AllFinancialMatters » Oprah’s Great American Debt Diet http://allfinancialmatters.com A personal finance blog dedicated to discussing such topics as budgeting, asset allocation, 401K, IRA, cash flow, insurance, financial planning, portfolio management, and other areas in personal finance. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:58:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 Oprah’s Great American Debt Diet – The Spending Plan http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/08/04/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-the-spending-plan/ http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/08/04/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-the-spending-plan/#comments Sat, 05 Aug 2006 03:38:08 +0000 JLP http://allthingsfinancialblog.com/?p=1010 I meant to write about this a couple of weeks ago when Oprah had her Great American Debt Diet Series but forgot about it until I was cleaning off my desk today. Anyway, here’s the spending plan that they recommend (the percentages are based on net or take-home pay):

Oprah's Great American Debt Diet Spending Plan

Here’s a link to a printable PDF of the graphic if you are interested.

These numbers look acceptable to me. I would like to see savings at 15%, which I suppose they could be by the time you factor in tax savings on contributions to a 401(k) plan. I also like the way everything is broken down:

Housing – 35%

-Mortgage/Rent
-Repairs
-Taxes
-Utilities
-Insurance

Other Living Expenses – 25%

-Eating Out
-Vacations
-Entertainment
-Clothing

Transportation – 15%

-Car Payments
-Gas
-Insurance
-Repairs
-Parking/Tolls
-Train/Bus Fares

Debt – 15%

-Student Loans
-Credit Cards
-Personal Loans

Savings – 10%

It seems to me that as a person ages, the debt category (15%) could go away and that 15% could go towards savings, which would boost it to 25%. Just imagine being able to save 25% of your take-home pay! Here’s what the budget would look like at various income levels:

Budget

One thing they left out was tithing/giving. I suppose they are lumping all that in the “Other Living Expenses” category. For my family, it is a category in and of itself.

What’s your opinion of this budget? What do you like? What do you dislike? Is it reasonable for most people?

]]> http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/08/04/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-the-spending-plan/feed/ 15 Oprah’s Great American Debt Diet Repeats All This Week http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/07/10/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-repeats-all-this-week/ http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/07/10/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-repeats-all-this-week/#comments Mon, 10 Jul 2006 21:57:46 +0000 JLP http://allthingsfinancialblog.com/2006/07/10/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-repeats-all-this-week/ Just a head’s up to let you know that Oprah is airing her 5-Part Great American Debt Diet series this week. I blogged about this back when the first two shows aired in February (read them here and here).

I have to say that it is really hard to feel sorry for these people because they ALL seem to know what they are doing. One lady just throws away her bills instead of opening them. I mean, how stupid can you get ridiculous is that?

]]> http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/07/10/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-repeats-all-this-week/feed/ 5 Oprah’s Great American Debt Diet – Part 2 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/02/23/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-part-2/ http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/02/23/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-part-2/#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2006 05:54:55 +0000 JLP http://allthingsfinancialblog.com/2006/02/23/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-part-2/ Tomorrow Oprah will air part 2 of the Great American Debt Diet. It should be interesting to watch. From what I saw of the previews, I’m a little concerned that they are going to try to turn this into some sort of reality show. Anyway, you might want to tune in if you get a chance. If I watch it, I’ll blog about it.

]]> http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/02/23/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet-part-2/feed/ 5 Oprah’s Great American Debt Diet http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/02/17/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet/ http://allfinancialmatters.com/2006/02/17/oprahs-great-american-debt-diet/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2006 23:29:59 +0000 JLP http://www.allthingsfinancialblog.com/?p=415 Well, I just finished watching Oprah’s Debt Diet episode. I have to say that it is nice to have someone with Oprah’s clout get behind something important like this. I and all other personal finance bloggers believe that America is in a debt crisis. The only way to make changes is to do something about it.

Oprah’s experts for this series are Jean Chatzky, Glinda Bridgforth, and David Bach (who’s newest book I just reviewed). The show profiled three families: the Bradley’s, the Egglestons, and the Widlunds.

Watching the show I realized just how easy it is to get into trouble. These families didn’t even see it coming. It just snuck up on them. Fortunately for all them, things will be fine IF THEY MAKE CHANGES NOW!

At the end of the show, they offered four steps to take to begin the process of getting out of debt. The steps are:

1. Figure out how much debt you have. Lay it all out on the table. Don’t forget anything. It’s kinda like starting a diet: you need to know your current weight. For a lot of people, this will be a terrifying moment.

2. Track your spending. Each family on the show easily had thousands of dollars available to pay down their debt. Of course, they will have to make changes in their lifestyle but none of the changes seemed drastic.

3. Learn how to play the credit card game. Most people don’t realize that credit card interest rates are negotiable.

4. Cut your spending. Nothing is going to change unless you cut your spending.

Part 2 of the series will air next week. To find out more, visit Oprah.com.

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