Managing your finances can be tough and making mistakes is all too common. Many of us turn to personal finance experts online, in print, on television and on the radio for guidance and answers to the tough questions. These experts often provide an invaluable lifeline to those of us who are struggling. Credit.com talked to 17 prominent and up and coming financial experts and bloggers, and learned that they haven't always been financial sages. They've made plenty of money mistakes too, just like the rest of us, and in many cases, those mistakes got them on the road to becoming the authorities they are today.

The takeaway: If they can make it back from the brink of financial ruin, and even thrive, so can you.  Check out their stories:

• Dave Ramsey
• Liz Weston
• Adam Levin, Credit.com
• Luke Landes (aka Flexo), Consumerism Commentary
• Gerri Detweiler, Credit.com
• Brad Chaffee, Enemy of Debt
• Beverly Blair Harzog, Credit.com
• Glen Craig, Free From Broke
• Ninja, Punch Debt In The Face
• Adam Tijerina, The Credit Blogger
• Rod Ebrahimi, ReadyForZero
• Jim Bob Duggar, "19 Kids and Counting"
• Scott Bilker, DebtSmart.com
• Karen McCall, Financial Recovery Institute
• Steve Rhode, Get Out Of Debt Guy
• Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, AskTheMoneyCoach
• J. Money, Budgets Are Sexy

Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey founded the Lampo Group in 1992 to counsel folks hurting from the results of financial stress. He wrote the book "Financial Peace" and at first sold it out of his car. He co-founded a local radio show called "The Money Game," which went on to become the nationally syndicated "Dave Ramsey Show."

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

More than 20 years ago, my wife, Sharon, and I went broke. We lost everything due to my stupidity in handling money, or not handling it, as the case may be. We started with nothing, but by the time I was 26, we held real estate worth over $4 million. I was good at real estate, but I was better at borrowing money.

Then it happened. Our largest lender was sold to a larger bank. That bank decided to cut back on real estate lending and called our note.

We went through financial hell and lost everything over a three-year period of time.

After losing everything, I went on a quest to see how money really works, how I could get control of it, and how I could have confidence in handling it. I read everything I could get my hands on. I interviewed older rich people, people who made money and kept it. I came to realize that my money problems, worries and shortages largely began and ended with the person in my mirror. I realized that if I could learn to manage the character I shave with every morning, I could win with money.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

After the bankruptcy, I went back to my first love, real estate, to eat and to get out of debt. Along the way, I began another path -- the path of helping others, literally millions of others, realize they could get control of their money. At first, I just did a few speaking engagements. Then I wrote the book "Financial Peace," based on all that Sharon and I had learned, and began selling it out of my car. I started a local radio call-in show that is now on more than 475 radio stations.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

I answer people's questions based on what I would do in their situation. What I teach is how I handle my own money. I have a degree in finance. But the thing that qualifies me most to teach about money is that I have done stupid with zeros on the end. I have been there, done that. I have a Ph.D. in D-U-M-B. The other huge qualifier is that I used the principles I teach to personally build wealth. My wife and I truly live what I teach.

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Next: Liz Weston »

Image courtesy Dave Ramsey

Liz Weston

Liz Weston is the most-read personal finance columnist on the Internet, according to Nielsen NetRatings. Weston's columns run twice a week on MSN Money, while her question-and-answer column "Money Talk" appears in newspapers throughout the country, including the Los Angeles Times. She's a regular commentator on public radio's "Marketplace Money," and she writes a money column, "My Two Cents," for AARP the Magazine.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

I was pretty lucky in that my finances were never really messed up.

I was raised by a woman who was born during the Great Depression and who grew up poor. My mom was frugal (but not overly so) and a planner, so I learned about living within your means, avoiding debt and saving for the future. But I didn't know very much about investing in my 20s. I signed up for the 401k at the Anchorage Daily News, where I was working as a feature writer, and then got mad at the company when my mutual funds lost value in a downturn. I thought it was the newspaper's fault somehow. I started reading personal finance magazines, which helped me get a little smarter (and stop blaming my employer for market downturns).

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

What really got me interested in learning and writing about money was politics. I covered government and politics for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and grew thoroughly sick of it. I didn't like a lot of the people I was dealing with, or how hard it was to get anything done. I tried covering education for a little while instead, but realized what I really wanted to do was help people in a concrete way, and writing about personal finance seemed like an interesting way to do that.

