Lessons I've Learned From Being Broke

3. Have a cushion to fall back on. Car repairs, unemployment, funeral and wedding airfare, tax bills, medical bills, insurance rate increases, moving expenses -- these are just a few of the surprises I've dealt with over the past few years. If you're living paycheck to paycheck, these unforeseen costs can derail your finances in a hurry. But if you're prepared, you won't have to sell your financial soul to the aforementioned debt vampires.

For a few years after college, I didn't have a cushion at all. Jeremy was in medical school, and we were scraping by solely on my entry-level journalist salary. Unexpected costs forced Jeremy to take out more student loan debt than we would have liked -- we'll be paying for those costs for decades. We never wanted to be in that situation again, so we started stashing a little money in a savings account. We started with only $25, which slowly inched up to $200, $500 and finally a comfortable $1,000 and more.

Whenever I have to raid the account, I pay myself back as quickly as I can. Trust me, it's so much better making those payments to myself andearninginterest on my money than paying a company thatchargesme interest. See Build Your Financial Foundation to learn more.

4. Set goals and tune out peer pressure. I don't care much what other people think of my finances -- I've gotten used to being the cheap one. But sometimes I get jealous of friends and family members who seem to be so much better off than I am.

Meanwhile, my husband and I are comfortable, but no more. We have a well-laid financial plan. On several occasions, though, we've been tempted to scrap the plan in favor of the good life right now. No one else is suffering. Why are we?

We've learned to compare us with us. Whenever we start feeling sorry for ourselves and wondering why everyone else is passing us by, we look back at from where we've come: our newlywed days in that tiny one-room apartment and our jobs as janitors scrubbing toilets. We tune out the peer-pressure static, count our blessings and stay focused on our goals. Besides, for all we know, the success we see in others may only be a fa�ade. The only thing we know for sure is the state of our own finances, and we're staying the course (see Young and Restless for Success).

5. Small sacrifices add up to big rewards. This was a financial lesson I first learned in high school, and it has paid off in many ways since. My junior year, I had to pay my own way when my biology class took a trip to San Francisco. I saved what little I could from my after-school job as a grocery bagger and worked odd jobs around the house for a few extra dollars here and there. I looked for little ways to cut my spending. For example, I started carpooling to school and borrowed a dress from a friend for a dance instead of buying one. All those nickels and dimes added up and, after four months, I had the money. And I had a great time on the trip.

My husband and I employed the same principle when saving for a house. We made the little daily sacrifices necessary to live on only one paycheck so we could save the second paycheck for our down payment. After three years, we reached our goal. See Save Money on Practically Everything for ideas on how you can cut your own spending to pocket big rewards.

6. The size of my bank account doesn't matter. I think peace of mind and security are two of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and your family. Although financial independence is one of my main goals in life, it's certainly not what I value most. Money comes and goes, but my relationships with family and friends are lasting -- and much more fulfilling. For one thing, my husband and I have grown closer as we struggled together and were forced to depend on each other -- perhaps more so than if we'd lived in the lap of luxury.

These are blessings no amount of money can buy.