Сount dollars, not pennies. Look at the big-ticket items, in your budget.

I don't want to overstate the gender difference. But women are more sensitized to the way that larger issues affect their pocketbooks, like pay equality or cost of living changes.

Get out of debt. In a world of stagnant incomes and rising core expenses like mortgage and health care costs, that's a lot easier said than done. The middle class is under enormous pressure. But families can stop the bleeding by reducing their reliance on debt wherever they can. They can also start fighting back by taking a hard look at whom they do business with and rethinking whether they want tricks-and-traps banks to hold their money. They can also demand that public officials take the side of families over the side of banks.

There are a lot of things that people say about Hillary Clinton. But nobody says that she doesn't know how to throw a punch.

Me, I was waiting tables of 13 and married at 19. I graduated from public schools, and taught elementary school.

Hillary Clinton is a fighter, she's out there, she's tough.

Nobody's safe. Health insurance? That didn't protect 1 million Americans who were financially ruined by illness or medical bills last year.