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.

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

A foreclosure does not define you financially.

I understand and respect people who say they want to boycott the Trump brand. I also respect your right to buy his products. But what you miss is that no one in public office, Hilary or Trump should use that platform to profit themselves. In Trump's case there are serious concerns about the conflict of interest in his brand and business ownership. Do we really want a president who had products he can push while working for the American people?

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.

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.

Don't let people scare you from a career that may not net you a six figure salary. If you want to be a teacher, teach. But knowing that your salary may only reach a certain level, do all that you can to become the best money manager you can be.