Once I got the beat, though, it was obvious I had a lot to learn. Money may not be rocket science, but there are aspects of it --- estate planning, insurance, taxes, investing --- that are truly complex. I took the certified financial planner training course at night and studied on weekends so I could write with more authority. I flirted with the idea of becoming a planner, but decided I really preferred journalism to dealing with clients.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

One thing that really helps my writing is the fact that I grew up in a middle-class family and supported myself on a newspaper reporter's salary for much of my working life. I'm lucky enough to be in the higher tax brackets now, but I know what it's like to be broke. I also know that you can build a sound financial life for yourself regardless of how much money you make to start.

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Next: Adam Levin, Credit.com »

Image courtesy Liz Weston

Adam Levin, Credit.com

Adam Levin is a former director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, chairman and co-founder of Credit.com and Identity Theft 911, and a nationally recognized expert in credit and identity theft. Through his regulatory experience, Levin realized there was a lack of reliable and accurate credit information available to consumers at the time. In response to this demand, he created Credit.com as a resource and online marketplace for solutions that help enable consumers to actively manage their credit finances.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

I was brought up in a family that believed in public service. My father was an adviser to two presidents. I went to law school, specifically to become a legislator, not to become a practicing lawyer. I ran for Congress in New Jersey in 1974. I lost, but I knew I wanted to run again.

I wanted to continue to serve the public, and a year and a half later I had an opportunity to become the director of special projects for the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. A year and a half later, I became the director. I loved it and since then have been involved in consumer protection in a variety of ways. I now own two companies that are devoted to helping consumers manage their credit and identity, and I write and speak frequently about these issues.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

When I was running the Division of Consumer Affairs, I was so immersed in my work that I stopped paying attention to my personal finances. I took too many risks, spent irresponsibly and the reality is that you learn sometimes that the joy of winning is short-lived and the pain of failure stays with you a long time. So, ironically, there was a time that my own credit standing was in bad shape, even as I was advocating for consumers. There's a great line from "The American President" --- "I was so busy keeping my job that I wasn't doing my job." In my case, I was so busy doing my job for the public that I wasn't doing what I needed to do to protect myself.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

Every lesson that I teach people today is a lesson that I learned the hard way when I was younger. The things I all but ignored in the old days --- my credit, my cash flow, my investments, paying my bills --- are things that I now watch like a hawk. Everyone needs to take this approach --- and passing on this message is my life now. It's in my columns, my interviews and my radio show. I'm a little obsessed ... in a good way.

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Next: Luke Landes (aka Flexo), Consumerism Commentary »

Image: Credit.com

Luke Landes (aka Flexo), Consumerism Commentary

In 2003, Luke Landes created Consumerism Commentary to hold himself accountable for his financial decisions and progress. He initially chose to use the name Flexo to protect his identity, given that he's often shared the intimate details of his financial situation with readers. Today, Consumerism Commentary boasts an active community of hundreds of thousands of readers every month. Flexo also has written about money for U.S. News & World Report, Currency from American Express, Yahoo Finance, TurboTax and PC World magazine.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

This is one of my biggest financial mistakes. When I was younger my car seemed to attract police, who seemed almost delighted to pull me over for speeding. But I continued to ignore the tickets.

Although speeding tickets are expensive and I had no money, it would have been more manageable in the end had I paid the fines and moved on. I was working for a nonprofit, and I was broke. For some reason, I thought my life would be better if I stuck my head in the sand and ignored the tickets and fines. One day, soon after I left the nonprofit job I had after my short stint teaching after college, a police officer pulled me over for speeding. Since my license was suspended, they impounded my car. My biggest concern was no longer finding a new job; it was determining if and how I could avoid jail time. Good news: I didn't go to jail.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

I realized I needed to start taking some advice I had received to heart. I needed to start being actively involved in my life and the day-to-day choices I was making, not just about my finances. My journey to self-improvement led me to start Consumerism Commentary, namely to hold myself accountable for my financial decisions, with a monthly public report outlining my net worth changes from the previous month. I didn't set out to give financial advice. Instead, I saw myself as on a journey of financial discovery, and after time an audience joined me.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

I only write about what I'd be interested in reading, and my interests are informed by the sum of my experiences. My approach is somewhat different than most other writers. My background is in the performing arts and education, not business or finance (though I did break down and get my M.B.A. eventually). I tend to focus internally, analyzing not just current financial events but the philosophies and perceptions that drive the way people look at money.

