Suze Orman is worth tens of millions of dollars. She could buy a new car every year, dine at Michelin-starred restaurants every night, and probably afford a walk-in closet big enough to house a small family. She does none of that. And she’s pretty vocal about why.
Her take: “When you respect money, when you honor money, no matter how much money you have, then your money turns around and honors you.” That’s not a fortune cookie. That’s a woman who built a financial empire by refusing to waste $5 on a latte.
Here are five frugal habits Suze Orman actually practices — plus the real math on what they save, and whether they’re worth adopting in your own life.
1. She Refuses to Eat at Restaurants (Like, Almost Ever)
Orman has said flat out: “I really do not like to spend money to go out to eat. I don’t like it, I don’t like it. I don’t like it. It’s so much money.” She’s said this multiple times in interviews — with that exact triple emphasis — and clearly means it.
Her only exception? When she’s traveling and has no other choice. Otherwise, she cooks at home.
The numbers back her up. The average American household spends around $3,639 per year eating out, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Cutting that in half by cooking at home more often could put nearly $1,800 back in your pocket annually. And if you’re a single person ordering DoorDash four nights a week, the number could be even higher.
2. She Drives a 12-Year-Old Car (And Doesn’t Care What You Think)
Orman has driven the same car for over a decade. “Right now, I am going on the twelfth year that I have owned my car and I have no plans of getting rid of that car for years to come,” she said. She buys cars outright — no leasing — and runs them until they’re practically antiques.
Her reasoning cuts deep: most people upgrade their cars “simply to drive a car to impress people you don’t even know or like at a stop sign with money you probably don’t even have.” Ouch. But also: fair.
The average new car payment in 2025 is around $735 per month, according to Experian. That’s $8,820 a year — money that could fund a solid emergency fund, a Roth IRA contribution, or a lot of very stress-free evenings. Keeping a paid-off car for 12 years instead of trading in every three means you could save over $26,000 in car payments alone over that period.
3. She Never Buys Coffee Out
This is probably Orman’s most famous money opinion, and she’s been pretty uncompromising about it. “I would drop dead before I bought a coffee,” she told The Wall Street Journal. She also told CNBC that wasting money on coffee is like “peeing $1 million down the drain.”
Her actual coffee habit? One cup a day of Cafe Bustelo, made at home.
Is she being dramatic? A little. But the math is real. If you buy a $5 latte five days a week, that’s $1,300 a year on coffee alone. If you switched to making coffee at home with a good bag of beans (about $12–15 for two weeks’ worth), you’d spend closer to $300 a year — a difference of roughly $1,000 annually. Put that into a high-yield savings account earning 4.5% APY and you’re not just saving coffee money, you’re building actual wealth.
Now, to be fair — plenty of financial commentators have pushed back on the “skip the latte” advice, pointing out that coffee isn’t what’s wrecking most people’s finances. Rent, car payments, and healthcare are the big dogs. Orman’s broader point isn’t really about coffee specifically. It’s about applying the same discipline — “need vs. want” — to everything you spend money on.
4. She Wears the Same Jewelry and Carries One Bag — From 1993
This one might be the most quietly radical thing Orman does. She’s been wearing the same necklace since 1994. Same earrings. Same rings. “Look at my book, ‘You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It.’ The picture for that book was taken in 1994 and my earrings are the identical earrings from way back when,” she said.
She also owns exactly one purse, which she bought in 1993.
This is basically the personal accessories version of minimalism as a wealth strategy. The US fashion industry — jewelry, handbags, accessories — gets Americans to spend an average of over $1,800 a year on clothing and accessories, per BLS data. A single designer bag can run $300 to $3,000+. Orman’s point isn’t “dress badly.” It’s: buy once, buy quality, and then stop buying.
Personally, I find this habit the most inspiring one on the list. There’s something almost rebellious about a wealthy person who genuinely doesn’t care about keeping up with what’s new or trendy. It’s the kind of confidence that comes from not needing external things to feel secure — and it’s a mindset that saves real money every single year.
5. She Asks “Need or Want?” Before Every Purchase
This one isn’t a single habit — it’s the root habit that makes all the others possible. Orman has talked about this framework repeatedly: “Carefully stop yourself every time you are about to spend money and ask yourself: Is it for a need or a want?”
It sounds almost too simple. But most impulse spending collapses under even five seconds of honest scrutiny. The Amazon cart that’s been sitting there for a week? Half of it is wants. The subscription you “forgot” to cancel? Want. The gym membership you’ve used twice this year? Want. The new phone when your current one works fine? Classic want disguised as a need.
Orman’s broader advice is to live “below your means but within your needs” — not deprivation, but intentionality. The difference sounds subtle but it’s everything. Deprivation feels like punishment. Intentionality feels like control.
What These 5 Habits Could Save You Per Year
Estimates based on average US household spending data. Individual results will vary.
Can You Actually Live Like Suze Orman?
Here’s the honest truth: not everyone needs to do all five of these. Some people genuinely love going to restaurants as a core quality-of-life thing, and that’s fine. Orman herself acknowledges that frugality isn’t about suffering — “I love it,” she says, because the mindset makes her feel empowered, not deprived.
The trick is figuring out where your “Suze Orman habits” should live in your own life. Maybe you keep the restaurant dinners and skip the coffee shop. Maybe you drive your car into the ground but upgrade your wardrobe strategically. The point isn’t to copy her habits exactly — it’s to adopt the philosophy behind them: don’t spend money to impress people, don’t let small repeated costs go unexamined, and always ask whether something is a real need or just a want dressed in disguise.
For practical tools to audit what you’re actually spending right now, our subscription audit checklist is a good starting point — most people discover at least $50–$100 in monthly waste in the first 15 minutes.
The Real Takeaway
Suze Orman isn’t frugal because she has to be. She’s frugal because she decided a long time ago that her money’s job is to work for her — not to buy her a new car to impress strangers, or a daily latte that evaporates before lunch.
The most powerful thing about her five habits isn’t the dollar amounts, impressive as they are. It’s the underlying decision: I am in charge of my money. My money is not in charge of me.
That’s a habit that fits in any wallet.
Written by David Carter | savemoneysimple.com