The Biggest Waste of Money - Suze Ormn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She knows these type of extreme statements get her attention, air time, relevance, clicks, book sales, product sales. She’s interested in her wallet, not yours.

Use your brain, look at your financial picture, and enjoy your life on your terms.

Spot on. Ormn is a master manipulator of the media. She knows how to get attention better than anyone. I can't believe people actually listen to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am extremely frugal and I hate spending money on food. I eat very cheaply. I don’t drink coffee or alcohol. Tried them both once and they were disgusting. My mom told me people buy coffee and alcohol just to be cool and most of them dump it out anyway. I do eat out for convenience but anytime I spend money on anything I feel bad so it’s not worth it to me.

Your mom was wrong.

[Anonymous]

How old is Suzie Orman? I doubt I'd cut dining out even when I get to 60. I love good food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am extremely frugal and I hate spending money on food. I eat very cheaply. I don’t drink coffee or alcohol. Tried them both once and they were disgusting. My mom told me people buy coffee and alcohol just to be cool and most of them dump it out anyway. I do eat out for convenience but anytime I spend money on anything I feel bad so it’s not worth it to me.

Alcohol, I do drink occasionally, but not coffee. I gave up on coffee about 30 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That might be click bait overstatement, but she had a point. Eating out is a waste of money, but not the biggest.

Yeah, I mean, a lot of people spend far more money eating out than they realize. Most of us would be far better off without it. And yet, most of us do it and enjoy it. We're not perfect. It's all about balance.

And it it depends where you’re eating. Places that serve you a tiny amount of artistically arranged food on a plate are more than a waste of money. They are kind of scamming people in an “Emperor’s New Clothes” way. Don’t spend your money in places like that. New York City is particularly rife with “tiny morsels of food/large check” type restaurants. Save your money.

[Anonymous]

Even take out from chik Fila, California tortilla, or the neighborhood chinese restaurant can cost you $50 for a family of four. Do it a couple of times a week you can easily spend $400 to 500 per month eating out. That's enough to fund an IRA. Most Americans shouldn't be spending that much eating out. The UMC of DCUM can decide whether it is worth it to them. Don't forget how unhealthy it is too.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:She probably has someone who cooks for her at home. No way is Suze cooking up a grilled cheese for dinner.

This -
She has staff and they cook and serve her. She probably gets taken out to eat on others' dime.

+1000

And she doesn’t have kids. She’s never had to work a 8:30-5, pick up kids from aftercare, then rush home to throw together taco night while the other spouse totes the kids around to sports practices.

So splurging on take out from Uber eats on a Sat. night after the kids go to bed while we watch a Netflix show is how we unwind and enjoy a date night at home. It’s also a drop in the bucket compared to all the years of daycare/preschool costs and what we throw into their 529s.

Lol at maybe $300 a month on takeout having a noticeable effect on our finances compared to childcare, housing, and college savings. Also that $300/month keeps us from totally burning out.

And we do make coffee at home (no Starbucks) but that is because we had the funds to buy one of those fancy machines that makes lattes, espresso, etc. So I would never begrudge someone splurging on an $8 drink on occasion just because they can’t afford an $800 coffee maker.

I, on the other hand, totally do begrudge someone their $8 fancy drink if they're not also taking care of their financial future. I'm the poster who said I read Suze in my 20s. I never, ever hit Starbucks during that decade of my life. Nor did I drink any alcohol at all. I went out with my friends, but my bill was always lower than everyone else's, because I had paid myself first, and thus I had less income left over with which to splurge. I worked my whole lifestyle around what was left after I saved for my future. A big reason why I did this was the education I received from reading Suze Orman.

Today, our HHI is high and we blow lots of money. After saving for retirement and contributing to the kids' college, we use our income to do fun things like eat out. We belong to a country club. I do hit Starbucks a couple of times a month. I do feel entitled to all kinds of luxuries now that I've worked for decades and sacrificed many of life's little pleasures when I was younger in trade for the great feeling that building a solid financial foundation brought me. Now HHI is high enough that what's left over after saving is still a lot.

I have kept several friends from my teenage years. We are now in totally different financial spots and we're at the age where they're getting nervous about it. I remember feeling incredulous and silently judgy when I'd watch how they spent when we were young. Lots of dining out, lots of drinking, lots of fancy coffee, vacations. Again, don't begrudge anyone these things, as long as they're buying them with the money that's left over after they've saved an adequate amount. That's Suze's point. And that $300/mo that is negligible to you can actually build great wealth for someone who starts saving it early. $3600/year saved for 45 years at 8% growth becomes about $1.4 million. That's a lot more than most people accumulate, and it's because most people waste too much relative to their income.

How sad. Sounds like you wasted your 20s, that should be the best decade of your life. If you were more rational you would have smoothed your consumption more appropriately over your lifetime and you could have had more fun and not stiffed your friends on the bill.