Next: Gerri Detweiler, Credit.com »

Image courtesy Luke Landes

Gerri Detweiler, Credit.com

Helping consumers find reliable answers to their credit questions has been the theme of Gerri Detweiler's work for the past 20 years. As a consumer advocate, she has been interviewed more than 3,000 times on the "Today" show and "Dateline NBC" and by The New York Times, USA Today and Reader's Digest. She is the author or co-author of five books and is one of Credit.com's personal finance experts.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

I've made plenty of mistakes. The most expensive was probably investing in residential real estate after we moved to Florida several years ago. We bought before the boom, so we bought low, but the bust here has made that low seem high. I'd like to say I have found some brilliant solution to that one, but we're just riding it out and hoping for the best.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

I fell into the credit education field completely by accident. I was working in D.C. and had been fired from my job as a mortgage broker because I, with some other employees, raised some questions about the firm's practices. (I heard later that the owner of the company went to jail.) I needed a job, and a close friend was leaving her job at a consumer group to join the State Department. I didn't know what a consumer group was, much less what they did. But it proved to be a great experience and forced me to do a lot of things I never thought I could do. I was terrified of both public speaking and doing media interviews, for example, but had no choice but to learn. Fortunately, I worked for someone who was great at both --- and who wouldn't let me off the hook when I wanted to say no.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

What motivates me the most in my field is that I love to help people and am very curious about finding answers. I don't have a law degree, but I've pored over legal manuals to try to help find helpful information for consumers. I like to dig deep into an issue when I can. Plus, after more than two decades of hearing from consumers in trouble, I know that even the best-laid plans can go terribly awry. As one of my bankruptcy expert friends says, "There but for the grace of God go I," and I agree. I try to bring that compassion to my work.

Next: Brad Chaffee, Enemy of Debt »

Image: Credit.com

Brad Chaffee, Enemy of Debt

Brad Chaffee is the founder and author of Enemy of Debt, a blog he started in 2008 to help motivate and inspire others to become debt-free. Since becoming debt-free himself, he's enjoyed the benefits of that freedom and is now launching his first business. When he's not helping others pay off debt, he enjoys time with his family, photography, and hiking.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

My family's answer to this question will probably be considered highly unconventional, but for us it was buying into the whole credit score system. We were taught that we had to build our credit so we could have stuff --- by our parents and society. In 2007 we decided to reject that way of financial planning and started working to become debt-free.

We decided that we would no longer borrow money for any reason and that any financial decisions we made would be based on what was good for our family and not because of what our credit score would or wouldn't do. Today we're completely debt-free, have no credit cards, couldn't care less about our credit score and as a result are happier than ever. I find it ironic that "financial responsibility" is judged by a system that encourages the irresponsible accumulation of debt, all in the name of having a good score. Nothing says "responsible" like borrowing money you don't have, to do (or buy) something you're not financially prepared to do (or have).

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

I'm not a financial planner or an adviser. I'm a guy who had my own personal experience and am now focused on helping others avoid the debt trap and find a higher quality of life. This is a very strong passion of mine. In 2008, as our total money makeover (and New Year's resolution) got under way, I was excited about our possibilities and wanted to scream at the top of my lungs about this newfound road to financial freedom. That is when I decided to start Enemy of Debt to motivate and inspire others to start or stick with their own financial journey. To know what I know and not share it with all that will listen would be an extremely selfish act. My passion is to help others reach a place where they are living their life instead of paying minimum payments.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

Well, for starters, my experience has been one of behavioral change and attitude that focused more on the psychological side of money rather than the mathematical side. Knowing math or even what to do wasn't the problem for me and my wife, it was actually putting a solid plan in place and following it. This took a radical approach to how we behaved with money and a complete paradigm shift with regard to our financial mindset. On Enemy of Debt, I write about changing those behaviors, mindsets and staying motivated in the process --- all things that played a crucial role in our efforts to become debt-free. Now that we are debt-free, I also write about the opportunities and benefits that we enjoy as a result of this freedom. Based on my experience, comparing then to now, I can honestly say that debt-free is living. What we were doing before was merely surviving, and we weren't even that good at it.

