Do you have an 8 month savings cushion?

April 24, 2009 by Susan

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Suze Orman dished some of her tough love and savvy financial advice during the Avon sponsored blogging women conference call.

Thanks to Maria Bailey of BSM Media, I was one of the lucky bloggers on the line with Suze. We were all frantically tweeting notes and questions to Suze and sharing her pearls of financial wisdom with the twitterverse using hashtag #suze.

It was a Suze power hour, that’s for sure. I learned a lot and also got a good kick in the pants.

Suze has got us Moms figured out. She knows that we put everyone before ourselves. She knows we don’t pay ourselves and save for our own tomorrows.

Within that hour conference call, Suze drove home her famous, bottom-line, must-do recommendation: Have an 8 month savings cushion!

Ouch.

Guilty.

I do NOT have an 8 month savings cushion ready and waiting in a bank account down the street. And the idea of building up enough to live on for 8 months is pretty scary.

But, I suppose the alternative is even scarier.

So, I guess I’d better start saving.

Suze is really serious about this 8 month thing. In fact, Suze even advises only saving for your kids college if you have no credit card debt, have an 8-month savings cushion, and are saving for retirement. She’s adament that we moms take care of ourselves first.

She agrees it can be tough to find the money for the 8 month savings, but she suggests we pretend that we’ve hit the hard times and cut back on all non-essentials until we build up the savings.

I think it’s good advice… but pretty tough to actually follow.

What about you? Do you have an 8 month buffer? Would you be willing to cut your cable to build your buffer?

I’m going to start taking saving much more seriously and try to build up an 8 month cushion, but I don’t think I’m cutting my cable just yet.

Do you procrastinate on the big stuff? Like your will???

As moms we MUST pay attention to our will and trust, but it’s so easy to put it off. For one, it costs a bundle to get it done. Then, you usually need to find a notary, book an appointment, get a babysitter, drive to the appointment and so forth.

Well, here’s some good news…

Suze Orman is going to take care of all that for you!

Yes, she’s giving you your own FREE “Will & Trust Kit” worth $2,500.

Just go to suzeorman.com and click the “Will & Trust Kit” link in the blue bar on the left-hand side of the home page.

Click the orange “Gift Code” button and enter “Moms Rule” into the gift code field.

Click the green “Submit” button and follow the instructions to redeem your free copy of the Will & Trust Kit.

But hurry… This gift code is only valid until Midnight EST on Saturday, April 25th.

Melanie Nelson took fabulous notes during the call and has published an extensive summary as well as a Mr Linky where everyone who was on the call is linking up. Definitely read through the various posts and search twitter with the hashtag #suze.

I also want to shout out a thank you to Avon for arranging this call. Suze works with Avon as their representatives’ financial advisor. On the call Suze used the example of a direct sales business with Avon to be a good way for women to be in business without carrying any risk.

So tell us, have you ever worked with a direct sales company before?

And remember, I want to hear what you think of the 8 month savings cushion… Do you think you’ll get there? Or are you already celebrating that success?

Maddie’s Lesson

Spend a night-in with Pride and Prejudice AND a new Blu-Ray Player!

About Susan

Susan Carraretto and her identical twin, Janice Croze, created 5 Minutes for Mom in 2006. Susan loves all social media, but her top addiction these days is Pinterest.