Despite being one of America’s most successful financial experts, Suze Orman maintains surprisingly modest spending habits. As she told GOBankingRates, “Do I need to be frugal? No, not really. But I love it because when you respect money, when you honor money, no matter how much money you have, then your money turns around and honors you.”
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Even though she can afford almost anything, here are the five frugal habits Orman still follows,
Even though she’s wealthy, Orman has a strict policy about restaurant spending.
“I really do not like to spend money to go out to eat. I don’t like it, I don’t like it. I don’t like it. It’s so much money,” she said. While she noted the occasional necessity — “Maybe I’m not at home, maybe I’m at a hotel” — she remains firm in her stance against regular dining out.
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Unlike the typical three-year upgrade cycle, Orman believes in getting maximum value from vehicles.
“Right now, I am going on the twelfth year that I have owned my car and I have no plans of getting rid of that car for years to come,” she explained. She noted people often upgrade “simply to drive a car to impress people you don’t even know or like at a stop sign with money you probably don’t even have.”
Orman’s approach to personal accessories is remarkably consistent.
“If you look at the jewelry that I wear, it is the same necklace that I have worn since 1994,” she said, adding that her earrings and rings have remained unchanged for decades. Even more surprisingly, she explained, “I have one purse. One purse and that purse dates back to 1993.”
Orman emphasized the importance of choosing the right type of retirement account.
“If you really want to not just build wealth, but keep the wealth that you build, one of the biggest mistakes you will make is if you opt for a retirement account that gives you a tax write off versus a retirement account such as a Roth that allows you to invest with after-tax dollars,” she explained.
On building an emergency fund, Orman noted a concerning statistic.
“The truth of the matter is 75% of the people in the United States do not have at least $400 in savings for an emergency.” She went on to explain that people should open a savings account and try to add at least $100 each month so that at the end of the year, the account will have $1,200 plus the interest earned.