Next: Beverly Blair Harzog, Credit.com »

Image courtesy Brad Chaffee

Beverly Blair Harzog, Credit.com

Beverly Blair Harzog is the credit card expert for Credit.com. A nationally recognized expert and personal finance author, she's frequently quoted by the media, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MSNBC.com, Entrepreneur, Bankrate.com, Inc. and many others. She's also a frequent guest on radio shows across the country. She's the co-author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Person-to-Person Lending" and "Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits: Four Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential."

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

I got into serious credit card debt when I was in my 20s. I had a corporate job and had money for the first time in my life. I began getting tons of credit card offers and got approved for every card I applied for.... More

Then I maxed out the cards getting things I thought I needed, like power suits and expensive vacations. I was around $20,000 in debt and could no longer face going to the mailbox. One day I ran into my mailman, who said he thought I'd moved because my mailbox was so full. Then my favorite credit card was declined when I tried to make a purchase, and I realized my financial life was totally out of control. I had a finance background, but that's different from personal finance. I started reading books about personal finance and got myself on a very strict budget. I paid the minimum amounts on my credit cards at first and then doubled and tripled my payments when my salary began increasing.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

I was a CPA at the time and had never liked it. As I learned more about personal finance, I started freelancing and writing money stories for magazines, which led to an opportunity to write a personal finance book. I wrote most often about credit cards, and when I got a chance to become a media spokesperson for a credit card comparison website, I grabbed it. Now I'm Credit.com's credit card expert, and I get a chance to help others avoid the same mistakes I'd made.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

It definitely gives me empathy for others who are in debt. There's a special kind of anxiety that accompanies credit card debt. I know what it feels like. I also know what it takes to get yourself out of a debt mess. So yes, my personal experience with this gives me some insight about how to help others take back their credit lives.

Next: Glen Craig, Free From Broke »

Image courtesy Beverly Blair Harzog

Glen Craig, Free From Broke

Glen Craig publishes Free From Broke, a personal finance site that aims to inform people and help them get out of debt and build their wealth.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

My biggest mistake was not being conscious of my spending. Even though I knew credit cards could get out of hand, I let it happen anyway. It wasn't quick, though. It was over the course of many years. But in that time I amassed thousands in debt. One day I realized it was ridiculous to be paying a good chunk of my small paycheck to various credit card companies every month. What I was paying out in credit was stopping me from using my money in better places, like savings and retirement. I made the decision to pay down my credit cards and get my finances back on track.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

I don't know if I'd call myself a financial planner or adviser, but I do provide information to people looking to improve their wealth and personal finances. I was poking around online, visiting all sorts of sites, and I stumbled upon Get Rich Slowly. There was something about J.D. Roth's writing that pulled me in. He was informing people about personal finance as well as telling a story. I wanted to do that. I had been doing a lot of research and reading over the years as I climbed out of my financial darkness, and I wanted to share that information with other people. That was a little over four years ago. I created Free From Broke shortly after.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

Being able to inform based on my own experiences is a powerful way to get a point across to my readers. I love being able to tell them about a financial situation that I myself have gone through or am going through. I can really only write about what I know, so my topics will be related to what I've done. When I try to write about topics that are esoteric to me, it just doesn't work out well.

Next: Ninja, Punch Debt In The Face »

Image courtesy Glen Craig

Ninja, Punch Debt In The Face

Ninja is the author of Punch Debt in the Face, a blog that does its best to bring personal finance and humor to the same arena. He's been writing --- anonymously --- for two and a half years, and in that time has become debt-free, attained a six-figure net worth and gotten married. His blog was recognized as the best debt blog of 2011 in the Plutus Awards and is in the top 100 personal finance blogs on the Internet.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

Taking on my student loans without educating myself first. The sad truth is, each year I took out the maximum federal student loans I qualified for.

By the end of my senior year, I was $28,000 in debt and only had a few bucks in my checking account. I wish I could blame the bank, my school or someone else for my debt burden, but in reality it was my fault. I signed my life away without doing my due diligence and paid for it greatly ... literally.

