Striving to Become Better

So I have been playing casual online poker for a couple years roughly, and in that time I have read a few books and played quite a bit but never really taken it seriously.

I have deposited money on a few sites, lost a couple of deposits and totally withdrawn a couple of other deposits when I decide to quit (which never really happens, I just slow down)

Anyway on the whole I am a winning player. My last deposit into pokerstars was 50$. Since then I cashed out 100 after a 2nd place in those 20 tabler 4.40 and is now up to ~250$ (was up to 350$ but lost a few 10$ sng's and not really cashed in those 20 table 4.40 buyins) And more importantly unlike my other times depositing I have actually been following bankroll management pretty well. (although I have taken one or two shots at a higher level game and it hurts to say it but they out played me at the sit n gos but I did pretty well the one time I played a .25/.50 nl ring game mostly due to a lucky deal of AA when villain had QQ)

So I've decided to try and take it more seriously and actually invest in some software and maybe a couple more books.

However I really don't want to pay for this out of pocket so I was considering using some of my winnings which brings me to my questions.

What software should I go for? I know everyone recommends poker tracker but its 90$ and a significant portion of my bankroll. I'm curious if there would be any value in downloading a free/cheaper software at this level or if I should just go balls deep.

I was considering cashing out down to 100$, which if I do would give me enough $ for pokertracker but I'm curious if anyone would suggest buying some more good poker books instead of using it all on software.

Would there be any value in cashing down to 100$? I built my bankroll almost completely on sng's and have very little experience at ring games (which is what I want to begin playing) so I was wondering if I should log more hands at the lower limits before I even attempt moving up? Cashing down would to 100 would also bring me down to the 5$ sng's (for my bankroll management I have to have 20 buyins)

I'm sure I left a few things out so feel free to ask if you want more info, but if you want some loose idea of my play just check me out on sharkscope or poker-edge.
Username: jasdell
Site: pokerstars

A lot of us use Holdem Manager. Details here:

Hold'em Manager

It is at least as good as PT and a shade cheaper (especially if you are content with the low-stakes version.

Does HM support Tournament results tracking yet?

I'd actually recommend downloading both PT and HM and taking advantage of their free trials before you make any purchases. HM's trial is 5000 hands and I believe the beta of PT is good for 60 days.

Also to purchase either you likely won't have to cash out as I believe both accept site transfers.

I've tried pt3 a little bit but it was really just for my sng's and I didn't really get a good feel for it but it did look nice.

Is HEM any better for sng's or are they about the same?
(I'm trying to play more ring games but I do love sng's and how one by one the players fall)

Yes.

I doubt a HUD would be all that useful for a SnG, since people's ranges change so much with the changing blinds. I'd rather have some sort of ICM model.

FWIW Jas... beating the 01/02 - .10-.25 ring games on pokerstars is pretty easy. It's a different game from tourneys, and also different from anything around $1 and up ring style... but you should be able to take a bankroll up through the penny blinds quite easily as long as you are patient. And you have the luxury of being able to be awefully patient in cash games.

I took a $10 bank (sold 1M playchips) and got up over $200 before I even went above 02/05. But I am also EXTREMELY conservative with my bankroll since I am a little less conservative as a player overall.

This is as good advice for low stakes ring as any book I can imagine:
http://www.cardschat.com/f11/10k-pos...e-long-112835/

I am different than him. I play ONE table (sometimes 2) and I play 6-max primarily. (I suppose that makes me different than EVERYONE... but this sort of play fits my goals best, and I am plenty profitable this way) I also have a sort of complicated way of climbing the blinds that is a caryover from my past play. But I think finding your own system and sticking to it is good.

Realtime HUD is pretty nice for ring. And free.
Hold'em Ranger

good luck... I'll try to avoid you when I'm at the kiddie tables!
cAPS

I've been using PT3 lately on their 60-day trial & it's pretty good, never used HEM though. One of the things I find most useful about PT3 is being able to open up a bunch of different tables during a mtt, that way when I get moved to a different table I already have stats on the players sitting there & I'm not going in totally blind. I'd say download it & check it out for 60-days before you buy it, just to be sure it's what you're looking for.

Ok thanks for the replies people.

One question I still have is whether I should cash down to 100 or whether I should just cash out enough to pay for HEM or PT3?

If I did cash down to 100 I would take the remaining money and invest it in a book or two. Would it be more profitable to maintain a slightly larger bankroll or just buy the books?

Based on what is being said so far I'm leaning torwards cashing down to 100 and buying a book or two because it sounds like I will be able to profit at the lower tables by just being patient (which is one thing I have learned from my sng's) and playing sound poker.

^^ you can probably check out books from the library if you would rather keep the money in your account.