In all realms of life it takes courage to stretch your limits, express your power, and fulfill your potential... it's no different in the financial realm.

If you have debt I'm willing to bet that general clutter is a problem for you too.

There's nothing wrong with saying, "I want to have more," "I want to be more," "I did this for money."

If you have credit card debt and credit card companies continue to close down the cards, what are you going to do? What are you going to do if they raise your interest rates to 32 percent? That's five times higher than what your kid is going to pay in interest on a student loan. Get rid of your credit card debt.

What happens to your money directly affects the quality of your life -- not your stockbroker's life or your banker's life, but YOUR life.

After you marry, every asset either of you acquires is jointly held. That's why you both need to be in sync on your long-term financial goals, from paying off the mortgage to putting away for retirement. Ideally, you should talk about all this before you wed. If you don't, you can end up deeply frustrated and financially spent.

Make it a priority to have at least eight months of living costs set aside in a federally insured bank or credit union account.