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Best-selling personal finance author and TV personality Suze Orman has been inspiring Americans to make better money moves and avoid serious financial mistakes for decades.

With the affordability crisis stretching household budgets and everyday essentials taking a bigger bite out of paychecks, it’s worth revisiting some of her biggest red flags when it comes to managing your money.

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"Please be extra strong right now, and scour your spending to find ways you can reduce your costs," she once wrote in a post for Money Monday with Suze Orman (1).

Here’s why her advice still applies now — plus five of her no-nonsense tips for how to manage your money through hard times.

"You are peeing $1 million down the drain as you are drinking that coffee," Orman once told CNBC (causing coffee drinkers across America to do a spit take). (2)

"Every single penny counts when you're saving for your future."

And there are much better ways to optimize those seemingly trivial coins. For example, rather than sliding your spare change over to a barista every day, invest it using an app called Acorns.

Once you’ve linked the Acorns app to your bank account, it will automatically round up every purchase you make to the nearest dollar and invest those extra cents in a diversified portfolio tailored to your financial goals.

This way, you can turn your $4.25 morning coffee into a $0.75 investment opportunity. While it might not seem like much, just $30 worth of weekly round-ups over 20 years can add up to $93,660 — assuming it compounds at 10% annually (3).

Sign up now, and you can receive a $20 bonus investment.

If you don’t track your spending, your money can slip through the cracks. A clear view of your cash flow helps you cut back, build savings and prepare for emergencies with less stress.

Sometimes it’s as simple as a subscription you forgot about. Leave it running, and it could cost you hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.

“When was the last time you reviewed all the subscriptions that automatically charge you every month or year? This business model is in fact hoping you aren’t paying attention,” Orman wrote in a blog post, adding even $10-$15 per month “adds up.” (4)

An app like Rocket Money can easily flag recurring subscriptions, upcoming bills and unusual charges by pulling in transactions from all your linked accounts.

This can help you cut unnecessary costs, and then you can manually redirect savings straight into your retirement fund. No spreadsheets, no guesswork, no stress. Small habits like this can make a big difference over time.

Rocket Money’s intuitive app offers a variety of free and premium tools. Free features include subscription tracking, bill reminders and budgeting basics, while premium features — like automated savings, net worth tracking, customizable dashboards, and more — make it easier to stay on top of your retirement contributions and overall financial goals.

As part of her focus on financial health for October 2024, Suze reminded blog readers that this is a great time of year to review your benefits and insurance policies.

Having solid insurance coverage is of the utmost importance, but many drivers simply tack their insurance policy onto their home coverage without shopping around.

According to data from Bankrate, the national average cost for car insurance as of June 2026 is $2,697 per year (5). However, by spending just a few minutes shopping around for rates online, you can potentially reduce your yearly car insurance costs by hundreds of dollars.

“The reality is that car insurance is now so expensive it has shifted from one of those costs you just swallow hard as a necessary household expense, to a big budget hit that deserves your strategic attention on how to (safely) minimize your costs,” Orman claimed in her blog (6).

By using a comparison platform like Insurify, you can instantly view quotes from top-rated providers to ensure you aren't paying a hidden ‘loyalty tax’ to your current insurer.

Just answer a few basic questions, and Insurify will show you the most affordable deals in as little as 3 minutes.

Not only is the process 100% free, but you could also save up to 15% by bundling your car and home insurance.

“If you’re getting a tax refund, something is radically wrong,” Orman told Yahoo! Finance in 2021 (7).

More recently, Suze urged listeners to “make a date with their money” in October 2024 (8). Why? Because you've got to take a close look at optimizing your gains and losses on a yearly basis. When you get a tax return, it means you have effectively given the government an interest-free loan.

That being said, it is possible to use your return wisely as part of your wealth-building plan.

"There is no smarter move than working on your emergency savings account if you’ve yet to accumulate up to a year’s worth of living expenses," Suze Orman wrote on her blog in March 2023 (9). And a tax refund can be your kick-off point for doing just that.

If you’re looking to follow Orman’s advice and start an emergency savings account, consider finding an account with a high interest rate so that you can save even more.

A high-yield account like a Wealthfront Cash Account can be a great place to grow your uninvested cash, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your money when you need it.

A Wealthfront Cash Account currently offers a base APY of 3.30% through program banks, and new clients can get an extra 0.75% boost during their first three months on up to $150,000 for a total variable APY of 4.05%.

That’s ten times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC’s March report.

Additionally, Wealthfront is offering new clients who enable direct deposit ($1,000/mo minimum) to their Cash Account and open and fund a new investment account an additional 0.25% APY increase with no expiration date or balance limit, meaning your APY could be as high as 4.30%.

With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, you get access to up to $8M FDIC Insurance eligibility through program banks.

In another blog post, Orman urged readers to watch their spending. "Carefully stop yourself every time you are about to spend money and ask yourself: Is it for a need or a want?" she wrote (10).

She challenged her readers to commit to the lifestyle of needs vs. wants for three months and review the boost to their finances at the end of that time. If you’re not ready to eliminate all of your “want” purchases, the least you can do is spend a bit smarter — that means optimizing your savings and avoiding debt.

Climbing out of debt can be much easier when you consolidate under one lower rate with Credible

Instead of juggling multiple monthly payments, you’ll have one predictable payment to manage each month.

Through Credible’s online marketplace, finding the right loan becomes much simpler. Credible lets you comparison-shop for the lowest interest rates with just a few clicks.

In less than three minutes, you’ll see all the lenders willing to help pay off your credit cards or other debts with a single personal loan.

If you owe a substantial amount, you may also want to see if you qualify for a debt relief program to help clear a significant portion of your debt.

With Freedom Debt Relief, you can speak with a certified debt relief consultant for free, who can show you how much you can save by partnering with them.

If you’re eligible, they can negotiate settlements with your creditors until all of your enrolled debt is resolved.

Read More: Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can become a landlord for $100 — without the headache of actually being one

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

Suze Orman Blogs (1), (4) (6), (8), (9), (10); CNBC (2); Acorns Calculator (3); Bankrate (5); Yahoo Finance (7)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.