You are NOT a financial failure if you rent. You are getting something for your money. A roof over your head.

My kids have to maintain good grades. They have to be involved in activities. They have to report to me how thing are going. I watch for any activity that would steer them wrong - drinking, drugs, etc. So their skin in the game is knowing the money won't be there if they don't do their part.

So many people joke that life with me - a professed lifelong penny pincher - must be tough. But [my husband] is a great money manager. And he helps me let go of my fear of spending while still being frugal.

A foreclosure does not define you financially.

Having a separate fund for the things in life that happen, helps keep the emergency fund in tact in case you lose your job or income.

The rich are depressed because they realize their money can't buy them out of their issues.

I've found that when you can quickly knock out debt you get motivated because you see progress. Then you attack the other debt so fast that even if it's at a higher interest rate, you don't end up paying much more because you've gotten rid of it.