Putting Some “Reality” into Reality Shows

O.K., I’m going to admit it…my name is Gina and I watch “The Real Housewives…” franchise series. It’s bubble gum for the brain, I know…but I’ve gotten sucked in and I’m just going to own it. The other night, while watching the New Jersey show, I started wondering how these women, who don’t work, are able to stay ahead of the recession and continue to live such lavish lifestyles.

Also, in the vein of being candid, I’ll admit it-I’m jealous too. While it’s fun to depart from your own life for an hour to watch pointless, mindless TV, sometimes I get a little green with envy that these ladies can run around town in their designer high heels without having to scrap for coin or a have a deadline looming over their heads.

I think something fanning the flames of my envy is that I don’t make piles and piles of money. Like many working and work-from-home moms, we don’t make a million dollars–we probably earn enough to significantly contribute to the household income–but most of us aren’t able to walk around with wads of cash in our pockets, purchasing $10,000 coffee tables at our every whim.

So like any good junkie, I decided to dig further into this reality show Monday night after watching yet another over-the-top episode full of women with a lot of time and money on their hands.

What I uncovered (after only one Google search) is that many of these featured “wives” are living the overly-indulged lifestyle that mirrors what got our country into this financial conundrum. Apparently the good times continued to roll for many of these women, long after the bubble burst.

According to online real estate site, Zillow, many of the housewives from a variety of cities are not only filing for bankruptcy but have homes in foreclosure. Teresa Giudice racked up $104,000 in credit card debt, carries $2.8 million in mortgages (for three homes) and dropped $85,600 in home repairs–all on a “reported salary” of $79,000. She and her husband have filed for bankruptcy and are undergoing credit counseling.

Other housewives in financial trouble include Tamra Barney, Lynn Curtin and Sheree Whitfield, to name a few. You will see a few housewives putting in the hours at work, however. Interesting, those are the ones who aren’t (or don’t seem to be) experiencing financial hardships.

So while you toil away, trying to make ends meet and perhaps wondering how the other half lives, remember that in some cases it’s only smoke and mirrors.