Then came the wake-up call: her Nissan Stanza was repossessed.

She was hounded by collection agencies and finally decided to get her spending under control. She worked with retailers on a repayment plan until her debts were paid. This year, she qualified for a credit card for the first time in nearly 10 years.

"I was 21. I was out of school and I thought I knew everything," said Du Brall, now 32. "That helped mess my credit up."

The experience had a sobering effect on her, especially since a friend had co-signed on the car loan. The repossession hurt her friend's credit and wrecked the friendship. Since then, Du Brall, who lives with her boyfriend and his parents in Makakilo, has said goodbye to her spendthrift ways.

While she doesn't have credit-card debt, she owes $15,000 on a Kia and $6,000 in student loans, which will double when she graduates in two years from Chaminade University.

Lesley Brey, a fee-only certified financial planner in Niu Valley, said Du Brall's student loans already have a low interest rate but she might want to check her credit union for a better rate for her car loan.

All in all, however, she's on the right track.

"Darlene is saving $150 a month and that's awesome," Brey said. "But if that's all she puts away in her life, she'll be working until she's 80."

Brey's advice: Sock away at least half of any windfall — from gifts, winnings or raises.

Right now, Du Brall puts $50 every month into a savings account, $50 into a mutual fund and $50 into another savings account for her 11-year-old son, Jeric, who lives with his father's grandparents in Saipan. Du Brall first moved to Hawai'i in 1988 to attend McKinley High School. She has moved back to Saipan since then, but returned to Hawai'i in 2002.

Since Du Brall wants to buy a home, Brey recommended splitting up the money into two pots instead: One for real estate as a five- to seven-year term goal and another for retirement. Jeric's grandparents provide amply for the boy and until Du Brall earns more, her savings are better invested this way.

"He may be with his grandparents, but I still feel responsible for him. A lot of the things I do now, like going to school, it's for him," she said. But "it makes sense not to worry about (setting aside an account for Jeric) now. He's going to be the beneficiary anyway if something happens to me."

Brey said the money for real estate can be parked in a savings account until it builds up to $3,000 — the minimum need to open a nonretirement Vanguard mutual fund account.

Brey prefers The Vanguard Group for its low-fee mutual funds. In general, she recommends no-load — meaning no-commission — mutual funds with expense ratios of less than 0.75 percent.

A mutual fund is a pool of money from many individuals and invested by a money manager. Investors pay the money manager and the mutual fund company a fee for those services. Brey said three things affect a mutual fund's return — where it's invested, costs and taxes.

The financial planner urged Du Brall to get out of her mutual fund, which charges a 6 percent commission every time she puts in any money.

With her real-estate money in a low-cost short or medium-term bond fund, Du Brall could earn 2 percent to 5 percent a year. If she wishes to take a bit more risk, she could choose a balanced fund where at most 60 percent is in stocks and the rest in bonds. The return tends to be higher over most periods.

"During her investment time frame for her house fund, she has a reasonable probability of getting a better return," Brey said.

She recommends the Vanguard Short Term Bond Index fund and the Vanguard Balanced Index fund, a balanced fund, to start.

The house fund also can serve as her emergency fund, Brey said.

For her retirement money, Du Brall has $1,000 to put in a Vanguard retirement account. Here, Brey recommends the Vanguard Target Retirement 2045. A general rule of thumb is for Du Brall to get a Vanguard stock fund that's diversified into large and small U.S. company stocks and foreign company stocks. The annual return over time should range between 8 percent and 10 percent a year on average, Brey said.

Her retirement account should be in the form of a Roth IRA. When you open an investment account, you can choose the type of tax treatment you want on it — whether it's taxable, tax-deferred (regular IRA) or tax-free (Roth IRA). With the Roth IRA, Du Brall can withdraw her money tax-free and penalty-free after age 59 1/2.

Du Brall could also look into joining her employer's 403(b) retirement plan. While the non-profit doesn't match her savings, she still could benefit because contributions are taken out before taxes are assessed on her paycheck. As such, it lowers her income and she would pay less in taxes.