Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Oprah Is Scaring Me To Death

If you happened to see her show yesterday, talking to families that hoard and families that spend too much, then you learned two things about her:

1. She packs her own lunch. When Stedman pointed out that she packed her lunch every day she replied, "Well I'm saving $7.00; you're not."

2. As if this wasn't frightening enough, she went on to say that if she finds a penny on the street she picks it up. If you point out a penny to the homeless out here they'll say, "You must need it more than me."

Oprah is worth 2.7 billion dollars.

Then I heard about the guy who started kids collecting pennies to help other children in need. Over time he turned their pennies into 7 million dollars.

If anyone is looking for me, I'll be outside for a few weeks, months, years, the rest of my life.

End of chat.

23 comments:

  1. I was going to write 'a penny for your thoughts' then i realized I'd have to go outside and smash my head against a post for being so fucking inane...excuse me

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  2. scoot over, I saw that damn penny first!!!!!!!

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  3. How big would a Piggy bank need to be that can hold 7 mill in pennies? hmmmmm I'll have to do some research.

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  4. Anonymous4:01 AM

    In today's economy, the penny is now only worth .05. Oprah may need it after all.

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  5. I'm surprised to hear all that about Oprah because when I served her at the Oscars a few years ago, she was a great tipper. It's hard for me to criticize someone who's frugal in her own life but generous with others.

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  6. "A penny saved.....is a penny earned"

    Yeah, even for Oprah.

    I used to throw away pennies!

    Now, I wish I would have kept them in a jar or something.

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  7. Yes, you can be frugal and generous at the same time. Often, the personal frugality makes possible the generosity.

    While you're outside, check out the little compartment at the bottom of the big car vacuums at gas stations - lots of loose change in there.

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  8. Braja stole my line!
    That is all.
    Pearl

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  9. It just goes to show that being rich does not rob you of common sense.

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  10. I saw this episode of Oprah and something else I learned, more profound than the "Oprah brown abgs it" thing is that she saves leftover toast. And not so she can make croutons or something. But to eat as toast the next day.

    Weird.

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  11. I know I'm weird but now I want to know what she packs for lunch: fried bologna sandwiches? lunchables? leftovers from supper made by her personal chef? leftover toast?

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  12. Often, rich folks are the most frugal. It's part of their personality and is how they get (and stay) so rich. Because they are frugal not just about leftover toast (I agree, that's extreme and weird), but about the big stuff, too. They don't buy the new Porsche every year, even though they could afford it. They don't waste money on $5 lattes and $300 dinners on a daily basis. Of course, there are exceptions -- and often, those are the ones you hear about, with amazement, when they go bankrupt...

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  13. Anonymous10:32 AM

    My grandfather (then age 94) used to say, "If you look out after the pennies, the dollars will watch out for themselves." Stupidly, I failed to take his advice and pick pennies up from the sidewalk. That, apparently, is why I am not rich.
    Aloha,
    Martha Jane

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  14. I think you should horde nickels. five times the investment after all.

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  17. It's kind of like how Tyra Banks keeps spouting how she's the "Queen of Cheap" and she uses vaseline for everything from shaving her armpits to preventing herpes. Ok, maybe not, but she does claim to use vaseline for everything which I find hard to believe.

    I also have issues picturing freakin Oprah Winfrey bent over on a sidewalk, picking up loose change. My brain just starts going into a seizure.

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  18. Anonymous6:32 AM

    I don't understand how Oprah packing her own lunch saves her $7/day.

    She works on a TV show where they undoubtedly have catered lunches for cast/crew/guests.

    Have they actually figured out how much Oprah would've eaten had she not packed her own lunch, pulled that amount of food from the meal, and then deducted $7 from the bill?

    And what's funny is, whether she eats or not, she's buying lunch as Oprah's company Harpo pays the caterer.

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  19. Shit, that must be where I am going wrong!

    My hubby doesn't need to find a new job, he needs to go on a penny-hunt!

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  20. That is FRIGGEN HYSTERICAL about Tyra Banks... The armpits.. the vaseline.. HAAHHAAAA!! My friend just saw Oprah here in Nashville. She walked into her Great Uncle's funeral unexpected and everyone went from crying to the paparrazzi in 3.2 seconds.. She too, was jumping over her chair and small children to get to her SLR waiting in the car.. She did say that Oprah was SOO nice, which I've heard of course.. I do love it when she talks about saving and scrimping and especially when she has those coupon people on and they talk about how they bought 5000 dollars worth of groceries for 42 cents.. and I'm like "Oprah! Do NOT even pretend to think about that shit.. GET REAL."

    Robin

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  21. And here I was thinking it'd be nice to lose 5 lbs and do away with the penny altogether.

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