Quotes from Jean Chatzky

If you decide you need a secured card, use it to charge small items every month, then pay the balance off in full. If your credit score improves, and the bank doesn't offer to upgrade your card within 12 to 18 months, give them a call. If they refuse, try another lender.

If you're not clipping coupons before going to the grocery store, you're overspending. If you're ordering in or going out to dinner because you don't feel like cooking, you're overspending. If you're not tracking where your money is going, you're very likely overspending.

I love a hotel that offers Wi-Fi Internet access, especially if it's free. But I never access sensitive information, like my bank account or an online shopping site that stores my credit card information, on a public Wi-Fi connection.

No purchase is so urgent, no bargain so rare, that you don't have time to research it thoroughly, despite what they might have you believe. This applies, in particular, to infomercials that urge you to 'Call now, while supplies last,' or 'Call in the next 10 minutes for a free gift.'

One thing I want to make clear: You never want to hide from your debts. It doesn't work.

Women take fewer financial risks than men do, but not because we're wusses. Both sexes secrete the hormone oxytocin in stressful situations, but women secrete more of it, which helps us stay calmer.

Face your financial issues head on. Open your bills, pick up the phone, call your lender. If applicable, tell them you're struggling and explain why. If you lost your job or took a pay cut, be ready to prove it.

Nontraditional students often have the misconception that aid is intended only for high school students entering college. Luckily, that's not the case.