as much as vicki's situation is common sense, it would be far more attractive if she wasn't so bloody sanctimonious about it.
working hard isn't bad. working smart isn't bad, either. it's sad that jeana's spending habits got the best of her...it's hard to argue with the whole real estate commission income. working for less amount of time and making the same cash as vicki would be great if you didn't blow it all at nordstrom's in one day.
as much as dr. phil annoys me, on a weekly basis i find myself saying "the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior". the more you know! *starburst*
Excellent point. It was really sleazy for Vicki to announce on national T.V. that Jenna had asked for money and to carry on like she had been physically assaulted.
I am kind of in Vicki's situation: I work very long hours and I earn a lot of money for my effort.
I had friends who were very irresponsible with their money and asked me to "borrow" money. I never got paid back and every single one of those friendships ended. Which was exactly Vicki's point.
I've reached the point where I purposefully avoid friendships with fiscally irresponsible people because I know they may come calling for money.
I still give money to my siblings who are hard up but even that is frustrating because I watch every dollar and don't afford myself many luxuries and then the money goes sailing out the window anyway to pay for my fiscally irresponsible siblings who have kids to feed. It makes me feel very imbalanced.
@Zira: borrowing money between friends is always a bad idea. i'm still waiting to be repaid from some friends, and i'm no moneybags over here.
what annoys me the most are friends who hide their fiscal irresponsibility and leave out the really important details of why they really need that check from their parents every month when they're over 30, divorced, employed with a decent job, charging everything to their credit card, sold their house in boom times and are living in a one bedroom apartment with a dog and a car that their parents are keeping for them. like, wtf. what gives.
I know countless people who are still getting handouts from their parents as adults. In fact my daughter lives in a rental building in New York where almost everyone she has met is a college graduate whose parents are paying their rent into their thirties and beyond.
These same people are in for a hard reality check once their parents are gone.
From what I've seen a lot of married couples wipe out their savings to make every opportunity available for their young ones (twelve years of private school, followed by an even more expensive private college, cars, trips and more).
Without any savings these people are going to be seriously screwed when there's no social security or medicaire when they are too old to work.
I go to a ritzy private school and the amount of Audis and BMWs that are in the parking lot is redonk. Everyone gets a luxury car for their 16th birthday. There are a select few kids, however, who have to earn it themselves or just not get a car. I knew I wouldn't get my own car, and I never gave a shit. It doesn't work like that in my house, we have to work for things we want. Plus, I just need to get from point A to point B, so I'm perfectly content drivin' my dad's old Ford F-150 into school each morning.
@mannequin: At my private high school there were two types of kids: those who got new cars for their 16th birthday (it was a Catholic school, so not necessarily luxury cars, but new cars nonetheless) and those who drove mom's old station wagon (which often came with the condition that they chauffer younger siblings).
@esquared: Yep, that was my situation @ private high school. I drove my parents' 10-year-old Dodge sedan and parked it next to my friends' Range Rovers, BMWs and Lexus SUVs.
Thinking about it now, I really NEVER felt embarrassed, which I find kind of interesting. I never even thought of it - I was just happy to have a car to drive! For whatever reason, I think I'd be a little more bothered by it today...
I get Vicki's point. In the end, I think is pretty clear when she states that she's "worked very, very, very hard." It's true. She's earned what she's got, and the thing is that it probably created a weird dynamic to be the friend who works hard to get what she has and in the end is better-off. Another sign of how differently they view the world is the fact that Vicki thinks her kids have to earn stuff and she's not going to give them a luxury car just because. You know what? She's right. She's absolutely right. I think that says a lot about her work ethics.
Different levels of wealth are always a fucked-up thing in friendships. I guess the only thing you can do is try to have some self-awareness, and by sympathetic to your friends' struggles but don't put yourself in a position where people can take advantage of you.
Also, somebody get her a dictionary, please.
I would also resent my mother if I had to pick my shit up and move while looking at that facelift. I'm pretty sure they're not just pissed off about moving though.
Also, winner of the week for freakiest screen grab. Yikes, Lynne!
Vicki is kind of condescending and preachy but in general I agree with her. Lynne seems like the type of housewife that just sat at home writing checks and expected to be taken care of by her husband. I assume her husband is self-employed meaning he probably doesn't have a 401K but how could they have not saved a dime? And I don't understand why Jeanna says her son could afford his car but now that she doesn't have a job he's struggling. News flash! He never could afford that car. It's time to cut the strings.
Did he ask Lynne about her plastic surgery? Did the show pay for her and her daughter's procedures? Because how else could they have paid for it when she's getting kicked out of her house?
