Something that had a huge positive impact on me financially was getting Quicken. Simply tracking my expenses and the flow of money changed the way I spent. F

Something that had a huge positive impact on me financially was getting Quicken. Simply tracking my expenses and the flow of money changed the way I spent. For one thing, I realized that I wasn't spending too much money eating out (as I'd thought) and so I ate out more. A lot of silly / pointless spending just disappeared simply by tracking it. While quicken sucked, and I eventually stopped using it, the habits I developed then have remained. Another thing that helped a lot was paying myself first. I'd have my paycheck split up on deposit into a savings and checking account. The amount in checking was the spending for household, and the amount in savings had specific purposes. Later I had it set up to also automatically move money into investments. You get used to just living on the money in your checking account, and the rest accumulates without any actions. I've generally lived pretty frugal-- which makes it easier to finance doing a startup. But I've never been deprived. I live in "luxury" because I go see a movie in the theater each week and buy the things that are important to me (and the stuff that really isn't, I just stopped buying.) A third thing that really helped was reading personal finance books. I found them really interesting and easy to read. The millionaire next door, the wealthy barber, etc. I really liked Timothy' Vicks books on Warren Buffett, and Buffettology. These, of course, are the gateway drugs to things like Options as a Strategic Investment by McMillion -- a thousand pages on options, and I read most of them! Ultimately, though, mises.org and "Economics in one lesson" by henry hazlitt gave me enlightenment. The latter can be downloaded free here: http://www.fee.org/library/detail/economics-in-one-lesson-pdf-doc-audio http://www.fee.org/library/detail/economics-in-one-lesson-pd... Also, realizing what my "daily latte" was really worth. Not the $5 at starbucks. Back when I had that habit, it amounted to $5x4 times a week *50 weeks a year = $1,000 in Apple stock bought (When I had the habit in 2007) at $135/share (Close Jan 2, 2008) is now worth $3,740. $3,740 in Apple stock now is worth more than the pleasure of 4 lattes a week back in 2007. I'd make that trade all day long.