I hope my story is encouraging to someone out there. I am a 36 year old, African America mother of two. My credit is destroyed and I have 16 years on the job. After reading both “Smart Couples Finish Rich” and “The Automatic Millionaire” I decided to take charge of my life. Of course I don’t feel like I even make enough money to afford coffee, but I do drink it. My philosopy was this, “Yes I want to be financially independent, I don’t own a home yet, I don’t have a 401K and I sure don’t have a savings, but why not start with the basics and start now. That is so important to start something NOW”. So today I just began setting up my “automatic system” five minutes ago I took a deep breath and signed up and committed 12% of my income to my employer’s 401k by way of payroll deducation. I bypassed the coffee shop today and opted for water. Rather than drive in, I read my book on public transportation. It felt so good. I feel like I’m worth something now, my job means something more because I am now making it work for me. Rather than worry about money I’ve set up my automatic system and now with all that free stress time, I’m going to spend it with my kids and enjoy life. Worry less about money and concentrate more on being happy. Who want’s to be an unhappy, stressed out MILLIONAIRE!!!