Since releasing her platinum-selling debut album Leave the Light On in 1989, Lorrie Morgan has sold millions of albums and earned 20 Top 20 singles -- but the Grand Ole Opry member has also weathered her fair share of personal storms: the death of her second husband, Keith Whitley, in 1989; a highly publicized divorce from her fifth husband, Sammy Kershaw, in 2007; and filing for bankruptcy in 2008. The latter experience left the country star with some valuable insight for every aspiring artist.

"... It was the biggest mistake of my life that I didn’t watch my own money," Morgan tells The Boot. "And I would say to anybody: You have an accountant that does your money? You audit them. You be the co-signer of those checks. You know where every check goes and keep track of your money, because one day you’re going to wake up and go, ‘What do you mean I don’t have any money?’

"... It happens," she adds candidly. "And I’m not calling all accountants thieves, but they take liberty with your money, because it’s not theirs."

Bankruptcy taught Morgan a hard-earned, but valuable, lesson: "Be careful and watch your money."

"Make it, put it away and save it," Morgan continues, "because just as quick as you go up, you come back down."

Morgan released a new album, Letting Go ... Slow, on Feb. 12. A list of all of her upcoming shows is available on her website.

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