This should be interesting..

Oprah.com - Live Your Best Life

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Live, Love, Laugh

I will be working my @$$ off this week but I have Oprah on DVR if I come home and you are all talking about it I will watch that evening. If not I will watch Saturday or Sunday.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Ok I really dont like Oprah but I have to see this show....it sounds so interesting...and I could use the tips....It says the HEinz family makes $58000.00 a year and has 70000.00 in savings...Gotta watch...Gotta watch!!!LOLOL Sherri

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"It isn't that liberals are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so."
- Ronald Reagan

Thanks for the heads up!! I need ALL the help I can get.

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*** Find A Need , Fill A Need ***

Thanks for letting us know. I seldom watch Oprah but I will tune in for this.

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

That should be readily achievable over a 10 year period putting away 10% of income per year to savings as everyone really should. Pay yourself first - just do it!

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I was thinking the same thing...... I'll hopefully be watching. This topic just interests me anyway.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Thanks for the info. I also stopped watching but will tune in today! Thanks!

"It will take a change in attitude", for sure.

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Okay, they had some great tips for people... but they say they have $70,000 in savings but are carrying credit card debt? Unless that savings is tied up in IRAs, 401Ks, etc, it just doesn't make sense to me.

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There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one!
-Harry Chapin

That's what I thought! But I guess we don't know the whole story either.

It didn't really tell me anythign I didn't already know or do. Sure I could cut down more like on the cell phone, or get rid of the land line but we aren't at that point. If you are at the point where you need that it would really help though!

I think more people should help others like the Heinz did with that other family, that would be very helpful these days. Some people just have no clue, they don't think about things since they've never had to.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I didn't watch, but anyone with 70K in savings that still chooses to carry CC debt doesn't sound too thrifty to me. Now, if they mean they use their CCs and just pay them off every month, that's different, but I wouldn't call that carrying debt.

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Reading is Fundamental.

I am guessing the $70,000 in savings they speak of IS tied up in stocks or 401K since the wife said their savings keeps going down with the market. They are paying 3X the minimum on their c/c debt, and surely are living within their means.

I think mentoring another family is a GREAT idea, too.

I didn't learn anything new, and doubt I will go around unplugging everything. One time we went on vacation for a week, and turned off the hot water heater at the breaker box......no change in our electric bill....go figure.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

IMO, carrying credit card debt means not living within your means.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Truble2301, I have to respectfully disagree with you.

I carry credit card debt BUT that credit card debt is from the purchase of my mobile home, car and some medical expenses. NOT from buying things I did not need.

I used my credit cards to buy my home and car because the interest rates were waaayyy lower than a bank loan for those things. Credit cards can be a very useful tool when they're used carefully.

That said, I do agree that once you have a nice emergency fund put aside it's a bad idea to keep pouring money into savings while carrying credit card debt. I have an emergency fund equal to 6 months expenses so now every extra cent goes to my credit card.

Sadly, the majority of cc debt probably isn't from cards being used as financial tools, its from having to have things people don't need and couldn't afford.


I was disappointed in the show. I learned zero, zilch, nada.

Oh, and I don't think virgin mobile offers the $15 ever 90 days offer anymore. I know that's the provider they were using because I have the same deal and the only reason I'm still able to get the $15 deal is because I've been with them for so long and have had that deal since day one. I'm 99% sure they don't offer it to new customers.

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Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

I didn't watch the show, but from the comments here, I just don't get. What's so special about this family?

We make less than they do, had more in savings (until the stock market tanked, now we have about 54k) and carry no credit card debt at all. When do I get to be on TV?

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

In the show, they said there were some "bumps in the road", and they accumulated c/c debt. They are working on paying it off, which to me shows that they learned their "lesson" and are NOW living within their means. That is what I took away from it anyway.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I also thought it was a little outdated--no Big Shocking Secrets.......we have all heard about the double coupons, walgreens rebates, etc etc.....(but we are also mycouponers too). This is from someone in the Land of No Doubles......

My biggest complaint is that you are not saving money buying things no one will use.....re: the two women that saved so much at Walgreens.....even if I got Pert Shampoo for .50 cents, no one will use it here because we have well water and makes our hair look greasy!

