Everyone’s so bummed out about the economy right now. So many of my friends are unemployed at the moment and those who aren’t, are working long hours, taking on projects left behind by fired coworkers for fear that they’ll be the next ones on the chopping block. It’s depressing! Just when I thought that the climate of fear that dominated the past eight years, existing in various shades of terror alerts was over, suddenly we’re hit with a big, fat Threat Level Green.

It’s this person’s fault, or this company’s fault, blah, blah, blah. Granted, the government has to do what it can to clean up the mess, but in this climate of finger-pointing, I turn to the one person who is telling me in a language I can understand what exactly it is I can do.

That person is none other than blond-bob-sporting, animal-print-loving on-air financial adviser and my idol of the moment, Suze Orman. Suze is the reason I have any idea what my FICO score means…approximately. I’ve read her book, Young, Fabulous & Broke (or YB&F for ardent fans like myself) and never miss a single guest stint of hers on Oprah Winfrey‘s talk show.

Since then, I’ve progressed to programming my TiVo to record her CNBC show The Suze Orman Show. And it’s her “Can I Afford It?” segment that I’ve found the most educational. Basically, what I’m learning is that no matter how much I fret over not having enough socked away yet for an emergency fund or retirement, at least I’m not the idiot calling in to ask Suze if I should go out and purchase a $5,000 treadmill.

Listening to other people’s delusions about the state of their finances, most specifically what they can and can’t afford makes me feel infinitely better about my economic situation. I may not have a lot of money, but at least I know it, unlike most of the people who call in wanting to know if they should invest half a month’s rent in a barbecue or blow their emergency savings on those karate lessons they’ve been thinking about purchasing. These are people who should never have been allowed to have a credit card in the first place and even though I know it’s this kind of borrow-now, pay-later mentality that has us in this mess to begin with, I feel relieved (a bit selfishly) to know that if I’m not part of the solution, at least I’m not part of the problem.

Much like the way my confidence is bolstered about the state of my relationship with my boyfriend after watching any reality dating show, Suze Orman’s show is helping me understand how to manage my finances—and conveniently pointing out everyone else who knows even less than I do. Like my grandfather used to say, “If you want to feel pretty, hang out with ugly people.” So, thank you most of the country, for making me feel like a financial whiz.

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