This is a guest post from J. Money of Budgets are Sexy. If you've never been to Budgets are Sexy, you are missing a great read. Make sure you head over and check it out. Thanks J. for helping me out with a guest post while I'm out of town.
Words of wisdom from the Queen of Finance herself - Suze Orman (who seems to be popping up everywhere these days!) I don't know much about her, but it sure seems like she wants me to :) She's on every other magazine, or financial show I check out - my favorite being the SNL skits they always do on her! haha.... she's got one helluva marketing strategy! She even has her name on a credit scoring product from MyFico called the "Suze Orman FICO Kit Platinum".
But this quote of hers, "You have to look at what you have, not at what you had." is really something to think about. It's SO enlightening, yet so simple. I love it! With all my bitching about sucky cab rides, friends trying to "split" the tab, and those whacked-out investors feeding off of emotions, it's a nice slap in the face to get back to reality. (you can check out her wiki here)
The truth of the matter is that I have a LOT more than I sometimes think, and I'm willing to guess the same goes for you too. Having stable jobs, good families, and nice financial safety nets (even if in theory), beats out those trivial complaints by far. The only problem, of course, is REMEMBERING that you are fortunate enough to have these things - something I should probably focus a bit more on.
That being said though, a little financial bitching every now and then never hurt anyone ;) In fact, it makes life (and blogging) even MORE interesting, not to mention accurate. Not everything that happens to us can be positive, I don't care if you're George Bush or Barack Obama......haha sorry, I'm really not sure where I'm going with this...the words just typed themselves out :)
I think there's a healthy mix of appreciating what we all have, and learning from the reasons why we don't have what we did yesterday ... sprinkled with rants and raves throughout! As for this Suze chick, I'm gonna have to do a little more research and find out how she got this cult following. I heard "The Money Book for the Young Fabulous & Broke
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It's not just about not looking at what you 'had' but also not looking at what you 'want'. Seriously, not looking at what other people 'have' also means you're already coming out on top.
As always, be happy with what you 'have' and then you're on to a winner.
I have read the Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke and I think it was great! It is broken down into easy to read question/answer format. It is easy to skip around to read what interests you or applies to your situation. I learned so much from that book that I am able to share info with more senior personnel at work who had no clue! I think alot of what she wrote about applies to a much larger audience than just the young and broke.
That is a good quote! I don't like Orman, but this statement is right on the money. Too many people tend to hang on to what they had, assuming it will come back quickly, and refuse to look at where they are at right then and make appropriate adjustments. Then before they know it, it is too late and they are in foreclosure or going bankrupt. I hope people here this statement from her and realize it is a wake up call many need to hear.
Not only have a read her book, but I have seen this DVD -- both from the library, of course! It is a simple quote that we often need to be reminded of. You can't get to where you are trying to go if you are always looking behind you. While I think it's important to learn from the past, we shouldn't live there. We can only move forward.
I agree that Suze Orman's persona can be a bit much at times, but I also agree with Gypsie that the Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke is definitely worth buying. I've read it at least three times, for both instruction and inspiration.
I love me some Suze Orman.
Young, Fabulous and Broke was a good book, if not a little on the generic side (most of the tips are pretty simple and obvious), although I think that a lot of people need that reiterated from time to time. But like gypsie said, you can easily jump around from chapter to chapter to read about your personal interests and situations. It's definitely a good read.