I never thought I would ever contemplate Suze Orman. I mean, I have called her the "Money Nazi". However, I picked up her book Women and Money, and was surprised by many of her insights about women - and very surprised by her background. She grew up with a speech impediment and because of it struggled scholastically. With difficulty she did finally graduate from college - and then worked as a waitress at the Buttercup Bakery for 6 years. Yes, Suze Orman.
When she was 29 (and working at the Buttercup) she was given a loan of $50,000 from some customers in order to open her own restaurant. One the customers involved told her to put it into a money market account at Merrill Lynch and keep it there until she made enough to open the restaurant. She asked him, "What is Merrill Lynch and what is a money market account?" Yes, Suze Orman.
Well, her broker, Randy, invested her money in a highly risky, speculative strategy and she lost all her money. However, she had been watching what Randy was doing and learning and thought she could be a broker too. She applied for a job at Merrill Lynch and to this day is convinced that she got the job because they had a women's quota to fill. (She ended up suing Merrill Lynch too because of the money Randy lost - because of the lawsuit Merrill Lynch couldn't fire her while it was going on - she won btw and got her money back.) That is how Suze Orman got her start with money.
In her book she says you cannot possibly be a "wealthy" woman without cleanliness - it made me sit up straight in my chair and get a little smirk. Never thought she'd have something to say about cleanliness. I love how she says this:
"Cleanliness is about respecting the importance of order and organization. When you don't know where your money is, when you have no filing system for your important documents, when you dive into your pocketbook and pull out crumpled bills, when your car looks like a garbage can, when your closets are filled with junk and clutter - I'm sorry but you cannot possibly be a wealthy woman. You need to clean up your act, literally . . . Remember, when you keep things around you that are worthless to you, they end up making you worthless. . . I am here to tell you that if this quality is not up front and center adn if you do not adhere to it, there is no way you will ever own the power to control your destiny."
I cleaned my bathrooms this morning.
Interesting-especially the cleanliness/order part. Congrats on the bathroom. I struggle with organization-especially MAINTAINING, but also creating. I am such a generalist and big picture thinker that it is very difficult for me to categorize stuff--I mean, it could go here, or it could go there....I really don't like to pigeonhole even paper you know.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you doing up at 4:54 a.m.? Organizing?
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never been interested in Suze Orman, I figured she was just a "Dedicate Your Life to Getting Rich" person, but it sounds like she has some interesting insights! The cleanliness thing is so true, now that I read it. I'm pretty organized, it comes naturally to me. I wonder what she has to say about women. Maybe I should have my mother read it, she's clueless about money because my father always took care of all of it (he was a CPA), and now she's terrified of having to deal with it, once he dies or loses it mentally, so I'll probably be doing it. Information is such power, it takes away all the terror.... This blog of yours is really great fun to read! I love it!
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