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"It's not about how much baggage you have, it's about whether or not you can carry your own baggage with grace and dignity."

truble2310 I am so with you, living with credit cards in not living within your means. If you do not have the money to pay for it today, what makes you think you will have it tomorrow??? . I am proud to say we are debt free, yes we do have a credit card only only used for emergency purposes and if we do use it which is so rare it is paid right away so no interest is added on. We do use Debit cards which are the best, you can only spend what you have in your account. I know its not always the answer and some people must use credit cards. Other ways we love to save money is of course my use of coupons and we have triples here so I can afford to stockpile which I love love love. I also only shop clearance racks and garage sales. My cell phone is only only used for me to talk to my kids, dh, and parents period. There are so many ways we truly can save money on a daily basis. If anyone else has some idea's kindly post them. Peace. Catherine

Unfortunately, I missed this show. I would have like to have seen it....am always looking for ways to cut corners. Catherine, Dave Ramsey would be proud of you! Maybe you should have been featured on Oprah.

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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

I dunno, that this would make a well-publicized show kinda bothers me. To me, it was stuff people should know and have in practice, It was common sense, nothing earth-shattering. It troubles me that the average person might not have a clue of how to live within their means. I guess the pod people may have taken over after all.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

targetgirl, I've never heard of a credit card that would give you lower rates than a bank if you're carrying a balance, but good for you for doing whatever works best for you. That's the important thing, that you do what works for you without incurring huge debt and interest charges. I have an idiot BIL that racked up tens of thousands in debt on a bunch of garbage and it was an absolute mess to clean up.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Me on oprah no way, personally I would be sooooooo nervous, thanks however for the complaint... I have always believed in less in more, we as a society live in a very materialist world, I do not , for me yes of course you need money to survive, however without family and your health, what will material things truly bring you.I am not saying you should indulge in things or items that bring you happiness because afterall life is way too short, however it means you must use your credit card to keep buying and buying in the end, you would have paid for that item 3 times, if you let the interest build up. Perhaps I do suffer from being frugal, but it is my make-up and I simply love it. As far as the show I watched the whole thing and I sincerely enjoyed it. Peace. Catherine

I didn't watch the show but did look on the website for the summary and "tips". Didn't learn a thing. I went through a phase where I unplugged everything because I heard the electric bill would go WAY down. Pissed my DH off to no end because I would turn off the PC instead of it going into the screen saver mode. I didn't save more than $1...honestly. Too much work and irritation for $1

We are debt free on our credit cards but I use them to my advantage. It can't be done by people who spend more than they have but I love it. I earn cash back from my cc for all of my purchases. I pay it off in full each month and then cash in my points every month. Since I do both personal and my business through the same card, it's great. I earn $50-$200 a month in cash. That's *fun money* around here. I think we here at MYC are much more informed than the people on the show

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

ITA, sexysmurf, especially with your last line.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Isnt this show a repeat?

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littlejo yes it was a repeat, however the first time I watched a bit, this time I watched more...hth.. peace. Catherine

They said they spend $650 a month of clothes and DVDs and such. For some people, that is their rent/mortgage payment.

I find the best way to "save" money is to give more of myself. It sounds strange, I know, but, the more we give, the more we get. Maybe it is just good kharma??

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Seriously? How on earth is that "thrifty"? ...and yeah my mortgage with taxes and insurance is $631

I've also found this to be true.

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

I thought so. I saw it the first time and was thinking, that aint to frugal if you ask me. lol. they could learn alot from us REAL frugal people. lol

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There were two families -- the frugal family was helping the spendthrift family find ways to cut their expenses. The ST family didn't have CC debt but they were wasting tons of $$ each month eating out and buying their kids DVDs and video games.

I found it interesting how they stressed that the frugal family made only $58K or whatever it was per year. They NET that amount so they actually make much more than that amount.

The financial expert in the beginning was just one big @$$ kisser to Oprah. They just kept repeating themselves over and over. I missed the beginning of this show the first time it aired and at that time I was so disappointed because I thought for sure I missed some really good info. when in fact all I missed was some financial dude sucking up to Oprah.

