The problem is not that he ' s cheap , it ' s because the Sens didn ' t manage to draft properly or make good trades to make the team better . They haven ' t lost a player due to money , since Yashin . They had the choice to either keep Redden or Chara and they kept Redden . They had Bishop and they traded him for Conacher . They gave Spezza away . There ' s no star on that team beside Karlsson . You don ' t get those via free agency . <| sep |> I have a very similar background as you . You ' re going to really need to change your behavior . That ' s like 90 % of it . Understand that it ' s a journey . a lot like weight loss . I ' d suggest subscribing to some financial podcasts and just drill it into your head 247 . Dave Ramsey is what really helped me get going in the right direction .