Money is essential, but there's so much we aren't taught about it.

In fact, while I was in college, I've racked up $20,000 in credit card debt on top of my student loan.

That was all before I actually learned anything about money.

I'm Janelia Spinal, an online new podcast financially inclined from Marketplace.

I'll teach you simple money lessons so you don't make the same mistakes I did.

Listen to financially inclined wherever you get your podcasts.

I met Sally at her condo in a suburb of New York City. Can I take my shoes off?

You do whatever you feel comfortable with. I just physically, for some reason,

rather than I never like to wear shoes. Sally isn't her real name. She asked us to keep her

identity private when sharing her story. These days, I don't often get to meet the people I

interview in person, but when I was visiting New York and realized Sally was just an hour away,

I had to go meet her. There was something about her presence over the phone that I found comforting.

She talks to strangers like their old friends. And in person, she was just as inviting.

Oh, this is such a beautiful home. It's comfortable. I wish I had one more bedroom, but it's good.

Next to the door, she had a pair of bright pink crocs. They matched her pink shirt and the

pink Lanier around her neck that holds her iPhone. It paints a good color.

Sally lives alone and follows a strict daily routine. She wakes up, does some balanced exercises,

and then she'll catch up on the news. She listens to a lot of public radio, which was still playing

when I walked in. Alexa, stop. And I have the same thing for breakfast every day.

What is it? I have an English muffin, this whole wheat, and half of it is covered with peanut

butter and the other half is. As we got settled into her living room, we started talking about her

family. How she grew up in the South Bronx raised mostly by her mom. Even though Sally was just a

...