I've decided to keep working until my last kid is thu college.

I'm keenly aware of how important it is to set a good example. You may not think that your kids are paying attention to you, especially with something like money, but they probably are.

A smart couple with a healthy financial relationship is always talking about money and how they're handling it. If there's a medical emergency or a job loss, talk about it. If there's a windfall, talk about it. Your financial situation is a constantly changing thing.

Many debt collectors offer a lump sum option so ask. And if you get it, make sure it's in writing and you keep the payoff statement FOREVER.

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.

Kids can and are a blessing. But plenty of people without kids live and die just as happy.

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.