What I liked about YMOYL was how it asked you to calculate whether the money you spent gave you the value that you desired. It helped my husband and I to improve our spending habits. For example, we had let one small expense 'ride' for some time when in fact we were getting no value whatsoever for it. That membership finally got canceled. In contrast, we felt guilty that we spend one morning per week getting coffee and pastries at Starbucks. When we realized how much enjoyment we get from that activity as a couple, we consciouly identified it as an expense from which we get full value for our money and we have enjoyed that weekly time together guilt-free ever since.
Even 5 years after reading the book, we still occasionally ask ourselves out loud whether we think we will get X dollars of value out of something that we are considering purchasing. If the answer is yes then we proceed with the purchase, and if the answer is maybe when we generally wait a few days and ask the question again.
That particular tool from the book works well from us. Like others here, we ignored the investment advice.
YMOYL is a good book from which you can cherry-pick the activities and tools that appeal to you.
