Jim Cramer is a true success story who is a living example of the American Dream. Well before his successful hosting gig on CNBC's Mad Money, Cramer was a down-on-his-luck "average Joe" who got into financial trouble like so many American's have done over the years. At one point, Cramer even had to sleep in his car in order to get by. After pulling himself out of financial ruin, Jim Cramer went on to turn his misfortune into fame and fortune as one of the country's most popular and respect financial analysts.

Taking a break from Mad Money, Cramer will be hosting NBC's The American Dream with Jim Cramer, as he ventures into the world of NASCAR to help American's understand the dynamics behind how a successful corporation runs its day to day business, even on the track, while its drivers also work to stay afloat financially. Luckily, we caught up with Jim Cramer on a recent conference call to pick his brain about improving finances in such a troubled economy, how small business owners can learn from NASCAR, and the importance of having hope for the future.

THE DEADBOLT: Given how China is becoming a major economic player, how will that affect the American Dream over the next 50 or 60 years?

JIM CRAMER: Well, we are big believers, both in Mad Money and in my special, The American Dream with Jim Cramer, that China is a great growth engine that is to be respected. I don’t bash the Chinese in this, but I do say that the reason why you can possibly make money in the stock market is because of worldwide growth and China is the engine of worldwide growth. I like to also be, frankly - One of the things that has been my hallmark is the notion of getting back, of beating the elements. There are a lot of people who feel like the Chinese are getting ahead of us, that they’re doing much better. I say invest with them. Get revenge.

There are a lot of people who feel that gasoline prices are really high. I say get revenge, buy the stocks of the companies that produce gasoline. In the particular case of China, I have felt that China has taken away a huge number of American jobs. But you know what? We can make money with the companies that do business in China. Running through a lot of my commentary is the notion of getting back, of not feeling helpless, of not feeling beaten. But if you can’t beat them, join them and make money with them - the constant theme of this show and my work.

THE DEADBOLT: What can the small business owners learn from NASCAR’s business model?

CRAMER: Well, you know, NASCAR’s business model is frankly up. And one of the drivers I think with, that I talk with, who was really sensational about it, Carl Edwards, he was a small business man basically printing out cards and saying, you know, "will drive for food." And I think that what small business can learn from The American Dream with Jim Cramer, and what small business sees when they go to NASCAR, is that the people who are still - you know, people who were at NASCAR are people who believe in hope, who have not given up hope. They are not despairing to the point where they accept the fact that they’re beaten. And the American small businessman is exactly the cohort that I’m looking at because they must realize they can still win.

I think there are a lot of people who are very scared right now. They’re scared for their business, scared for your paychecks, scared about oil, scared about the high price of food - all these are addressed. And what I try to say is here is, the way to triumph over these small business people, here’s the way you triumph over them. Individuals, moms, kids, people who just got out of the military, all who came to see the great event, NASCAR and I was able to participate with them, will come away, I think, from this special and come away from my time at NASCAR with hope, with the belief that - you know what? It’s not futile. Their drive is not futile. Their ambitions are not futile. Their ability to be able to take control of their finances is not futile. And believe it or not, their ability to be able to see common sense things all around them, like are all around a NASCAR stadium and profit from them, is something that they can do. And these are all messages of hope in a time when I feel like neither candidate is giving us hope, when I feel like the papers are filled with no hope. Hope is justified and I show you how to act on your hope.

THE DEADBOLT: Speaking of cars... Say someone is sleeping in their car right now, where should they start?

CRAMER: Alright. Well, having slept in my car off of Interstate 5 and having lived the American dream in terms of a comeback, I would tell you now, a lot of people who get to where I did, did it because they don’t have healthcare insurance or they didn’t participate... You got to try to get healthcare insurance and disability. It’s why I ended up where I was. I had bad neighborhood, had everything stolen, got sick, didn’t have healthcare, basically spent any money that I had on healthcare.

But my suggestion is for people who are living in their car, is more psychological than financial. It is that you can triumph over that, you can be scrappy and you can believe in yourself and you can pull yourself [up]. If I can pull myself from a situation where I owed thousands of dollars, running from creditors, living in my car and basically had to go knock on doors, take a second job, do whatever I could in order to be able to get back and pay my creditors and begin to save, you can do it, too. One of the things that I’ve learned, and I talk about this in my books and the shows, the creditors are not heartless. The creditors will listen to reason. In my particular case, the creditors tracked me down from around the country and were able [reason] - And I explained my situation to them, the hardships I was facing and how I just needed a stretch out to be able to pay the bills over time. It took me five years to be able to get back on my feet. I hope it doesn’t take you that long, but you can get back on your feet.

THE DEADBOLT: When my grandparents were still alive, they were always talking about investing in gold. Is gold still a good investment?

CRAMER: I say on my show every night that one-tenth of your money should be in gold and the reason why you should do that is because it’s an unstable time in the world. I’ve been recommending gold since 9/11. I never recommended gold before 9/11. I just think that there’s too much uncertainty in the world not to have some of your assets being in gold. And I’ve always recommended that you own one gold stock out of ten - ten is being the portfolio - you can have five stocks to get started. But I believe that if you don’t have some exposure to gold, you’re too much at the mercy of the world right now.

THE DEADBOLT: Is there a Jim Cramer one-liner that we can walk away with?

CRAMER: "There’s always a bull market somewhere and I promise to try to find it just for you." I mean, that’s the level of hope. Right now I think people just say, "You know what? It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing I can do." That’s nonsense. I say, "Okay, what’s the biggest change in your life in terms of your spending?" And it’s going to be your electric bill or your gasoline bill. And that’s a bull market right there. You go get your revenge. You go get rich with them.

THE DEADBOLT: What’s the best piece of useful and practical advice that you’ve ever received?

CRAMER: It would be from my dad, which is tell the truth. Tell the truth to yourself and tell the truth to others, and then everything takes care of itself if you work hard.