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.

The only way you will ever permanently take control of your financial life is to dig deep and fix the root problem.

It's easy to underestimate the real cost of home ownership.

I am a big believer that orderliness begets wealth.

When you've been battered down and battered down and battered down, your spirit gets broken.

You can never solve a financial problem with money. The only way for you to have a larger net worth is for you to go within to see why you are going without.

Make this the year you tackle that credit card debt once and for all.