Money may not buy love, but fighting about it will bankrupt your relationship.

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.

I also admire my pastor, John K. Jenkins Sr. (First Baptist Church of Glenarden). My pastor taught me the importance of tithing and giving back, that it has to be at the top of my budget. And he is one of the most generous folks I know.

If you'll have enough saved and nobody has to take on debt and you want to retire, shoot go for it.

To get started, track your expenses for a couple of months. Then you should be able to start filling in your estimated debits and deposits for the next few months. Once you get it rolling for a while, you will be able to see your budget for the upcoming months reflected in the estimated totals. You can even notice year-to-year trends, like bonuses, tax bills, etc. that come up routinely and it will help you budget accordingly.

The sad thing is many people learn how to manage money after they've made a lot of financial mistakes, some that take decades to fix.

When you give people who are being financially responsible money, you are enabling them to continue a bad habit. So you are actually helping by saying, "Love you but no."