My name is Andrea and I am your Personal Finance Guide. My education is in Fine Arts and Literature, but my life's experience is in squeezing blood from a stone. This is such a well-known fact in my circle that friends and family call me for advice before they go shopping to ensure they get the best price on major purchases.

I have been a certified tightwad since I got pregnant with my first child and decided to find a way to stay home with him. I was inspired at the time by a series of books called The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn, which helped me to form many of my money philosophies and allowed my family to purchase a home with a single income and pocket cash I made babysitting. Suze Orman and Clark Howard are my heroes.

Over time, my husband's income increased to the point that I began to let my old ways slip. Unfortunately, nearly two years of unemployment gave me the wakeup call I needed to revisit my old ways. While we did have enough money saved to last a full year, the second year was a bit rough. My purpose in this column is to share my experiences with you in my journey back to financial health and planning for a future, which will include sending two kids to college and early retirement.