Mom of 8 Was Born a Tour Company Heiress and ‘Broke’ by 52. Here’s What She Learned by Losing Millions (Exclusive)

Linda Perillo was born into an “amazing childhood” as the daughter of Perillo Tours founder Mario Perillo. But inevitably life became more complicated — and after her father’s death, she says she ended up entering a “financial situation that would emotionally and physically exhaust me and rip me to shreds up to this day.”

Through it all, she had one mantra: Plan B.

“You gotta always have to think of how to suffocate the bad situation and find a solution,” Linda, 57, tells PEOPLE.

Linda details the highs and lows of her life — from becoming a mom of 8 to weathering two divorces — in her new memoir, Your Payment Method Has Been Declined, released earlier this month.

Linda was raised in New Jersey by parents she describes in her book as “a combination of 24k gold and dusted with really amazing Italian dark chocolate and covered in M&Ms.”

As a child, she traveled so often thanks to her father’s work that she thought going on a vacation every couple of weeks was just the way life worked.

And whenever her parents pulled her out of Catholic school to travel around the world she says, “the nuns would always say, ‘You know what? Travel is education,’ and they were right.”

While Linda enjoyed an idyllic childhood, her own start to parenthood was marked by a significant loss: that of her mother Olga, who died of breast cancer complications just five weeks after Linda, then 28, welcomed her first child, son Devin.

Years later, in 2003, her father Mario died of lymphoma — and the next year, Linda was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

“The cancer diagnosis threw me for a loop. You realize you can die,” Linda tells PEOPLE. “It stopped me from getting emotional about stupid things.”

Another shift that happened after her father’s death was that Linda started having major money troubles.

Although her father left money for Linda and her three half-siblings, her situation was complicated by the involvement of trustees. (While Linda is unable to say how much money she lost because of legal restrictions, she says the figure is in the millions.)

“There was a fortune I couldn’t touch, smell or get a screenshot of unless some other person told me I could,” she writes in her memoir. “I was told how much of it I could see or use and on what.”

Linda also admits she struggled with “handling money,” writing, “I gave it away to make others happy all the time.”

Unfortunately, she became “broke by the time I was 52.”

Her financial instability resulted in some uncomfortable situations.

For instance, she claimed that a landscaper who had been working on her home once showed up at her door with his father — and demanded payment in the form of Linda’s engagement ring.

“I had the reputation as being a giver,” she says. “And when you can’t do that anymore, when you run into a hole and you try to explain this to them, they’re like, ‘Wait a minute — don’t you have a million dollars in your mattress?’ ”

“It’s been a horribly frustrating thing to go through,” she adds.

As a result of her finances, Linda says she’s been unable to provide certain experiences for her kids to the level she’d like — like taking them on shopping trips or throwing them graduation parties. “Those things that used to be so simple are not anymore,” she says.

Through all of the changes she’s been through, Linda tells PEOPLE her children have always been a key motivator for her.

“In the last couple of years, things have changed: I got divorced, I moved and I sold my house. You’re changing your mindset and you’re almost in a panic,” she says. “But everything I have done from the time I had Devin until today has been about them, trying to make our lives easier financially so I can give to them.”

When it comes to treating herself, the self-professed “girly-girl” who loves makeup and fashion, says that she still does what she can.

“I love Shein,” she says with a laugh. “I found great drugstore makeup instead of going to Sephora. So I managed to keep myself whole by making little tweaks here and there.”

These days, Linda has been happily remarried since January 2024 to man she describes as “very supportive,” has a great relationship with her children and feels less anxious.

As for her financial situation, she says that it’s “definitely not where I want it to be,” but that she’s hopeful “things will get better through hard work and a change of trustees yet again.”

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Despite all the hardships she’s faced, Linda maintains a positive outlook and insists, “You have to take everything day-to-day.”

“I used to think too much into what’s gonna happen Wednesday and what if this doesn’t get done, and what if that doesn’t get done?” she says. “Now I just say, I’m dealing with the issue today, and let’s figure it out.”

Her advice for others facing similar troubles? While she knows it sounds cliché, Linda advises, “Don’t give up.”

Your Payment Method Has Been Declined is now available to purchase on Amazon.