Second, isolate what’s really at the center of those things. Again, for me, it’s my family and reading and writing. Those things are really the two things I’m most passionate about with my time.

Let’s dig a little deeper here with the reading element of things. I love reading books and for a long time, I confused that love of reading with a love of buying and owning books. Thus, I would go to bookstores and allow that passion for reading to take over, causing me to way overspend.

In truth, though, it’s the act of reading that I love. I really don’t care much at all whether I own the book I’m reading or whether it’s a library book, or whether the book is used or new.

Once I realized that, my bookstore spending went down. Way down. Instead, I started doing most of my book browsing at the library, on PaperBackSwap.com, or in my friends’ book collections.