Are you a parent that has all the financial responsibility in the world on your shoulders and living paycheck to paycheck? Does it seem like there is no way out of this endless cycle of working just to pay your bills? Well, I certainly felt this way. I have been in consumer credit counseling, which was very helpful, but I still felt like a financial idiot. What was I supposed to do to get ahead? How was I going to ensure that my family was going to get the best they deserve which includes the finer things in life AND me? Well, I was sitting at home one day contemplating this and watching my local PBS station when an infomercial came on that was an real eye opener.

Enter Suze Orman, my financial guru! I had heard of Suze Orman before briefly and about her cable TV shows, but didn't really know what all the hype was about. I decided I would watch this infomercial and see if there was anything to the Suze Orman phenomenon. The infomercial was to raise money for PBS and promote Suze's Book "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke". I got a chuckle out of the title, but thought to myself, "I'm young, fabulous and definitely broke" let me hear what this Suze Orman person has to say! Suze revealed some very interesting things to me such as:

1. Your credit score can have an impact on your car insurance premiums!

2. Your Fico Score is different from each of the credit bureaus and they are combined to make ONE Fico Score.

3. Each credit bureau has their own credit report on you, and they don't always have all of the same information that the other ones do.

4. If you have debts that are way overdue, they automatically fall off of your credit report in seven years.

5. If you make a payment on those old debts at any time during the seven years, even if it is at the sixth year and eleventh month, you have started the seven year cycle all over again!

6. As if you didn't know it already, bankruptcy is the WORST thing you can do to yourself and you should avoid it all costs. Suze recommends joining a consumer credit counseling agency if necessary.

7. It's actually OK to live off of your credit cards while you are young for necessities so you can work the job of your dreams and put away the maximum amount of money in your 401 K Plan (only if they match).

8. You should switch credit card balances to other credit cards as often as you need to to get the best interest rate.

9. Despite what you may have heard, you should avoid interest only home mortgages at any cost, because if anything were to happen to you and you lost the home for any reason, you would have no equity and would have to start from scratch.

And much more!

In addition to the advice above, in Suze's "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke" book, Suze gives you an access code so you can access more financial secrets at the Suze Orman Website.

All in all, I would recommend any of Suze Orman's books, they are a real lifesaver and will put you on the path to financial freedom!

Christina Khan is a single-mother and a recovering young, fabulous and broke parent. She runs a baby birth announcement website with parenting advice and articles for new and expectant parents.

Christina also runs a cccs credit counseling debt relief blog that gives consumers a place to share and discuss their credit counseling experiences with others.

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