17, and they have just schooled the boys at the first google science fair. wait until you hear what inventions got them to the top. we begin with the debt ceiling. while washington continues to try to figure out how to pay its bills, you might be as well. john is with smartcredit.com and car men wong ullrich the author of the real cost of living. carmen, a fantastic opportunity while everybody is talking about the debt limit and people keep using analogies to the american family and credit card limits, a good time to take stock of your life and how it compares to what s going on in washington. what s your view on this? i think there s a big difference between the two. so the comparison doesn t really ring true with me because we can t do things like raise taxes. only thing we can do is get job number three and four. it s important to, of course, look at your own budget and own debt levels. in terms of the government s situation, it s very, very different. i don t think th