You're not alone. Money management is taught to depressingly few people in this country. If you're new to having significant amounts of disposable income (con

You're not alone. Money management is taught to depressingly few people in this country. If you're new to having significant amounts of disposable income (congratulations!), here are my thoughts: 1) Take a little time and write down what your values are. There are lots of things you could do with money. You could invest it to retire early. You could invest it in yourself in any number of ways (education, exercise, therapy, whatever is important to you). You could use it to provide opportunity to others. You could spend it on hookers and blow. All sorts of things. Decide which ones are most important to you and what proportion of your disposable income you want to allocate to each. 2) Make a budget. Start with the things you really need. How much do you need every month for housing and utilities? How much for food? How much do you need to spend on clothing in an average year just to keep yourself warm and dress appropriately for your workplace? On health insurance? How much do you need to set aside in case your car breaks down or you break a bone and need bunch of medical care? 3) Add a buffer to your budget for the unexpected (and the things you forgot when making the initial budget - you can update the budget again next year); and another smaller buffer to indulge yourself a little (a beer with friends after work once a week) but not a lot (table service at a schmancy nightclub every Friday and Saturday). Stick to your budget. 4) Look at what's left over. Save up until you have a rainy day fund that can cover at least 3 months' worth of expenses in case of unemployment. 5) While you're saving this rainy day fund, read up a bit on money management and about various investment vehicles. Early retirement websites are a great resource for this. I'd advise against treating their recommendations as gospel; but they typically will introduce you to a lot of important concepts and have references to tons of great learning resources. 6) Once you have your rainy day fund, your disposable income is available to allocate to the various purposes you defined in your list of values. You have an advantage here in that you already know how to live on relatively little, and you know the difference between needs and wants. That allows you to focus on spending your money in ways that reflect what you truly value, rather than just on whatever new shiny you decide you "need" just because you want it.