Family Finances a Mess? Try Economic 'CPR'

If your family finances are sickly and anemic, it's time to fix what ails you. Restoring your family finances to economic health is a process that begins the moment you resolve to get off your fiscal deathbed and get into the economic intensive care unit.

The economic ICU is the one place you'll be financially resuscitated – but only after you self-administer a mega dose of emergency CPR to get your finances back on track to good health.

Marlene Ware, a financial educator for the National Foundation for Debt Management, has seen it all when it comes to unhealthy family finances: excessive credit card bills, medical debt, student loans, payday loans, foreclosure, bankruptcy and more. She's also seen well-intentioned parents – herself included – engage in massive overspending for their kids, only to regret it later.

"Saving money is critical to your secure future. Your kids will grow up, and you will grow older – this I know," says Ware. "If you don't begin saving today, your retirement future is at risk."