Like most college graduates, I consolidated my student loans over a 20-year time frame to lower my minimum monthly payment. After a few months, my $28,000 balance was still at $27,850. It was really frustrating to be throwing hundreds of dollars a month at the loan and only watching it decrease slightly. I ran the numbers and realized if I only made minimum payments for the next 20 years, my total repayment would be just shy of $53,000. That's insane! Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I decided to do something about it. I made a budget, lived within my means and paid that sucker off in just over two years. Sending in that last payment was one of the most liberating things I've ever done.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

Financial adviser? What's that? I finished college with a B.A. in psychology, which I read is currently the lowest-paying college degree out there. I have no fancy letters after my name, and I am far from an expert on money. My only credentials are that I was able to pay off a ton of debt in a short period of time on a modest income (I started at $37,000/year). I decided to create a blog (Punch Debt in the Face) to chronicle my journey to debt freedom. I use humor in each blog post to make personal finance more relatable and palatable to the general population. I even have stick-figure drawings.

How does your personal experience inform the topics in which you're interested and the advice you give?

Since I am a blogger, I do exactly that. Blog. About my life. When I was in debt, I wrote a lot about why debt sucked. When I proposed to my now wife, I wrote a lot about weddings, marriage and relationships. Now that we are working our way towards homeownership, mortgages and buying a house come up a lot. That's why I love personal finance. Just about everything we do has some connection with money. My only goal in life is to make more "smart" decisions than "stupid" ones. If I can accomplish that, I should end up just fine.

Next: Adam Tijerina, The Credit Blogger »

Image courtesy Punch Debt in the Face

Adam Tijerina, The Credit Blogger

Adam Tijerina runs The Credit Blogger, where he shares his personal journey out of credit card debt.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

The biggest financial mistake I have made is spending more than I earn. It's so easy to pull out that credit card and charge something you think you need. It's worse when you do not make enough money that you have to charge groceries and gas. This happened when I became a father of boy/girl twins at 18 years old and was trying to go to college as well. My wife, now ex-wife, and I struggled for years trying to get by, but we were getting further into debt. In 2002 I was able to complete my degree in marketing and finance. I enjoyed reading personal finance books and magazines.

Using this financial knowledge, I was able to share and help others, such as helping my brothers and sister get started investing in the stock market, helping my mom with her pension and advising relatives about credit card debt, finding a good balance-transfer offer, etc.

Around 2003 to 2004, I went through a divorce, and my credit card debt spiraled out of control even further. It reached over $62,000 in February 2008. It wasn't until I wrote out all my debts that it hit me --- $62,000! I read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" and started using the debt snowball on my credit cards. I was able to pay off almost $15,000 when I went through a major financial crisis --- unexpected medical bills, large IRS bill due to self-employment, student loans coming due and a drop in income.

I could not afford to make the $1,000 a month in credit card payments anymore. I did not want to file bankruptcy. I read about debt settlement and used it to pay off over $43,000 in six months. I still have over $16,000 in credit card debt but am slowly paying it down and look forward to being debt-free.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

Having children at a young age made me interested in making more money quickly. So this would have been around the time they were born, in 1997. I enjoyed reading about personal finance and liked helping others manage their money as well. Helping others avoid some of the many financial mistakes I have made is rewarding. That's why I decided to be a credit and debt blogger.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

I am able to offer a firsthand account of what it's like to get the debt collectors calling at all hours of the day and how to deal with them --- don't answer the phone when they call. Do it on your terms when you are prepared and not whenever they call. I understand the emotions people drowning in debt are going through and can offer advice on how to deal with that debt. Even though I used debt settlement, it is not for everyone, and I make that clear when I write about it. I've been through it and can share what I've learned to others so hopefully they can avoid some of my mistakes and get a handle on their debts.