@heywhat: as far as being self employed and not having a 401K, that's horse pucky. my father was self employed for many years even before 401K's became popular, and they socked money away like it was going out of style and invested like crazy, also opening a 401k the moment it became available. during his illness, my parents were both able to retire and live on their investments...not live lavishly, but live.
it can be done. it takes this foreign concept called 'self-control', which everybody today seems to be lacking.
@rednrowdy: To me it seems like Lynne and her husband just expected to be able to make as much money as they spent. They are the perfect example of the phrase "living for today". Her husband probably is just as bad with money as she seems to be.
The first clip actually made me like Dr. Phil... what is the world coming to?!
And, there is a big difference between loaning a friend a couple bucks and couple thousand bucks, and though I don't watch any RH right now, I have a feeling the controversial non-loan would have been in the latter category.
Aaand headdesk. I wish one of these days someone interviewing parents like this would just call them on the fact that they don't spoil their kids because they can't say no, they spoil their kids because it's a boost to their own giant egos to have their kids driving brand-new Escalades or BMWs on their 16th birthday. What you spend your money on is your business, but quit playing the victim.
It is so scary when Dr. Phil and Vicki make the most sense in any conversation. I would like to be a child of Jeana's, a masculine child. Because she truly thinks the only thing wrong with paying for her son's pricey ride (which he can't do, in part, because he bought a $4k freaking dog) is that she needs to work more!
@Tippi Hedren: yes that clearly sounds odd, but i thought you could use the term borrowed or loaned if you were the one receiving the money, apparently i was wrong!
I'm curious as to how much they received for their Dr. Phil appearance. Since it's relevant to the subject matter, I'm wondering if this was answered during the show?
11/20/09
working hard isn't bad. working smart isn't bad, either. it's sad that jeana's spending habits got the best of her...it's hard to argue with the whole real estate commission income. working for less amount of time and making the same cash as vicki would be great if you didn't blow it all at nordstrom's in one day.
as much as dr. phil annoys me, on a weekly basis i find myself saying "the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior". the more you know! *starburst*
11/20/09
Excellent point. It was really sleazy for Vicki to announce on national T.V. that Jenna had asked for money and to carry on like she had been physically assaulted.
11/20/09
I had friends who were very irresponsible with their money and asked me to "borrow" money. I never got paid back and every single one of those friendships ended. Which was exactly Vicki's point.
I've reached the point where I purposefully avoid friendships with fiscally irresponsible people because I know they may come calling for money.
I still give money to my siblings who are hard up but even that is frustrating because I watch every dollar and don't afford myself many luxuries and then the money goes sailing out the window anyway to pay for my fiscally irresponsible siblings who have kids to feed. It makes me feel very imbalanced.
11/20/09
what annoys me the most are friends who hide their fiscal irresponsibility and leave out the really important details of why they really need that check from their parents every month when they're over 30, divorced, employed with a decent job, charging everything to their credit card, sold their house in boom times and are living in a one bedroom apartment with a dog and a car that their parents are keeping for them. like, wtf. what gives.
11/20/09
I know countless people who are still getting handouts from their parents as adults. In fact my daughter lives in a rental building in New York where almost everyone she has met is a college graduate whose parents are paying their rent into their thirties and beyond.
These same people are in for a hard reality check once their parents are gone.
11/20/09
#tips
11/20/09
From what I've seen a lot of married couples wipe out their savings to make every opportunity available for their young ones (twelve years of private school, followed by an even more expensive private college, cars, trips and more).
Without any savings these people are going to be seriously screwed when there's no social security or medicaire when they are too old to work.
11/19/09
11/19/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
Thinking about it now, I really NEVER felt embarrassed, which I find kind of interesting. I never even thought of it - I was just happy to have a car to drive! For whatever reason, I think I'd be a little more bothered by it today...
11/19/09
Different levels of wealth are always a fucked-up thing in friendships. I guess the only thing you can do is try to have some self-awareness, and by sympathetic to your friends' struggles but don't put yourself in a position where people can take advantage of you.
Also, somebody get her a dictionary, please.
11/19/09
11/19/09
Also, winner of the week for freakiest screen grab. Yikes, Lynne!
11/19/09
Did he ask Lynne about her plastic surgery? Did the show pay for her and her daughter's procedures? Because how else could they have paid for it when she's getting kicked out of her house?
11/19/09
11/19/09
11/20/09
it can be done. it takes this foreign concept called 'self-control', which everybody today seems to be lacking.
11/20/09
11/19/09
And, there is a big difference between loaning a friend a couple bucks and couple thousand bucks, and though I don't watch any RH right now, I have a feeling the controversial non-loan would have been in the latter category.
11/19/09
11/19/09
11/19/09
11/19/09
11/19/09
#tips
11/19/09
11/13/09
11/13/09