Personal finance experts don’t get wealthy by following their own advice

I could try giving you financial advice, but the problem is that you would not follow it, and we both know it. So instead, I will recommend a few tricks I use to make myself believe that I have less money than I actually have (which reduces the impulse to spend too much).

First, realize that "the money you have" is just a fiction anyway. Suppose you have a $100,000 mortgage, and $10,000 in your bank account. Does it mean you have $10,000 that you are free to spend? No, it actually means you have $90,000 debt. The number $10,000 is so misleading that the less you think about it, the better for you. (You have an option to reduce the fiction by making an advance payment to the mortgage. Perhaps you should do it when the feeling "I have too much money" becomes too strong.)

Perhaps you should get a second bank account, move some money from the first account there, and then forget that the second account exists. Even better, if possible, make it so that only your wife (or both of you together) can move money from the second account. Again, when the feeling "I have too much money" gets too strong, move some money from the first account to the second account, and then forget that you did this. (There should be no card associated with the second bank account.)

I am not American, so I don't know whether this would be a practical advice or a huge inconvenience for you, but don't use cards, always pay cash. With cards, paying is too easy, and the money is too virtual. Do you NOT want to simplify things you want to do less of! Keep between $100 and $500 in your purse, pay cash, and whenever you get below $100, take $400 more from an ATM. If you notice yourself visiting the ATM twice during the same week, you know you are spending too much. More importantly, this way your brain will learn to interpret "how much money do I have" as the amount in your purse, not the amount in your bank account (and definitely not the amount in your second bank account.)

Generally, the best way to get rid of a habit is to replace it with an alternative. "When you feel tempted to do X, do Y instead" is easier than "simply stop doing X". What could be a replacement for your Amazon scrolling? (Alternatively, could you somehow subvert the process, so that you e.g. scroll for awesome things, then you bookmark them in the browser, but you never actually buy them?) Could you read a book or watch a movie instead? Play a computer game (some ancient game, without loot boxes and stuff)? Learn to cook, or build furniture? (If it must be buying, could you add some artificial constraint, such as "I am going to find the most awesome thing below $5, and then I will buy it"?) Or maybe you could spend some time with people who have much less than you... and perhaps buy something genuinely useful for them. (As a side effect, thinking about other people's problems makes you think less about yourself. Think how many homeless people you could feed for that $5,000.)

But there's another way forward, combining good skills that are greater together. Here's an example of a hypothetical set of skills that can lead to a life-changing amount of fame and financial success.

* Maybe you're not among the best cinematographers in the world, but you know your way around a camera, lighting, and video editing software enough to create a reasonably polished video. Your videos are not Hollywood good, but your ability to create a good looking video is in the top 10% of the population.

* Maybe you're not the absolute funniest, best-looking, and most charismatic person in the world, but you've worked on yourself a bit and are noticeably more appealing than an average person, maybe in the top 15-20% of the population.

* Maybe you're not the absolute smartest person when it comes to computers, but you've built a few gaming PCs, took some Computer Science courses in college, read some blogs and forums, and spend some of your free time following the industry. You might be in the top 10% of the general population when it comes to general computer knowledge.

By itself, none of those skills are remarkable in the slightest. You're never going to get a job setting up special effects shots for Michael Bay, no agent is going to notice you at Starbucks and give you a contract as a model or actor, and Tim Cook isn't going to ever call you at 2 AM begging for your help with emergency fixes to some web service. But you put those 3 things together in the right way, and you can be a successful Technology YouTuber that has a mass following and influences the computer industry to some extent.

I'd think Kanye is a good example of somebody well-known to look at in terms of a list of talents that are good, but not anywhere close to the best. I'd argue that by music and fashion industry standards, he's nowhere close to the best singer, lyricist, dancer, businessman, or designer in the world. But he has a lot of skills that are all above average when compared to the general population. That's enough to be incredibly successful when combined with his self-promotional ability, risk-taking, desire to increase his knowledge, stubbornness, self-confidence, and charisma.

> No, heh, no it is not, at least not in the context we're discussing. Capitalism didn't start in the last 20 years.

I did not make the claim that Capitalism started in the last 20 years - I made the claim that debt/credit is at the basis of a capitalistic society which is econ 101.

> Not sure we're going to agree here though.

We very much will not, and I don't appreciate how you literally were putting words in my mouth to back your claim. Good day.

My point was, not that you said "the last 20 years", but instead, I am saying that credit as a basis of US style capitalism, has existed for 20 years.

And I go on above, to explain why.