Next: Rod Ebrahimi, ReadyForZero »

Image courtesy Adam Tijerina

Rod Ebrahimi, ReadyForZero

Rod Ebrahimi started and sold his first technology company while still in high school. At 18, former Netscape executives recruited him to Silicon Valley. There he worked on the Internet Datacenter Infrastructure team at Escalate, an e-commerce platform provider, where he helped build scalable e-commerce systems for Fortune 500 customers. He has helped take several consumer Internet and enterprise products from concept to launch and beyond, and has been applying Internet technologies in new and innovative ways since 1997.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

I started a company using high-interest credit cards and ended up with $12,000 of debt within eight months. After a year, the monthly payments were in the same range as a car payment without the utility.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

We founded ReadyForZero after realizing how many of our close friends and family around us were struggling with their own debt-related situations. With a background and passion for technology and computer programming, we realized that we could use technology to help the average consumer prioritize and pay down their debts, ultimately changing their payment behaviors. We are not certified financial planners/advisers, but much of the advice/recommendations they provide can be automated using software. ReadyForZero is like a financially savvy friend guiding you every step of the way. Today, ReadyForZero users are paying down their debts two times faster than those who are not using our platform.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

My co-founder, Ignacio Thayer, and I have both dealt with challenging financial situations on our own and were looking to simplify and automate the "get out debt" process using what we know best --- technology.

Next: Jim Bob Duggar, "19 Kids and Counting" »

Image courtesy Rod Ebrahimi

Jim Bob Duggar, "19 Kids and Counting"

Jim Bob Duggar and his wife, Michelle, have 19 children. Jim Bob is a commercial real estate investor. His family's TV show, "19 Kids and Counting," airs on TLC.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

When I was growing up, my parents had a lot of financial struggles. They were in real estate, and the market went up and down. They lost the house. This was in Springdale, Ark., in the late 1970s. I can remember one morning I got up and we didn't have any food in the house, except a decorative jar filled with rice that my mom had kept on the counter for years. And that morning we ate rice for breakfast. We never went without a meal, but it was really tight there sometimes.

There's a Scripture that says, "All things work together for good for those that love God." It's Romans 3:28. Even when my family had the utilities shut off, instead of destroying my faith it actually built my faith. It created a drive in me to really be diligent with whatever money I'm a steward of. Years later, my wife and I decided to take the Bible principles and apply them to our family. One Bible principle, Romans 13:8, says, "Owe no man anything but love." We had a house with a 30-year mortgage. We decided to sell that and pay off whatever little debts we had to become debt-free. That was a big step for us.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

They approached us about eight years ago, when we had 14 children, about doing our first documentary. So we did one show back then. It was called "14 Children and Pregnant Again." And then three years ago they started a weekly series. We feel it's a way to really encourage other families. A lot of people watch our show and say, "If you can do it with 19 kids, then we can do it with one or two."

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

The show is about our family, and these financial principles have really impacted our family. I think there are a lot of people who wonder how in the world have the Duggars been able to provide for their growing family of 19 kids over the years, and this is it. Like, buy used and save the difference. I'd say we got 90% of our clothes at a goodwill or thrift store. So that saves us a huge amount of money. We saved up and paid cash for our first commercial real estate investment, and that did pretty well, and once we had rental income coming in, it's amazing how we got ahead pretty quick.

Next: Scott Bilker, DebtSmart.com »

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Scott Bilker, DebtSmart.com

Scott Bilker, author of the best-selling books "Credit Card and Debt Management," "How to Be More Credit Card and Debt Smart" and "Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt," is the creator of DebtSmart.com. He is an electrical engineer and a member of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Locally, he served for three years as an elected Board of Education member in Barnegat, N.J.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

In my last year of college, I ran out of the ability to borrow money through student loans, and I had to turn to my credit cards. Initially it was overwhelming. Once the bills started to come in, I had no system to handle them. I had no idea how expensive it would be.

Most importantly, I knew I had to finish college at any cost. But after that, I never earned enough to break even. So I was constantly falling into more and more debt. With student loans, credit card debt and three children, I was still a little behind.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

So what got me into giving advice was that when I got into this trouble, I always took good notes about how to pick better credit card offers, analyze life insurance, auto lease purchases or home mortgages, and I'd share them with my friends and family. I wanted to formalize it, so I thought I'd write a book. Then in 1998 I started my website. So I picked up more income just giving advice.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

A lot of people beat up on me when I was having financial issues. "You're living above your means! You can't afford that house!" Well, no kidding. You hear all these financial advisers telling people not to go into debt. Well OK, that's nice. But most people need credit to live. I've got about 50 credit cards. You just have to be smart about it. Credit isn't the problem. Spending is the problem. You're going to spend money anyway. So why not use credit cards, so you can use the rewards programs to get cash back? Do whatever you have to do to make it work to your advantage.

