Debt problems in women – Liz Jones tells the world about her debts
Daily Mail columnist Liz Jones as talking about her debts again, but this time she’s also talking about women in general and why she thinks so many women can’t manage their finances. Her columns are always controversial and usually receive a lot of strong comments! We dissect her article and find that amongst her sob story, she makes some very valid points about personal debt problems in women.
A few months ago, controversial Daily Mail columnist Liz Jones poured her heart out to the world about her debt problems. She’s been talking about her debts again this week and making some generalisations about women in the UK and their spending habits.
After Liz wrote about her debt problems in May this year, she claims to have been inundated with letters and emails from her readers offering money and help. Not surprisingly she received a lot of criticism and I blogged about whether she was a villian or a voice for people in debt.
Her most recent article on debt was entitled “Why are so many smart women so bad with money?” in which she talked about some of female friends in the same situation:
One is a businesswoman who employs dozens of workers, another is a married woman with several children, and a third is a high-profile woman on TV. They all confessed they live in fear of bills
Here are some of the views people have expressed on her article about “smart women” and debt:
The sad thing is that Liz makes some valid points, but the public persona she has created for herself outshines this article, which is laced with photos of Liz on her extravagant holidays and wearing designer dresses.
Personally, I agree with her that issues such as the impact of divorce women’s finances, taking time off work to have children, and a concern which ClearDebt is all too aware of: how people who have been in debt become financially untouchable or “funts“, have had an effect on the number of women with debt problems.
Liz even explains how an IVA can help someone in debt – something I’ve seen in action since I joined the ClearDebt team.
Do you think Liz Jones is a good representative for people in debt? Vote in our poll and a leave a comment to let us know your views!
As my tweet quoted above indicates, I’m clearly no fan of Ms Jones. But even trying to put that aside, I genuinely find the way she talks about her debt problems incredibly insulting.
I’ve seen pensioners, through no fault of their own, end up in terrible financial positions as the result of nothing more than really bad luck. Not because they lived beyond their means, not because they treated themselves to luxuries without thinking through if they could really afford it or not, but just by trying to keep a modest roof over their heads. For her to try to put herself in the same category as people who are genuinely struggling through bad luck and circumstances beyond their control, I find utterly disgusting, frankly.
As for her remarks about “smart women” and their money problems – utter, utter crap. These women cited by her apparently had no clue about what interest rates they were on, despite being the person in their household responsible for financial decisions and planning. That’s not what I’d call “smart” in any way, shape or form.
That women can often bear the brunt of debt and financial burdens in a family, I do understand as it’s been my personal experience that the woman of the house deals with that sort of thing, but that’s about the only thing that’s remotely plausible or realistic about her article.
I could go on about this for a while, as it’s something that has recently become quite a personal issue for me (the impact of debt in families, not Liz Jones), but I shall end my comment with a curious question that I had after reading her article – does her photo editor hate her? Those photos with the article seemed to be deliberately taking the p out of her and all her complaints of how unfair it is and how terrible a time she’s going through as a result of her problems. But then again, the idea that anyone employed by the Daily Mail has a sense of humour doesn’t really make sense…
I agree we should stop pointing fingers and rather educate people about finances .Great comment summerteeth
I am a fan of Liz Jones, and can empathise with her problems re horses, dogs, cats and keeping a home going on your own. However, hers are not ‘normal’ debts, but incrued through incredible snobbery buying the best of the best and deliberately spending on projects that are so way out and not necessary. The bats managed perfectly well without their battery long before LJ moved in. One also doesn’t need a manage’ costing £30,000 as a an occassional pleasure rider, horses are quite happy hacking around lanes and fields. You can also feed your animals perfectly good food that you eat if your prefer not to feed dog and cat food. Again there are cheap, wholesome and simple options without getting into horrendous debt. It seems a case of OTT on everything. Lack of common sense. And while I find her extravagant lifestyle and whims amusing and ‘different to my own its hard to empathise when she reams off the cost of everything when we all know there are much cheaper options that can do the same job, example her new fridge. Rather then get one from Comet she had to have some amazing feat of engineering keeping her Champers chilled. But I do enjoy her relating how her cats/dogs curl up on the most expensive of her jumpers and bedding, her love of her animals is unquestionable, and yes shes very excentric with them, She gets my vote as she has her heart in the right place and anyone who puts animals first no matter how much in costs and how much inconvinience there is gets my vote. I think her money has gone on investing in the property she has and yes I was under the impression she lived in a damp cold country hovel of a house, with broken heating and mould and damp. It would have been better if she said shes gone broke doing up the house as we could all understand that. i will continue to enjoy Liz’s diary and her other articles. I think shes a holding a tourch for mature single women who have put other things first other then a family/man and struck out and bettered herself. I am sure thing will turn out well for her as long as she doesn’t get to many rescued animals which will be a big drain on her.
PS. I think the RS could be a great calming influence on Liz and it sounds like he can humour her without judging her. I hope a proper romance developes and she can let him ‘do things for her’. Animals are a great thing to have in common, its a good start.
I think letting the whole nation know how and why one is in debt is an incredibly brave thing to do. Would you want people to know? I certainly wouldn’t! When she does come to sell her house I would think that she still has a big mortgage and other debts to settle before she is left with a lump sum, that probably wouldn’t buy that much in the london area so can understand when she says she will end up with ‘nothing’ after a lifetime of hardwork. Liz you will find when you start over again a very calming and settling thing and be proud you have done it on your own! Good luck to you!