Dumb Real Housewives of Idiot Box and Their Foolish Money Practices

SMB meticulously watches most of the episodes of real housewives of (fill in your city). Been living in the same room, I also get to see and listen to those housewives most of the times she watches.

Usually evenings are my most productive blog time when I shut myself off from work and everything else earthly, to concentrate on reading and writing. It distracts me a lot when I see a lady buying wig for her dog.

SMB admitted that she hates that reality shows, still she watches to enjoy their foolishness.  Perhaps you are as intrigued as her and tune in to bravo TV to watch them fighting with each other, saying F… word to their moms and what not.

This article is neither about condemning the housewives for their interpersonal behavior nor pointing finger at you for spending your valuable time watching a bunch of apparently uneducated women doing things that you and I, with normal sense, would never do.

This article is about their lifestyle and spending habit. This article is to warn you that if you are attracted to their glamorous ways of living, the real happiness may not be obtained by materialistic pleasure alone. Do these yelling and fighting women give you any feeling that they are happy?

At least I didn’t feel they are happy in their lives. They are the most appropriate type you should not be in your real life. They do not value money, they throw off food if it’s not up to their standard. They splurge all the time. They have suff that they would probably never need.

They spend more money in their kids’ birthday party than we spend for living life a couple of year. hey never talk about saving or investing. all the time they talk of spending. I’m grossed out by the indulgence, and the “as long as it makes me happy how could it be wrong” mentality that is so common with them.

For several different reasons the popular reality show Real Housewives of Orange County, New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, and Miami have a strong following. The shows revolve around the lives of very rich women and their glamorous lifestyle. Unfortunately despite being rich the women in these series actually do not practice sound financial management at all.

Spending money is their lifestyle

If you look at the show at a glance, there aren’t any money lessons that you will get from these people. However, if you look at it in a different perspective you will realize that you have just seen an ideal example of how NOT to spend and why you should NOT be lavish with your lifestyle. One woman in the show built a $1.8 million mansion and drove around riding an expensive car but ended up filing for bankruptcy because of an $11B worth of debt.

Yet after filing for bankruptcy she still had the courage to go on a shopping spree and waste $60,000 just so she can fit in with her friends. Another personality in this reality TV boasts in an interview that she is a bargain hunter and that their designer clothes are bought at a cheap bargain prices.

Though this looks like a smart thing to do what was not said in the interview was the common habit these women of buying anything they like whenever they feel like it. What is the moral of the story? Do NOT be like these women and the way they manage their money.

Trying to outdo each other when it comes to spending

The Real Housewives reality shows are very popular because they are not your regular Janes. These are women who can afford to throw a first birthday party that is as elaborate and as lavish as a first class wedding. One of the very strong impressions that the TV show gives off is that the stars are always trying to keep up, if not outdo, each other when it comes to spending.

It can be fun to watch them spend and be extravagant on themselves and their family so it seems there is an attraction in watching real women live a life that almost everyone only dream about.

What would not be fun is when ordinary people try to emulate the lavish lifestyle of these women. It is bad enough to see the stars of the show continuously demonstrate how awful they are at money management it will even be worse for ordinary people to mismanage their meager earnings.

Mind your own money not your neighbor’s

One very important lesson that the reality TV show gives is never try to keep up with the Joneses or for that matter the Maloofs, or Gorjas or whoever happens to be the richest in their group. In ordinary lives the danger of envying the Housewives’ compulsive shopping or perhaps whatever your neighbor has but you don’t will only lead to disaster, specifically financial disaster.

There will always be a compulsive shopper in everyone especially when we see someone have something we like. Sometimes this emotional reaction is so strong it gets difficult to control. It cannot be denied too that there is an emotional high when you go out shopping. The problem is what happens after.

When the rush of adrenalin dies down and you realize that you have bought something you cannot really afford and you have incurred another debt you cannot pay you will be left feeling desolate.

The importance of money management

Can spending make you happy? Yes! If you have all the money in the world to spend and never run out no matter what you do, then yes spending is absolutely exciting. However if you are among the billions of people all over the world who is barely managing to make ends meet you really should wise up and manage your finances. Managing your money means managing your spending. Common sense must and should always overcome irrational feelings of wanting to buy things.

Ideal financial practices

The very first step to successfully manage your finances is planning. The second is discipline. So take note of what you should do with your money and make sure that you stick by it at all times. Here are some excellent practices that you could follow:

1. Control your spending. Know the most basic and most needed recurring bill. Do you really need that golf club membership on top of your gym membership?

2. Manage your debt. Let your credit card stay inside your wallet more than on the cashier’s counter.

3. Save. When you want to buy something that’s outside your budget do not use your credit card. Set aside some amount instead until you have what you need.

These practices are the most basic money management technique but it is also the most difficult to follow. However, do not forget the lesson learned from the reality TV Real Housewives of (any place that has been featured so far) and that lesson is: You do NOT want to be like these women.

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What is your opinion about their money practices and lifestyle?