Michelle Singletary quotes:

My first piece of career advice is find your gifting. Find the thing that you are skilled at and figure out if you can make a living doing it.

You are rich if you have enough to meet your most basic needs. You are rich if you have access to clean water, food, shelter, love, a roof over your head.You have to count your blessings to see that you are richer than you think.

The number of those 19 to 25 with private insurance increased from 51 to 55.8 percent, and the percentage of uninsured fell from 33.9 percent in 2010 to 28.8 percent during the first half of 2011.

The schools can't cover all the values that go along with how you handle your money. For example, a financial literacy class might not teach me to hate debt the way my grandmother, Big Mama did.

We know intellectually that money can't buy happiness yet we spend and go into debt as if it does.

Having fun time is a good use of your money.

I also admire my pastor, John K. Jenkins Sr. (First Baptist Church of Glenarden). My pastor taught me the importance of tithing and giving back, that it has to be at the top of my budget. And he is one of the most generous folks I know.

I use a "Debt Dash" approach to paying off debt. I recommend people focus on paying off the debt with the lowest balance first. So if the primary has less debt you would focus on that.

I use my financial values to set my limitations. I have three children I want to put through college debt free. So that means I can't spend wildly or with disregard.

I'm driving my old car until I'm on a first name basis with the low tow truck drivers!

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

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.

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.

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.

Always keep an eye out for other opportunities.

If you haven't saved, your child may have to work. But do what you can to NEVER take out student or parent loans.

I love teaching people how to handle their money and I've built a brand on that skill.

[My grandmother] managed her money better than some financial professionals I know. I give credit always to her because she is the reason I have my column and national recognition.

A foreclosure does not define you financially.

Having a separate fund for the things in life that happen, helps keep the emergency fund in tact in case you lose your job or income.

Having kids doesn't mean they would have taken care o you.

I just don't like people taking debt into retirement.

I knew I had found my life's passion after writing my first column for The Washington Post. The response was like nothing we had seen in the business section. Everyday people were writing that finally someone was speaking to them in a way that was understandable. I think we were all shocked at how many readers wrote in to say that they too had a Big Mama who taught them about money.

I think you can save and spend to live for however long you live. You just have to be flexible if things don't go as plan.

I understand why many are still poor or struggling to make just a middle-income lifestyle. I'm a fiscal conservative, but I also have compassion for people who make financial mistakes.

I usually find that my gut doesn't steer me wrong when it comes to my money!

I write for anybody struggling to manage their money.

I write for people who are good money managers and want to know how to be even better stewards over their money.

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

If you'll have enough saved and nobody has to take on debt and you want to retire, shoot go for it.

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.

I'm not a fan of debt consolidation. In my experience, many people "clear" credit cards and other debt to get the one payment and never change what they need to change to prevent getting into debt again.

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

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.

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

Light has a way of keeping people honest.

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.

Money may not be able to buy you love, but conflicts about it can certainly bankrupt your relationship.

Money may not buy love, but fighting about it will bankrupt your relationship.

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.

My experience may be different than theirs, readers can identify with trying to save for retirement or their own kid's college fund. In truth, the name of the column, "The Color of Money," has less to do with my race than the fact that the color of money is green and it's green we all need to live a good life.

My grandmother was extremely smart when it came to money, but she also worried a lot about not having enough. So it's with her in mind that I aim to explain complicated financial things so the folks like her won't be afraid to make certain money moves.

My grandmother's grandparents were slaves. My grandmother Big Mama would tell me about the stories she heard as a child growing up in the shadows of a North Carolina plantation. It's only been in my lifetime that blacks have had the right to vote, live in certain areas or hold certain jobs. It is with this black history that I write about the financial challenges African-Americans still have.

My husband and I are pretty good at leaving money alone until we need it for what we've saved it for.

My kids have to maintain good grades. They have to be involved in activities. They have to report to me how thing are going. I watch for any activity that would steer them wrong - drinking, drugs, etc. So their skin in the game is knowing the money won't be there if they don't do their part.

My writing is definitely influenced by and speaks to African-Americans because that is who I am. I'm black. I'm a black woman. I'm a black mother, wife, churchgoer, etc. I am the legacy of slavery.

Once you finish paying for college you could reduce your life insurance.

Policy changes like what you desire come from our politicians. So let them know what you think.

Priorities lead to prosperity.

Remember life insurance is intended as income replacement to help dependents and or/spouse pay for things that your income would have covered. When you get to the point that you're dependents (Your kids mostly) aren't dependent on your income, you could reduce the amount of life insurance you are carrying.

Save what you can toward the emergency and life happens fund. But don't worry yourself sick at the slow growth. The point is it's growing even it's just one dollar at at time.

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.

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.

Sometimes your gut is right. And sometimes not.

That's is life. You move and change according to things that happen to you and things that you make happen because of poor choices.

The key to making sure your credit stays good is paying the bill on time. If you are paying the balance off even if there is something on the card in recent purchases, you are good.

The rich are depressed because they realize their money can't buy them out of their issues.

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.

There are other ways to motivate students than requiring them to take on debt or work long hours taking away from their studies. For example, we don't allow our kids to work during the school hours their freshman year. After that, they can work a little but not so much that it hurts their education.

There are some dark days when I do receive some racist mail or emails. But overall the response to me has been very positive. Readers relate to me not just as an African-American, but as an American trying to make sense of her personal finance, just like them.

There's nothing wrong with having a 9-to-5 job, but figure out a way to have another stream of income.

To get started, track your expenses for a couple of months. Then you should be able to start filling in your estimated debits and deposits for the next few months. Once you get it rolling for a while, you will be able to see your budget for the upcoming months reflected in the estimated totals. You can even notice year-to-year trends, like bonuses, tax bills, etc. that come up routinely and it will help you budget accordingly.

We all fall - even me.

We all only have a certain amount of money and that means yes, we have to make choices and sometimes those choices mean we don't get what we want.

We have to protect ourselves by doing our own homework.

When you give people who are being financially responsible money, you are enabling them to continue a bad habit. So you are actually helping by saying, "Love you but no."

You are NOT a financial failure if you rent. You are getting something for your money. A roof over your head.

You can't time the market.

You don't need to waste money on a fancy program or app to do a basic budget. I've been using a simple Excel spreadsheet since 2005 to track my monthly budget.

You made a decision given your life circumstances and you have to be ok with that. Regrets that can't be change is just torturing yourself.

You need to know everything. You both need to be comfortable with sharing everything. If you can't you are NOT ready to get married.

You shouldn't invest the money if you are looking to use it within five years. Too much risk.

You still need to save but being debt-free in retirement is and should be a goal.

You'll feel better when you get all that debt off your back.