All this week, Canada AM is presenting "AM Financial Fix" in which we'll follow two people as they get their finances in order.

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Kent Cousins and his wife Sandy Usami feel like victims of the cookie cutter approach of most financial advisers. They found that no one listened to their needs and simply gave them the same investment advice they give all their clients.

Kent and Sandy are both freelance workers in their mid-40s who haven't done much planning for retirement. They know how much money they have, but they don't know how much they need to retire.

The couple holds standard debt: a mortgage on their house, two car loans, some credit card debt, and some renovation costs on their line of credit.

We sat them down with personal finance expert Patricia Lovett-Reid, who crunched the numbers and helped them formulate a plan.

Lovett-Reid says anyone can come up with their own financial plan – if they're willing to take a hard look at their numbers.

"People often stand back and say 'I don't want to talk about money. I want to let somebody else deal with it'," she says. But keeping one's head buried in the sand is not exactly a recipe for 'Freedom 55.'

She says with Kent and Sandy, the first step was finding out what their financial priorities were.

"Because if you're going to have a financial plan, it has to be your goals. I can't tell you what you should do with your money; you need to say 'This is what's important to me.'

"With them, it was to address their line of credit, their modest credit card debt and pay it off. They want to get rid of the mortgage before they retire and think about retirement planning."

So the couple filled out a Budget Worksheet, to look at the money they have coming in and what it is they're spending on.

"They really needed to look at the numbers in detail," says Lovett-Reid. "Not everyone knows their numbers. They know their salary but not all the other income.

"You've got your list of needs and then your list of wants. There are things that you have to pay for. If you have a home, you have a mortgage, taxes, interest, those are absolute needs. The wants are some of the discretionary spending."

While Kent and Sandy work freelance, they tend to have fairly steady work and therefore have lots of options. They don't mind taking on extra work if they need to at some point.

"This couple is actually in a surplus at the end of the month," reports Lovett-Reid. "They have more money left over. They're not spending everything they have coming in. What they want to do now is make that money work harder for them."

Tomorrow, we'll offer Kendy and Sandy tips on becoming super savers.