Ryan and Christy Schrock began married life $80,000 in debt, just days after Ryan graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 2001.

"We didn't have the money to pay for the wedding, so it went into credit card debt," said Christy, who lives in Fort Campbell, Ky., while Ryan serves his third tour of duty in Iraq. The $12,000 wedding tab was on top of car loans, personal loans and other credit card debt the couple ran up while putting themselves though college.

Clayton Pope, a state park ranger in Wilmington, Del., also had college loans and more than $2,000 in credit card debt when he began working for the park system in 2005.

"Growing up, I knew what poor was like," said Pope, whose father earned a modest income as a carpenter to support a family of five. Pope also faced "the pretty overwhelming task" of deciding how to invest his retirement plan contributions at work.

In Des Moines, Patricia Fike, then in her mid 40s, confronted another type of challenge - a divorce in 1994 while one of two daughters was still in college.

"You are accustomed to having two incomes," Fike said. "When I went down to one, I knew I'd have to fend for myself."

I talked to Schrock, Pope and Fike to learn not only about their challenges but also their successes. Their stories exemplify the smart savings habits to be celebrated during the third annual "America Saves" week Feb. 22-March 1 (see Web site www.AmericaSavesWeek.org).

"We hope the week encourages and assists Americans to pay down high-cost debt and build savings that will help them weather any economic storms," said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, which manages the America Saves campaign. Continued...