Savannah Chrisley Recalls 'Spending Money Like It Was Never Going Away' Ahead of Parents' Prison Stints

The 'Chrisley Knows Best' alum said her parents' legal situation "took away a lot of things" and "for about a year, anything work-wise disappeared" because of it

Savannah Chrisley is candidly speaking about her previous money-spending habits — and how her family's legal shakeup reshaped her entire view on it.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the 26-year-old Chrisley Knows Best alum said: "I will make no bones about it, I spent my money like it was never ever gonna go away."

Admitting that she "never thought it was gonna go away," Savannah began changing her ways as her parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, were sentenced in November 2022 on fraud charges.

"It took away a lot of things," she recalled. "For about a year, anything work-wise disappeared."

Related: Why Lindsie Chrisley Says It Was in Her 'Best Interest' to Be 'Methodical' with 'Chrisley Knows Best' Earnings

Because of her parents' situation, she has become the guardian of younger siblings Grayson and Chloe. (Chloe, 10, is the biological daughter of Savannah's eldest brother Kyle, but Todd, 54, and Julie, 50, later became her legal guardian amid their son's addiction troubles.)

"It's definitely testing me, but helping to be a bonus parent for my siblings, it's been the hardest but most rewarding job I will ever have," she said. "I get out there every day and I wanna make a better life for these two kids. It's gonna touch on that."

Taking on this new guardianship role has also allowed Savannah to realize that "when you're in a single-income household, you do whatever you have to."

"I feel like God never gives you more than you can bear," the Unlocked podcast host added. "I feel like what is happening right now is exactly what I needed to not be this spoiled, entitled whatever, because what's happening now is testing who I am as a person."

Todd and Julie reported to prison on Jan. 17. Though they were initially slated to serve a combined 19 years behind bars, the longtime couple's sentence was reduced on Friday.

Todd will now be released from the Federal Prison Camp Pensacola in 10 years on Jan. 22, 2033. Meanwhile, Julie's sentence was shortened to 5 years as she will now be released from the Federal Medical Center Lexington on Oct. 19, 2028.

In the meantime, Todd and Julie are still in the process of appealing their case. Chrisley family attorney Jay Surgent recently told Entertainment Tonight that Savannah plans to pay her parents' $17 million restitution fees herself.

Related: Savannah Chrisley Opens Up About Being a 'Bonus Parent' to Chloe and Grayson: 'Most Rewarding Job'

"I think Savannah, while it's not her job to make restitution on behalf of her parents, she has every intention," Surgent said. "I've spoken to her a number of times about it. She has every intention to do everything she can do to make restitution on behalf of her parents from the outside."

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And while this is still an "unusual" approach, Surgent said Savannah "happens to be in a situation that she's very creative, she has a unique talent and she's a great interviewer."

"She's gonna do well towards that end," he added, "as far as earning money and being able to help with restitution."

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