I’ve always believed that saving a dollar here and a dollar there makes a huge difference. The attitude of, “it’s only a dollar (difference)” kills me. I believe that if you focus on the details (small amounts in this case), everything falls into place on the larger scale. Finally, someone who agrees with me: small amounts do add up and matter.

Small amounts matter. Your everyday habits have a huge impact on your financial success. Frugality and thrift help build good habits, and make a real difference over time. Plus, there are tons of opportunities to flex your frugal muscles.

Allow me to continue my Erin Burnett gravy train…At the end of the Vanity Fair piece I referenced earlier, I saw a link to a 2008 article on Erin Burnett and Maria Bartiromo. It touches on who’s the Queen of CNBC, but here’s why I prefer Burnett to Bartiromo.

With sultry blue eyes, sharp, almost perfect features, dimples, and a lazy, bedroomy smile, Burnett not only was knowledgeable about financial issues but had a knack for translating them into plain English, and in contrast to Maria, who was more singularly focused on corporate news, Burnett was interested in broader policy issues—education, health care, how to pay for the repair of America’s crumbling infrastructure. She had a casual, breezy on-air persona. She was also a bit irreverent—and spontaneous.

Monday through Friday I spend the hours of 9 – 11a (Squawk on the Street) and 2 – 3p (Street Signs) with Erin Burnett. She and I have a bond. While I enjoy her commentary on the markets, I have been known to occasionally mutter the same sentence as the wife of this Vanity Fair article’s author.

My wife, sitting next to me, was equally transfixed by Burnett’s flawless complexion and piercing blue eyes. “Jesus Christ she’s hot,” she muttered

If you’re interested in the Big Short as I am, you may find this Harvard Thesis to be rather interesting (as I did). According to Michael Lewis,

A.K. Barnett-Hart, a Harvard undergraduate who had just written a thesis about the market for subprime mortgage-backed CDOs that remains more interesting than any single piece of Wall Street research on the subject.

Apparently, you’re better off lending money (bonds) to Warren Buffett than Barack Obama. Two-year notes sold by the billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in February yield 3.5 basis points less than Treasuries of similar maturity. This comes as the USA risks its AAA rating.

I was stoked last night to see Michael Lewis talk about his book, The Big Short, on 60 Minutes last night. Even better was getting to hear Dr. Mike Burry talk about his experience. Not a lot of new information if you read the Vanity Fair article, but still very interesting.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d have stayed in the finance world. I miss it. It was extremely fascinating to me (and still is). I’d opt for more of an investment route versus the audit role I had. Regardless, I still enjoy reading about investing, finance and other money matters, especially if it’s written by Liar’s Poker author Michael Lewis as this article on Dr. Mike Burry is. Note that Burry is featured in Lewis’ The Big Short.

Burry seems to be the sort of investor I like to read about: a value investor (read: like Warren Buffett). By betting against the banks lending practices, he’s been one of the success stories through the investment troubles widely publicized. Combine that with the fact that Burry is a one-man business, prefers writing letters to human interaction and has made most of his investment decisions based on 10K’s and public information and he’s my sort of guy. I wish I could find his old website letters – some are on the Scion Capital site. I’ve selected a few blurbs from the article that further explain why I’m fascinated with Burry.

By his late 20s he thought of himself as the sort of person who didn’t have friends. He’d gone through Santa Teresa High School, in San Jose, U.C.L.A., and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and created not a single lasting bond. What friendships he did have were formed and nurtured in writing, by email; the two people he considered to be true friends he had known for a combined 20 years but had met in person a grand total of eight times. “My nature is not to have friends,” he said. “I’m happy in my own head.”

…

Buffett had had trouble with people, too, in his youth. He’d used a Dale Carnegie course to learn how to interact more profitably with his fellow human beings. Mike Burry came of age in a different money culture. The Internet had displaced Dale Carnegie. He didn’t need to meet people. He could explain himself online and wait for investors to find him. He could write up his elaborate thoughts and wait for people to read them and wire him their money to handle. “Buffett was too popular for me,” said Burry. “I won’t ever be a kindly grandfather figure.”

…

“I hated discussing ideas with investors,” he said, “because I then become a Defender of the Idea, and that influences your thought process.” Once you became an idea’s defender, you had a harder time changing your mind about it.”

Warren Buffett‘s 2009 Shareholder Letter has been published and, as per usual, it’s full of great insights.

One of my favorite blogs is An Affordable Wardrobe because it shows that style doesn’t have to be purchased at some fancy boutique. It doesn’t hurt to have coin to drop like that, but it’s not necessary either. Anyway, here’s a very thoughtful guest post Giueseppe wrote describing why he shops at thrift stores. I’m not sure there could be a better, more well-thought out rationale.

Mark Boyle gave up cash. He doesn’t have money and lives off the land, so to speak. A quick read with a few examples of how he lives, I found the most interesting piece to be what he’s learned (emphasis is my own, so I remember it).

What have I learned? That friendship, not money, is real security. That most western poverty is of the spiritual kind. That independence is really interdependence.