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

Just wondering if there any of you who buy two Sunday papers to save money with coupon inserts? This was brought up on this Oprah show and I don't know if I would buy 2 Sunday papers for more coupon potential.

I sometimes buy more than one Sunday paper. It just depands on the coupons that are in it. Last month I bought 5 extra papers the 2nd weekend because it had a lot of ggod coupons that I could use so it was worth it to me to buy more than one copy. I was also able to trade some of the coupons for other couons I needed.

I do not, but, yes, there are many that do. Different areas of the country get different coupons, and it may be beneficial to get several copies of the paper.

I would like to see a show where they show you how to stretch your money without using coupons. Most people don't want to be bothered using them on the scale that Stephanie, The Coupon Mom, uses them to save so much. I think most people just want to know some easier less labor intensive strategies. Also, many still view couponing as something for "poor" people to do, and feel embaressed trying to save a nickel here or a dime there.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

The local paper where I live has almost no coupons and is not worth the price of the paper. Maybe one week they have a couple good ones but the next there's nothing good and it's not a saving to buy something just because you have a coupon if you don't use it! Those shows never tell me much that I haven't been doing since the recession of the 80s anyway! After my husband lost his job back in the 80s I was forced to be frugal and it's stuck...just the constant fear of knowing how easy it is to loose your job in the blink of an eye!!!!! Many people really do have no idea about how to save money though, so I suppose it's probably helping the younger crowd that has only known "spend spend spend" and has never had to watch their spending before. They really are clueless! All they've known is "I want this!!!!"

I agree with everyone, I didn't learn anything...except the fact that Oprah, the queen of the book club didn't know you could rent DVDs at the library! Evidently she doesn't ever go to one!

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*******If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
But if life gives you limes....make margaritas!!!*******

LOL. That's the same thing I thought when the guest and Oprah didn't know they could rent movies from the library. I'm quite sure she doesn't get her books from the library ofcourse. Some people don't know alot of things. I use to rent movies from the library when I lived close to one. I didn't learn anything from teh show either. Some people feel as though if they have the money, they have to spend it on big items for some reason.

OIC, thanks!

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

truble, I got one of those deals where you use the cc checks(and no transaction fee, don't think I don't read all the fine print, lol!)to get a fixed low rate until the balance is paid off. I pay 3.9%. Due to the age of my trailer it was not eligible for a mortgage type loan so I would've needed a personal loan for it and the rates on those were much higher. The rate on a used car loan at the time was just about the same so I went with the cc to keep everything in one payment.
I think the days of those types of deals are over. Oh well, I got to use the opportunity while it lasted.


I used to work for a credit card company. I learned by watching the mistakes of others how to use credit cards the correct way.


I wasn't surprised that Oprah didn't know you could get dvd's from the library. Just when do you think the last time was she actually used a library????

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Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

The Atlanta Journal Constitution bundles the Sunday papers into twos sometime Sunday afternoon. It's the same price as buying one paper. The drawback is if you wait until then, you can't peruse the store sales on Saturday.

I wonder if more papers around the country do this?

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I for one didn't learn anything. I have to admit, I am trying the unplugging idea, not everything but the computer and tv's and stuff, we'll see.

One thing I do that they didn't mention is price match. At WalMart, and yes, I know how many of you don't shop there, I get local ads out of the paper and take them there, and I usually get my produce and veggies for about half what they would normally be. I do hate giving them the bulk of my business, but my finances have become quite serious lately.

In this day and age, I think people that don't at least try and cut corners are nuts.

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*** Find A Need , Fill A Need ***

I don't think she meant the show for people like the ones here on Mycoupons, we live this stuff every day which is usually the reason for joining here in the first place.

This show was meant for the people who are still spending $200 a week on food and $650 a month on that other junk. MOST people don't know how to coupon ( not that that lady did much of a job in that short time explaining it) or how to cut back on their grocery bill because they've never had to.

I have taught a few friends how to coupon and we've worked on budgets before, to bad there wasn't a way to find people who really need it and help them firgure it out. I looked on Oprah.com and most of the posters there had no idea how to coupon or how to find a $5 a month cell phone package. So the show stirred up some thoughts in people, but didn't give them the tools to take action about it.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer