Four celebrity finance blunders we can all learn from

by Emma Roberts on 30 September 2010  |  6 comments
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Emma Roberts reveals how celebrities can actually teach us a thing or two about finances.

Celebrities provide us with endless entertainment and constant gossip that we secretly relish in repeating to our friends:

'I hear Wayne Rooney has been playing more off-field than on the pitch.'

'Did you see what Cheryl Cole was wearing on the X Factor?'

You get the idea.

Whether you love them or loathe them, the truth is that the A-list elite can teach us a thing or two.

I've learnt from celebrities that if you indulge in too much plastic surgery, you’ll look like a micro waved Barbie, you should date premier league footballers with caution and you can never do too much reality TV.

But, believe it or not, we can also learn from celebrities a much more important lesson - how not to handle your finances.

Don’t spend beyond your means

George Best is the ultimate football legend and he will long be remembered for his fantastic footy skills.

But, he may also be remembered for his disastrous handling of cash.

While most footballers were happy taking home £75 a week (try telling that to Ronaldo), Best was earning £3,500 a week and spent the majority of it on gambling, booze, women and cars.

He was declared bankrupt in November 1982, owing creditors a massive £22,000 - not exactly the Best situation to be in.

So, even the wealthiest people can bite the dust if they don’t live within their means or become obsessed with excess.

Another celebrity who fell into the clutches of bankruptcy was rock and roll legend Meatloaf.

Yes, the larger than life rocker soared to success with his first album but less than ten years later, like a bank out of hell, he was declared bankrupt, with 1.6 million dollars worth of debt.

If you find yourself spending outside your means, then you could be treading in very dangerous water.

If you have a large amount of debt, the first thing you should do is have a read of The best ways to get out of debt.

You should also consider the way you spend.

If you're planning to do a lot of spending on a credit card, make sure you use a 0% on new purchases credit card which allows you to enjoy a set interest-free period on your purchases. For example, the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card allows you to spend interest-free for 13 months. Just make sure you've cleared your balance before the end of that period, otherwise you'll be hit with an interest rate of 16.9%.

If you can't clear your balance within that 13 month period, or you've already got a lot of debt on a credit card which is racking up a lot of interest, transfer that debt onto a 0% balance transfer card. The Barclaycard Platinum with 16 Month BT Visa, for example, offers 16 months interest free on all balance transfers.

Living within your means doesn’t mean you have to drastically change your lifestyle though - check out Live a life of luxury on a budget for some top tips.

Keep your will up to date

Late A-list actor Heath Ledger was most famous for his breakthrough role as The Joker in the latest Batman film.

But nobody was joking when people found out that he hadn’t updated his will before his death.

This meant that both his girlfriend and his daughter weren’t included in his will, as the last time he updated it was in 2003, before either of them was in his life.

Michael Jackson’s family were also less than thrilled when they found out the king of pop had not updated his will since 2002, leaving his family in an utter state of confusion.

The vital lesson to learn here, is that once you’ve written your will, you must keep it updated on a regular basis. If you get married or divorced or have a child or grandchild, make sure all this information is updated accordingly.

If you haven’t yet got a will, have a read of Watch out for this Wills scam to find out the best ways to get one written up.

Make sure you save

Britney Spears first bounced onto the teeny-bop music scene, way back in 1998 and since then she’s rarely been out of the tabloids and gossip mags.

With a string of hugely successful pop songs, she was raking in the big bucks.

But she was a slave for spending and it was revealed in court during her recent custody battle, that the princess of pop didn’t save a single penny of her $737,000 monthly income.

This means she saved nothing for her kids' education and didn’t invest a penny of her fortune.

Now, she’s been put on a strict spending budget, to make her save her cash.

If you want to start getting into the savings habit, have a read of Top savings accounts for all amounts and then check out our savings account comparison centre for the best savings accounts on the market.

Don’t bite the hand that feeds you

Paris Hilton is probably best known for her luminous fake tan, her army of sinister Chihuahuas and appearing frequently in television shows where she unenthusiastically tries to find her.. ‘new best friend’ (sigh.)

What some people don’t know though, is that she blew her chance of getting a delicious slice of her grandfather’s $2.3 billion inheritance pie because her grandfather didn’t approve of her wild behaviour.

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What’s more, she is currently being sued for $35 million by a hair extension company because she failed to wear their hair extensions after signing a lucrative deal with them.

Yes, it may all sound frivolous but the main lesson we can learn from Miss Hilton is that if you peeve off your employer, then you’re likely to lose your job, which means bye-bye bucks and hello financial doom.  

So, if you want to impress your employer and perhaps even get a pay rise, have a peek at Get a pay rise tomorrow which tells you how to go about it.

The bottom line is, even the likes of celebrities can get caught in the sticky web of financial disaster if they’re not careful.

Make sure you learn from their mistakes and to avoid getting tangled up too.

More: How to make your money last till payday | 5 ways to look good for less|