Breaking a bad, expensive habit
March 7th, 2006 | by mbhunter |Financial Freedumb isn’t dumb at all for wanting to quit smoking.
Among the obvious health benefits, FF is doing it to save money. At $2.25 a day, this is over $800 a year. Classic Latté Factor™!
Quitting smoking is not easy, and even though the benefits of quitting are crystal clear, any extra motivation is helpful. SaveMoneyGames.com suggests the Quit a Habit Game as a method for saving. With a habit as ingrained as smoking, a tangible reward is an excellent carrot to go after. So in addition to making a game out of quitting the habit, I suggest the following:
- Calculate what the habit is costing you directly. (FF has already done this.)
- Set aside a jar or a sub-account in your personal finance software where you can deposit the money you didn’t spend on the habit. This shouldn’t be a problem, because you were spending the money before.
- Monitor your progress (as FF is doing on the sidebar on the website).
- After reaching a milestone (a certain time or a certain dollar amount saved) celebrate with half of the money and save the other half or invest it. You’ve accomplished something great here, so take some time to enjoy yourself!
- If you need some extra encouragement, make it a little painful to renege on the habit. If you’re putting in $2.25 a day, take out that much from the jar (or even more) so you have to work back up to where you were. Make it cost if you go back on your promise to yourself!
Best wishes FF … keep at it for your sake and your wallet’s sake!
Any other ideas as to stick with quitting a bad habit? Post a comment here or go over to Financial Freedumb and post there!
2 Responses to “Breaking a bad, expensive habit”
By Financial Freedumb on Mar 9, 2006 | Reply
Thanks for the write up and wishes…Just the fact that my goal is blogged is helping a lot! Now that it’s on someone else’s blog, I feel even more pressure…but it’s good pressure!