“Prince Charming Isn't Coming.”

What a depressing book title.

Personally, I don't believe author Barbara Stanny. I have faith that there's a prince or princess charming out there for each of us. But I know all fairytales don't end with happily ever after.

There are affairs, divorces and young widows. The things that should never happen — fatal car crashes, senseless murders, husbands killed at war — do happen.

So, while I believe in Prince Charming, I know his princess needs to be able to survive financially without him.

That part of Stanny's book I appreciate.

The daughter of the R from H&R Block, Stanny got a trust fund when she turned 21. She married a stockbroker/lawyer/financial planner who handled all of the finances. He lost so much money in the stock market that Stanny's bank account dropped below $60. Eventually, the prince lost his charm and the couple divorced.

Stanny was later hit with nearly $1.2 million in bills for back taxes. She couldn't figure out how to pay that debt while supporting her three children.

Her father refused to bail her out.

“It was the turning point for me,” Stanny wrote, “the moment when I knew that no one — not my former husband, not my lawyers, not even my father — would save me. It was up to me to do something.”

For the first time in her life, Stanny took charge of her finances. It meant feeling stupid asking seemingly simple questions to seemingly brilliant people. It meant having to pay attention to the details instead of tossing aside unopened mail from banks and investment managers.

And, for the first time ever, it meant knowing where she stood. That, Stanny writes, was freedom. It's the kind of freedom everybody — man or woman — deserves.

But studies show women often don't chase after that freedom as aggressively as they should. Women are so pressured to balance careers and families that financial planning falls by the wayside, Prudential Financial said in a 2006 survey on the topic.

I know plenty of women who have let their husbands, boyfriends and fathers manage their money. I've even been one of those women. But I'm not anymore.

For me, the start was organizing my income, expenses, debts and investments on an Excel spreadsheet. It's not a perfect system, but it works for me.

Don't get me wrong — I haven't quit believing in Prince Charming. I've just come to accept a universal truth about fairytales: They always have an ending.