Thankfully I landed a job right after uni. I've been working for 6 years now. Since then, I have developed a system on how to manage my personal finance. I wasn't paid in gold nuggets back then so I have to optimize. Here are few things that I have been doing:

1) Prepare a monthly budget. This gives me a visibility on my cash in/out, % of of spending breakdown. This enables me to adjust accordingly if I feel like splurging or making a big spend on a particular month.

2) Forced saving, cut automatically & directly from the salary. I saw this practice recommended by a PF blogger and I thought I should give it a try. By doing so, I've been able to save 35-50% of my salary with ease. This limits my imagination of being able to splurge like crazy.

3) Plan my tax. Every year I make a projection of how much I make (this varies based on my allowances, bonuses), devise a 12-month plan on how I should spend OR invest my money in order to get the tax rebates / reliefs.

4) Have a savings goal. Again, I make a projection of how much I make in a year, then work backwards on how much money per month that I should allocate to the buckets of savings options, either cash or investments (stocks, gold, bonds).

5) I prioritize in clearing my debt. Every year, I make a BIG advance payment to my mortgage account in order to lower down my loan tenure, hence shorten the interest to be accumulated. The interest that you would save is HUGE! https://www.drcalculator.com/mortgage/ 

6) I calculate my personal 'balance sheet' to understand how much asset + liability that I have. Over time, this gives me a chance to review whether I am overleveraged, understand which asset that is highly liquid & understand my net worth. I do this on a yearly basis.

7) I keep an eye on my investment portfolio on almost weekly basis. I try to adapt based on the prevailing market condition, particularly on some of the financial instruments (keyword: some, not all). I do this as a hobby so it's not a burden to me.

8) Finally, I review my insurance plan on a yearly basis. Most importantly, I have to ensure that I am SUFFICIENTLY insured. Actually, maintaining a good health is THE BEST INSURANCE PLAN of all.