My family never had a lot of money, as a result they got good at managing finances. My Dad taught me a lot about basic saving, expenses, loans, markets, etc.

Once I had enough money to actually save (my first internship) I began shoving it away in an IRA while putting away small money into a 401k (up to match, its all I could afford).

After I got my first real job I started learning more. I grew my portfolio with the additional income. Additionally:

1. Never buying a car new, or recently used. 10 years old or later, ideally models that are easy to work on (I taught myself basically everything but engine/suspension work).
2. Paying with cash (or credit with the money to pay it off immediately for points purposes).
3. Leveraging interest free financing from places to furnish my first apartment. I had the money to pay it outright, but opted for the financing to keep liquid cash available despite being able to pay it off immediately. If you're responsible with credit this is a good plan, but they dont make money on people like me. They make money on people who lever up to the eyeballs and get hit with a massive backdated interest. Don't make it a habit at any rate.
4. Knowing when to rent vs. buy. I rented an apartment until the 12%/year increases got to the point I needed to begin looking at houses. My house costs me slightly more than the last rent payment I had, but the overall costs are significantly less (rents increased again this year, I will soon be paying significantly less than the average rent).
5. Eat frugally but not cheaply. Weekday meals should be cheap and easy, but spend some money on a good meal every weekend or every other weekend.
6. Going to an affordable school - I understood the basic principles of loans when I graduated high school and I knew the deal for my degree was good (~21k for a STEM degree). Knowing this I took the gamble and was able to pay off my loans in 6 months. If I could do it again I would've used some of my internship money to pay off the interest earlier.
7. Be frugal in general. Buy the best when it's warranted, buy the cheapest for anything else.
8. Paying myself first. I move all my money when I get my paycheck immediately to my brokerage, IRA, etc. This way, I know what I'm operating with. When I was still learning I used to wait until the end of the month. This resulted in seeing more money and having a desire to spend it - big mistake.
9. Having exactly 1 credit card locked away in a safe that I run my bills through. If I make a large purchase (that I of course have the money for) I will bring it out in order to get some points. I've bought some nice things with points through the years.

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I'm still behind a little - I graduated late. But I've managed to go from being dead broke, to playing catch up, to being relatively comfortable in 5-7 years. Once you set everything up (retirements, emergency funds, bills, etc) you can basically go on auto pilot except for the twice a year you rebalance/manage your portfolio or cancel services/bills you don't need.