<prompt> Human: A little background. I had an unstable homelife and was moved once or twice a year to different cities. I grew up destitute projectsghettos and learned nothing about money management expect all of the things I wish I could spend it on. Despite everything, I pushed myself and got my bachelors degree first in my immediate family. I am working as a social worker full time and have enough sense to invest in my education and am currently in a Masters program. The problem I am running into, is that I have unfortunately adopted the money management skills that my mother had which is to say none and am running into issues. I dont have high amount of debt but Im rockin and rollin down the path to getting some. I got good grades and had some help from grants and scholarships but everything else I had to finance through loans, and still am. There is no other way for me to afford it, and not going is not an option in my field. My car recently broke down and I had to get a used one and with the payments I am currently at - 56 every month and keeping afloat through credit cards. Even knowing this I make rash and impulsive buys. Dealing with finances is extremely stressful to me. Growing up all I learned about money is that when we dont have enough the people I care about are hurt and we have to move, and that there is never enough money. If you would like some more insight into what I am talking about, this article gives you a general idea. There are many others out there if you would like to really understand it. The problems I just mentioned are for me and my therapist to work out. What I really need from everyone here is a way to develop a solid plan to get my finances right. I dont want to stay poor forever, I want to build myself a comfortable life. Howwhere do I start? Assistant: I started with I will teach you to be Rich by Ramit Sethi. It was an easy and well structured read. I highly recommend it to anyone starting out in their Personal Finance journey. Human: I laughed because your first advice was to spend money on something. I will look into it though because its not too expensive and looks good. Thanks!Assistant: He never said to buy the book.You are aware of libraries, right?Human: Your condescension is unnecessary. That being said it is a good idea to check. The libraries that I know of mainly carry referential material for various scientificliteraryhistorical subjects, novels, and the like. I would not presume that they carry self-help books such as these but I could always check.  <response>: I agree the poster is a little condescending in his post. However, I think he does point something important. When someone recommended a book, your first thought was to purchase said book. A frugal person would think, how can I get that for free. These things carry over to a lot of aspect in life. Unless you change your mentality, it will be very hard to save more. 