Suze Orman: ‘You Are the Reason Why’ You Don’t Have the Money You Want

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Being in poor financial health can be the result of several unfortunate circumstances. There might be an unexpected medical emergency that your healthcare provider doesn’t completely cover. Maybe you get laid off from your job and can’t earn as much. The stock market might drop, causing your investments to fall in value. It can be easy to point to external factors as to why your finances aren’t where you want them to be.

However, personal finance expert and podcast host Suze Orman sees it differently. According to her, you are responsible for the state of your finances. She explains that most people have negative views of themselves when it comes to money, which feeds bad behaviors. It’s not too late to change though. Here’s what Orman and other experts suggested you do to get your finances back on track.

Save Automatically

Owning up to your poor financial situation may mean making some big changes that may be difficult to stick to. Luckily, Orman knows how to automate your savings so you don’t even have to think about it. 

If your employer pays you on the same date every month, you can set up automatic transfers for the next day. You won’t need to worry about saving, investing or paying down debts if you have automatic transfers set up. This method means you won’t have to stay disciplined and make difficult choices over the month because you’ll only spend what you have left. 

Track Your Spending

To Orman, living below your means is essential to saving and improving your financial situation. Spending less than you earn will lead to big benefits, but it can be a challenge to stick to it without a plan. 

Tracking your spending is one way to guarantee you’re living below your means. Whether you use a budgeting app that connects to your bank accounts and credit cards to give you live updates on your spending or sit down with a pen and a pad to see where you’re at financially, seeing where your money is going will lead to improvements in your financial future.

For those who don’t want to track every dollar, there are other helpful strategies, such as finance author Ramit Sethi’s conscious spending plan. This plan doesn’t focus on restricting your spending like a regular budget but instead breaks your monthly income into fixed costs, investments, savings and guilt-free spending. By focusing on only four areas, Sethi finds it easier to make adjustments and respond to imbalances.

Get Out of Debt

Pulling yourself out of debt is easier said than done, but you can accomplish it with the right strategy. Financial expert Dave Ramsey gives some insights into taking responsibility for your debt and getting back in the green with the snowball and avalanche methods. 

For either method, you have to list out your debts. Order them from smallest to largest in the snowball method and from highest to lowest interest rate in the avalanche method. Begin contributing extra money toward the smallest debt or the highest interest rate. Once you pay off that debt, move on to the next one and feel your momentum grow.

Orman also suggests calling up your lenders and asking them to lower your interest rates. While there’s no guarantee that this will work, there’s also no downside. You haven’t lost anything if your lender refuses to change your rates. She also points out that this works more often than you might think. 

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