Next: Karen McCall, Financial Recovery Institute »

Image courtesy Scott Bilker

Karen McCall, Financial Recovery Institute

Karen McCall is the founder of the Financial Recovery Institute. After decades as a financial counselor, she transitioned into training other people to do such counseling work. She recently published the book, "Financial Recovery: Developing a Healthy Relationship with Money."

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

Twenty-eight years ago, I was virtually homeless. I was staying on people's couches. I'd gotten a divorce, and I ended up with this large settlement, and I lived the life of a carefree single woman, paying for everyone's dinners. I watched my assets go down, watched my debt go up, my credit cards were over limit. I felt unbelievable shame and embarrassment.

That shame becomes debilitating. I stumbled into a 12-step group for people with financial troubles and then I realized that I also needed therapy. That was the beginning for me of not being alone and isolated and full of shame.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

I took a career-planning class, and it helped me realize that I really did have a vision and desire for the life I wanted to lead, of helping people. My focus is, yes, teach people strong money management skills, but also be very sensitive to the emotional issues related to their relationship with money. It's the areas of deprivation, the areas where a person has longing and craving, there's a hunger for more and they don't know what it is. That can get people into a lot of trouble. My approach is to help people get in touch with where they feel real deprivation in their life and meet those deepest needs.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

If you tell people what to do, but they're not buying in because they're not seeing the value, it doesn't last. We want to do something that's really transformational for people. It's not that quick-fix-budget mentality. I don't give advice. What I do is I engage people in a process where they learn strong money management skills, and then at a very deep level we look at every area of their spending and try to identify what's really important to that person, so they're spending their resources on the things they really care about.

Next: Steve Rhode, Get Out Of Debt Guy »

Image courtesy Karen McCall

Steve Rhode, Get Out Of Debt Guy

After founding a nonprofit group called Myvesta to help people with debt problems, Steve Rhode started a column that ran in 50 newspapers, served as a money coach for celebrities on the reality-TV show "Starting Over" and has appeared as a personal finance expert on ABC, NBC, CNN and Fox. He runs the Get Out of Debt Guy website.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

I started a real estate company. We bought acreage, developed it and started selling it. Not long after, in 1989, the real estate market tanked. I kept thinking the next sale would be the big sale that takes care of all our problems. Pretty soon I started putting a lot of those expenses on credit cards. We declared bankruptcy. It was horrible. After that, we went through the motions day to day, but we had lost who we were.

It wasn't until after we filed bankruptcy that I finally started to say, 'This is a terrible situation that I don't want anybody else to go through if they don't have to.'

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

After living through financial problems myself and having not been able to find that kind of honest and open help I thought would have been helpful to me at that time, I began to use what I learned firsthand to help others.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

I think people who regularly read my site at GetOutOfDebt.org will find that my experience has given me a more holistic approach to dealing with problem debt. Dealing with financial problems is about placing the difficult situation into a larger context that includes financial safety moving forward and not just engaging in a knee-jerk reaction for the perceived problem right in front.

Next: Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, AskTheMoneyCoach »

Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, AskTheMoneyCoach

A former reporter for The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox is the founder of the AskTheMoneyCoach website.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

I was dating a guy in college, and it was the holiday season, and we were window shopping. He saw this brown leather coat in a store in a store, and he said, "Oh, this is nice." He looked at the price tag and put it back real quick. It was four or five hundred bucks. So I went back later and bought it for him. I was a starving college student, living on ramen noodles. And after I bought the coat, I couldn't afford to pay my car note for two months. So one night I go outside and discovered my car was missing.

I thought it was so unfair that the Hyundai Motor credit corporation had the audacity to come and take this car! But really I had totally mismanaged my finances. We make a lot of mistakes with our finances, sometimes in the name of love and sometimes out of sheer stupidity.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

I was working as a Wall Street reporter for CNBC. One day my boss came to me and 200 other people and said, "Sorry, guys, we can't afford you anymore." This was one of the early waves of media downsizing. I cried about it, I pouted, I said, It's not fair! But then I decided to make lemonade out of lemons. I realized I wanted to keep doing exactly what I was doing: talking to people about how best to manage their money, being on TV. So I launched AsktheMoneyCoach.com so I can combine some of my own personal experiences with debt and finances with everything I learned from talking to high-level Wall Street types.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

I always talk about the "dreaded d's": downsizing, divorce, death in the family, disability or disease. I've experienced many of these things myself. I've had a divorce. At one point in 2001, I had $100,000 in credit card bills. I was a classic overspender. Fortunately, I was able to pay them all off in three years. Now I treat them all by saying, "This is an issue I struggled with, and I'm just going to write about it, and maybe it can help other people." The fact that some of us are quote-unquote financial experts does not make us immune to making costly mistakes, sometimes reacting out of our emotions and not our heads, and having the same experiences that millions of Americans have had.

