I find Suzie Orman annoying… mainly because I don’t like her voice. And her callers are even more annoying.
That said – when I do read a quote from her, or catch 5 minutes of her show – she seems pretty pragmatic… more pragmatic than some of the suits that say they’re experts but have no idea what it’s like to have limited funds. Suzie seems to get the paycheck to paycheck concerns that some of the less wealthy have. She understands that some families struggle just to make ends meet…
I’m with her on the “cool” factor of no debt – no car loan and a paid for home. That’s my aspiration. (Making extra payments on the mortgage to make it happen.) For me, the cool thing about it is that I will no longer be a wage slave if I can reduce my expenses by having no debt. It takes a lot less to get by on if you don’t have the 2 big payments (mortgage & car loan) to factor into your budget. That’s freedom. Even if I continue to work at my job… just the knowledge that I *could* say “eff it” to my employer and NOT have to worry about the large, mandatory, monthly bills gives me joy. Real Joy. And that’s cool. I like what I do… but I dream of being able to quit, too.
I’m with her about the kids’ allowance for work thing too. But I’d add “some work is done just because you’re part of the family!”.
