Drawing the line: Kimberly Burney must avoid emotional spending or risk repeating past mistakes.(Financial Fitness Contest Winner No. 83)

"IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO receive." But there's something to be said for keeping that philosophy in perspective. Just ask Kimberly Burney.

"I'm always rescuing people," says Burney, 45. She has a big heart, but her generosity has led to a cardiac arrest of sorts for her finances. And now she's kicking herself. "I've made some bad decisions," says the single mother who resides in Waldorf, Maryland.

Last year, she footed the $11,000 bill for a seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise that she took with her sister and sons, Jovan, 14, and Antoine, 23. She also recently borrowed $12,000 from her 401(k), giving $4,000 of it to her sister for a car down payment and using the rest for home improvements. The list of "good deeds" is extensive, and she suspects that the damage amounts to at least $30,000. "I have to make better choices," says Burney. "I can't blow it--I've come too far."

Indeed she has. Though she now earns an income of more than $95,000--a combination of her salary as a …