Gilmore Girls: 10 Times Lorelai & Rory Were Saved By Money & Privilege
As lovable as Lorelai and Rory Gilmore were on Gilmore Girls, there were plenty of moments over the course of seven seasons where their behavior was insufferable. The mother-daughter duo was hardworking and determined but they cannot deny the number of times they were dug out of trouble thanks to deep pockets.
With Lorelai coming from a privileged family, help was always there if she needed it. However, due to her dramatic relationship with her parents, she went elsewhere when she needed financial help. And surprisingly, Rory did the same thing. No matter how hard life got, the Gilmore ladies were always saved by someone with money.
10 Rory's Education
One of the first spouts of money fans see in Gilmore Girls is in the first episode when Lorelai needed money for Rory's private school education. At this point, Richard and Emily didn't know much about their granddaughter, which is why they offered to pay for high school, as long as they had dinner together every Friday night.
Later in the series, Rory needs help paying for Yale when her mother is declined financial aid. So what does she do? She goes to her grandparents. Richard and Emily were happy to pay for Yale and weren't even interested in Rory paying them back.
9 Rory's Trustfund
When Richard's mother, Trix, came to town, viewers found out that she too had millions. When she met Rory and heard more about her education, she admitted that she had a trust fund set aside for her. The women in the family got into a disagreement over when Rory would receive her trust fund, but Trix ultimately decided that she'd have access to it at 25 years old.
In A Year In the Life, it's assumed that Rory was living off her trust fund. She was in her 30s and hit a speed bump at work, which meant she had nowhere to live and no "real" job. Living off her trust fund gave her more freedom and less worry.
8 Christopher Came Through With Millions
Christopher had a huge falling out with Lorelai and Rory when he chose Sherry over them and ruined Lorelai and Luke's relationship at Richard and Emily's vow renewal. He tried getting his bond with the Gilmore girls back, but they weren't budging.
As per usual, as soon as Rory gets into an argument with her grandparents and wants to get out of her financial arrangement with them, Christopher swoops in with a bombshell: he was now a multi-millionaire. He came into family money and was finally able to contribute financially to Rory and Lorelai's life. Once again, Rory was saved.
7 Rory Got Free Rent In College
Even though Rory came from family money and was always given anything she wanted, she somehow thought she and Logan were different. She considered Logan and his friends snobby because of their wealthy families, which Logan took offense to. He made her realize that she was just as privileged as him.
A great example of this was when he reminded her that she was living rent-free at college. While living with Logan, she lived in one of the best apartments in the city and didn't have to pay a dime. When Logan said, "Well, you're not exactly paying rent," Rory was horrified and left. But he wasn't wrong.
6 Richard & Emily Bought Rory Her Car
When Rory graduated from high school, Richard and Emily made sure that she received one of the best graduation gifts a future college student could ever want: a car.
With Yale being so close to Hartford and Stars Hollow, having a car meant that Rory would be able to go home and see everyone whenever she wanted. It's almost humorous that Rory complained about seeing her grandparents when she was driving the car that they gave her.
5 Luke Came Through With 30K
Things with the Dragonfly Inn started out great in the beginning. Everything was going smoothly until Lorelai realized that they were running out of money and couldn't pay for construction. Thanks to her pride, she didn't want to run to her parents for a loan, so she turned to her wealthiest friend, Luke.
While Lorelai was asking him for over $30,000, she backtracked because she was embarrassed. But at the end of the day, Luke still gave her the money she needed and called himself an investor in a local business. If Luke wasn't the perfect man then, who was?
4 Emily Made Sure Lorelai's House Wouldn't Have Termites
Emily was disturbed when she found out that Lorelai had a termite problem at her house. Coming from a prestigious last name, she didn't want it getting around that the Gilmore girls had bugs infesting their home.
She begged Lorelai to pay for the damage but Lorelai declined. Eventually, Emily makes a deal and sets her up with a friend at a local bank. Lorelai could plead her case and hopefully get a loan from the bank. As always, there was a catch. The bank would only give Lorelai a loan if Emily co-signed it. And as much as it "bothered" her, she went along with it. Once again, Emily and Richard came to the rescue.
3 They Eat Free At Lukes On A Weekly Basis
It's not often fans saw Lorelai and Rory pay for their coffee or food at Luke's. When has Lorelai ever taken out her wallet and tossed a few dollars on the counter? It barely happened.
Luke cracked jokes about them never tipping him, but when we really think about it, these girls got free meals and coffee whenever they wanted from their favorite restaurant.
2 Lorelai's Trust Was Worth 70K
Besides Lorelai's trust fund from Trix (and probably her parents), she was also given over $70,000 from her dad from an investment he had in her name. Lorelai didn't feel right taking the check, at first, but Richard told her he was legally obligated to give it to her because he had it in her name since birth.
As a single mother, here was Lorelai — once again — being given thousands of dollars because of an investment she had no idea about. Talk about luck.
1 Rory Was Able To Take A Year Off And Live For Free
Not only was Rory privileged enough to attend Yale, she was also lucky enough to take a year off by choice. She got to live at her grandparents' house, where she essentially had her own miniature house in the backyard, a pool, and was given a job without even interviewing for it.
Most college students who take a semester or two off from college don't have the luxury of hanging around and going swimming. Nor are they always lucky to land a job where they'll make amazing connections. But in Rory's world, being saved was normal.