Typically American attitude. explains why so many are $500 away from a financial crisis and cannot afford to retire or pay for their kid's college.

Um how did she "stiff her friends on the bill"? She paid for what she ate/drank. Her friends paid for what they ate/drank. That's how teens/20 somethings typically handle finances if you are not rich. And that means if someone doesn't drink they don't pay for everyone else to get smashed.

Don't think she wasted her 20s. She had a good time within her budget, and now she's able to spend more and feel comfortable because she will be set for retirement (and probably for her kid's colleges).

But she mentioned she can splurge on luxuries now because her HHI is high. Not because she skipped the mimosas at brunch. And while she is judging her friends for what they ordered, someone else could probably judge her for even being at brunch to begin with. Why not just cook at home?

Obviously blowing money on expensive meals out if you can’t pay your electric bill is dumb. But for most people, it’s the basics of housing, healthcare, childcare, education, etc. that are crushing people’s budgets. So maybe they want to occasionally get to spend their money on something other than basic bills and necessities. But instead of fixing all the problems that have caused housing prices to multiply beyond wage increases or fix student loans so they’re easier to repay or invest in affordable early childcare, we have Suze Orman, who likely doesn’t cook her own food (or have any of the time constraints that would make this difficult) lecturing people for wanting to sometimes spend their money on something they enjoy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably has someone who cooks for her at home. No way is Suze cooking up a grilled cheese for dinner.

This -
She has staff and they cook and serve her. She probably gets taken out to eat on others' dime.

+1000

And she doesn’t have kids. She’s never had to work a 8:30-5, pick up kids from aftercare, then rush home to throw together taco night while the other spouse totes the kids around to sports practices.

So splurging on take out from Uber eats on a Sat. night after the kids go to bed while we watch a Netflix show is how we unwind and enjoy a date night at home. It’s also a drop in the bucket compared to all the years of daycare/preschool costs and what we throw into their 529s.

Lol at maybe $300 a month on takeout having a noticeable effect on our finances compared to childcare, housing, and college savings. Also that $300/month keeps us from totally burning out.

And we do make coffee at home (no Starbucks) but that is because we had the funds to buy one of those fancy machines that makes lattes, espresso, etc. So I would never begrudge someone splurging on an $8 drink on occasion just because they can’t afford an $800 coffee maker.

I, on the other hand, totally do begrudge someone their $8 fancy drink if they're not also taking care of their financial future. I'm the poster who said I read Suze in my 20s. I never, ever hit Starbucks during that decade of my life. Nor did I drink any alcohol at all. I went out with my friends, but my bill was always lower than everyone else's, because I had paid myself first, and thus I had less income left over with which to splurge. I worked my whole lifestyle around what was left after I saved for my future. A big reason why I did this was the education I received from reading Suze Orman.

Today, our HHI is high and we blow lots of money. After saving for retirement and contributing to the kids' college, we use our income to do fun things like eat out. We belong to a country club. I do hit Starbucks a couple of times a month. I do feel entitled to all kinds of luxuries now that I've worked for decades and sacrificed many of life's little pleasures when I was younger in trade for the great feeling that building a solid financial foundation brought me. Now HHI is high enough that what's left over after saving is still a lot.

I have kept several friends from my teenage years. We are now in totally different financial spots and we're at the age where they're getting nervous about it. I remember feeling incredulous and silently judgy when I'd watch how they spent when we were young. Lots of dining out, lots of drinking, lots of fancy coffee, vacations. Again, don't begrudge anyone these things, as long as they're buying them with the money that's left over after they've saved an adequate amount. That's Suze's point. And that $300/mo that is negligible to you can actually build great wealth for someone who starts saving it early. $3600/year saved for 45 years at 8% growth becomes about $1.4 million. That's a lot more than most people accumulate, and it's because most people waste too much relative to their income.

I wish I had your POV when I was young. Although I did always save for retirement with my first job out of college. I just wish I had maximized the full amount I could put in versus the match. And I wish I had better prioritized non-retirement savings.

Your perspective is why financial literacy should be taught in school from elementary through high school. Saving money when you are young opens up so many avenues to you that wouldn’t otherwise exist.

This^^^

It doesn't have to be an "all or nothing" approach. Sure you can get your Starbucks or dine out or have drinks with friends. But have it as a budget line and once it's spent for the month it's gone. So you have to decide--I have $X per month for this category, is getting a $7 Starbucks drink daily how I want to spend it, or do I only get it once a week?
You also have to learn to "pay yourself"---that means saving. A fresh college grad should certainly start "paying themselves" once student loans are paid off. And ideally should want to have a plan to pay those loans off as fast as possible.

