People accuse me of having a knack for money. Though many writers are pretty lousy at math, I admit I do better when there are dollar signs beside the numbers!

I come from a long line of “can-do” people. My grandmother hunted and fished, my grandfather sold his ornamental iron work to nearly every house in his hometown . My mother raised three kids on a shoestring…and had us going door-to-door with shoestrings (and scissors) to demonstrate glue that could repair a cut boot-string–for only $2!

By age 11, I had my first year-round job. I paid my own way through college. In 1985, I started my first business on two $500 cash advances on my American Express card. Even in pricey Los Angeles, that company ran in the black from day 1.

A business mind, yes, but a radical one. You can’t afford to hire me to fish for you; I don’t want the job. But I will teach you to fish and love every minute of it, because you’ll be better off, and I’ll be following my passion of making complex things simple.

That’s how I got involved showing people how to revolt against the exorbitant interest we are all being charged (like the Boston Tea Party, only not the “tea tax” but outrageous “lending rates”). I cut $70,000 off my own home mortgage in only two years—mostly without using my own money (I used a couple hundred dollars of my money). A close friend insisted I share. I gave in and here I am.

While I never pictured myself dealing with numbers daily, I do love helping people increase the numbers of dollars they keep and reduce the numbers of dollars extracted from them by greedy corporations…even if those corporations are helping them buy homes.

That’s who I am and why I’m here. Who are you and how can I help?

Lin Ennis is the co-author, with John R. Barker (the friend mentioned in the next-to-the-last paragraph) of Let Your Mortgage Make You Rich!