If we aren't careful, our children will come down with 'affluenza,' a disease that causes them to confuse wants and needs. We need to teach our children what my grandmother taught me: Think twice about spending money you don't have on things you don't need to impress people you don't like anyway.

I like the idea of having a paperless society.But to be paperless means you have to be so careful with your identity.

Having fun time is a good use of your money.

Set up rules for when you will "give" not lend money. Never lend. My people know that I'll help with college. I'll help if they lose they job thu no fault of their own.

If we don't want the companies to cheat on us, we shouldn't be cheating on them.

You can't time the market.

My Big Mama is my No. 1 financial role model. Much of my advice stems from what she taught me. She never made more than $13,000 a year, yet she paid off her home before she retired. She saved money from every paycheck. She taught me to be skeptical. It makes me cry to think that I'm a nationally syndicated personal finance columnist for one of the world's best newspapers and my core advice comes from my black grandmother who was a nurse's aide with just a high school education.