My own college grad does this. They have no loans, but they budget how much for "entertainment" and try to stick to it. They also save a good portion of their income because that's how they've always been. Still has tons of fun. It does help that most of their friends have major student loans and have to be much more frugal.

DP. Since we got married, we set aside a percentage of HHI as savings, (we had 0 savings pre marriage) as we immigrated to US and came to study. At the start of the year, we estimated our HHI salary, bonus etc. and decided on a savings goal $ for the year. After that we were free to blow up money on vacations, eating out, anything.. that allowed us to live a little and save a little irrespective of our income. We started with saving 15% of HHI and as our income rose, save close to 33% HHI. So pay ourselves first

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Suze Orman, with a net worth over $75 million, says the biggest waste of money is eating out. She never eats out and will never buy a cup of coffee.

Isn't this quite shocking, even for a financial guru?

You can't take it with you Suze when you die! If I had 75 million I would eat out a bit and enjoy life!

[Anonymous]

Kevin O'Leary from the TV show "Shark Tank" who is supposedly worth $400m seems to agree with Suze. In this article he says that there are two ways that people waste money.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kevin-o-leary-reveals-two-190017308.html

One way is "First, he said, stop buying coffee for exorbitant prices. This is something he has reiterated in countless videos and articles, arguing that it costs 20 cents to make it at home and he “invests the rest.”

The second is “You go to work, you spend $15 on a sandwich… what are you, an idiot? It costs you 99 cents to make a sandwich at home and bring it with you.”

Both of them think that spending money on take out coffee is a waste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kevin O'Leary from the TV show "Shark Tank" who is supposedly worth $400m seems to agree with Suze. In this article he says that there are two ways that people waste money.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kevin-o-leary-reveals-two-190017308.html

One way is "First, he said, stop buying coffee for exorbitant prices. This is something he has reiterated in countless videos and articles, arguing that it costs 20 cents to make it at home and he “invests the rest.”

The second is “You go to work, you spend $15 on a sandwich… what are you, an idiot? It costs you 99 cents to make a sandwich at home and bring it with you.”

Both of them think that spending money on take out coffee is a waste.

This guy also thinks the ingredients in a sandwich cost less than a dollar and your time is free.

I know quite a few recent college graduates, and they’re all very clear on what eating out or buying premade food costs. That doesn’t mean they never do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it probably is the greatest waste of moneys for many of the poors.

I myself have been fortunate to make bank and have feasted in many of the world’s finest eateries, and I can tell you that I do not begrudge myself one single poached lark’s tongue. It was all paid for.

Why do you write “the poors?” Why can you not just write “the poor?” Whenever I see someone use the term “the poors” I have a strong suspicion that they are a Grade A jackass.

If it was just one guy who was poor, I would indeed call him “the poor”.

Unfortunately there appear to be a whole bunch of them, hence “the poors”.

Grammar 101, much?

You don’t understand grammar. “Poor” is not singular. It is plural. “The poor” refers to more than one person…not a single person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kevin O'Leary from the TV show "Shark Tank" who is supposedly worth $400m seems to agree with Suze. In this article he says that there are two ways that people waste money.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kevin-o-leary-reveals-two-190017308.html

One way is "First, he said, stop buying coffee for exorbitant prices. This is something he has reiterated in countless videos and articles, arguing that it costs 20 cents to make it at home and he “invests the rest.”

The second is “You go to work, you spend $15 on a sandwich… what are you, an idiot? It costs you 99 cents to make a sandwich at home and bring it with you.”

Both of them think that spending money on take out coffee is a waste.

This guy also thinks the ingredients in a sandwich cost less than a dollar and your time is free.

I know quite a few recent college graduates, and they’re all very clear on what eating out or buying premade food costs. That doesn’t mean they never do it.

No, time is not free. But neither is the time it takes to drive to a deli or sandwich shop, stand in line to place your order, wait for order to be prepared, pay for it and leave. Even if you call or order online, time is still involved.

I don't do coffee, I'm a hot chocolate person. I make them at home. It probably does cost me less than a dollar per cup.

[Anonymous]

If you know what you’re doing in the kitchen — especially if you know some basic cooking techniques and are able to cook without recipes using whatever’s fresh or what you have on hand — you can have home-cooked meals that are higher quality, healthier, and cheaper than eating out. That said, it does require time and there are days when you just have to resort to takeout (or the kids want it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even take out from chik Fila, California tortilla, or the neighborhood chinese restaurant can cost you $50 for a family of four. Do it a couple of times a week you can easily spend $400 to 500 per month eating out. That's enough to fund an IRA. Most Americans shouldn't be spending that much eating out. The UMC of DCUM can decide whether it is worth it to them. Don't forget how unhealthy it is too.

+1. God some Dave's Hot Chicken to go this weekend for 4 of us. $57.