Next: J. Money, Budgets Are Sexy »

J. Money, Budgets Are Sexy

J. Money writes for Budgets Are Sexy. He's a laid-back finance blogger guy just trying to spice things up a bit. He also finds budgets, well, sexy.

What was the biggest credit or financial mistake in your life? When did it happen, what were the circumstances, and how did that lead to you getting your financial life in order?

Funny you should ask. The one biggest mistake we made actually changed my career life forever and brought me to being a full-time blogger today. For us (my wife and I), it was buying our first house five years ago. Not because it was at the peak of the real estate boom (it was), but because we realized that we are not meant for homeownership. I personally enjoy moving every two years, having been brought up in the military, and as you well know, that's no longer feasible when you "own" a home.

But because we were shooting for the American Dream, we threw all that out the window and gave it a shot because that's what we thought we were supposed to do. And what all of our other friends were doing at the time too. On top of it all, we did it at the spur of a moment, too. We were literally driving around looking for a two-bedroom apartment, got lost and came upon a beautiful three-level townhouse that we just had to have. Forty-eight hours later we're signing our lives away at $360,000 and zero money down and an interest-only loan. Now, fortunately for us, we could (and still can) afford it, no problem, but the fact that we were so easily able to buy a home without much effort at all now kind of freaks me out. Especially knowing what we do now, of course, with all the turmoil in our economy and housing markets.

But as I alluded to earlier, I wouldn't change it for the world. Because of this crazy decision of ours five years ago, I am now a happily self-employed man following my dreams of blogging and building projects online full time. And not only that, but we have grown our money (and knowledge about money) 100-fold and have a much better understanding of what we hold important in life than we ever did before. We may still be living in that house and whittling away as much of the mortgage as possible (we've recently enacted "Operation Mortgage Payoff" to be 100% debt-free in 10 years), but for now we keep on truckin' and doing our best to live a simpler life. Homeownership may be good for a lot of people, but we're proof that it's not good for everyone.

When and why did you decide to become a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru?

Hah! I am the farthest away from a financial planner/adviser/expert/guru as they come. OK, well not the farthest, but I'm definitely no adviser. I just do my best to motivate people and get them to pay attention to their finances no matter what stage in life they may happen to be in. For me --- someone with massive ADHD --- I need to be entertained and accidentally learn something, all the while having fun at it. So my site's a bit different than the other "Here's how to do X" sites in that I'm a huge proponent of storytelling and really just starting conversations about money, while letting my readers chime in and help each other out too. Yeah, I do some tips and little pieces of advice here and there when I find it necessary, but overall my main goal is to get people thinking about money and excited that they can really own it without boring themselves to death. When something isn't inherently interesting to people, you have to catch them off guard and get them sucked in so they keep coming back and back for more. And I find using words like "sexy" and "badass" help with that.

How does your personal experience inform the topics you're interested in and the advice you give?

It affects 100% of everything I write and talk about on Budgets Are Sexy. Literally, every single one. I only blog about things that I've either experienced or I hear others experiencing and find super-interesting. If I wouldn't want to read about it myself, I won't blog about it. This certainly limits the topics you cover on your site (and I blog every single day, Monday through Friday), but it also helps my stuff stay as fresh and energetic as possible. At least in my own eyes. At the end of the day, you have to be passionate about what you're promoting or else there's really no point to it all --- people can see right through it. And that's the beauty of blogging to me --- you can use the power of storytelling to get whatever point you want across. It's super-easy, super-casual, and since it's your blog, you remain 100% in control as to what to put out there. You may not get paid as much as a "professional" money manager would, but you sure can help as many people, if not more, by telling your own sides of the stories as they become relevant. It's peer-to-peer learning at its best. And best of all, it's free.

Image courtesy J. Money