Forget about the money part, I would HATE to eat out three meals a day. Heck, I don't even like to do that on vacation. Too much time wasted.

I think the important thing here is your priorities and knowing what you can afford. I'm the opposite, I hate cooking, I think its a huge waste of time. the last thing I want to do after working all day is come home and cook. So my family and I do eat out alot. We enjoy going to a restaurant and talking about our day. I make sacrifices in order to do this (in my case, I drive a 12 year old nissan with 130K miles on it) and we never charge our dinners out. I fully realize that when my kids go to college I will probably have to re-budget , when my son needed braces my dh have to give up his golf membersip and I couldn't sustain my shoe habit (I won't even begin to tell you what I could spend in shoes). For me the point is, that Lisa needs an entire attitude adjustment.

 

[MEM]

I have to say I was appalled when I saw Lisa being given the All-Clad cookware and Cuisinart appliances. I really don't care that Oprah was given it for "free" by the manufacturers - giving Lisa the high-end stuff just feeds/enables her desire to keep up appearances and to have only the best in her house (and on her body). I also agree with those who said it would have been a good lesson for Lisa to be given a list of items and a budget and sent to WalMart or Target and settle for the Wearever-type brands.

Did anyone else notice that Marnie said she donated bags of clothes to Goodwill "with the tags still on them?" Does that make any sense for someone in her financial situation? $80 jeans with the tags still on could be consigned or E-bayed to raise cash to pay down their debt. I don't see how they could possibly realize that much as a tax deduction.

Having said all that, I'll probably tape the next episode on April 7th to see how many of their five cars Lisa and her husband keep.

In my fantasies, I imagine how Dr. Phil would talk to the three families...

 

[disneymom3]

This whole thing with the Bradleys lost all credibility when they were given all of the dishware, appliances etc. That does not happen in the real world. I can't even think about watching the show after that.

And as for why the Egglestons haven't been shown, it is because they are actually doing a decent job. What shock factor entertainment value is there in that. people genuinely working to reduce their debt is not going to create as much fervor as Lisa Bradley having never done grocery shopping before.

This could have really been used to educate the public. At this point it has descended to simple entertainment.

 

[Nolcrest]

I would LOVE to see Lisa Bradley on an episode of Wife Swap. Now that would be a wake up call for her.

I don't know why - she just irritates me.