Yesterday I mentioned doing a money cleanse, where you go for a period of time–often two days or longer–without spending any money whatsoever. It started me thinking about my money habits. Of course, it is so easy to form bad habits for anything and takes much more concentrated effort to form good habits, but I do think there are ways to make the formation of good habits a bit easier.
For a few months now, I have been drinking a lot of decaf coffees and refreshers when I go out. (Who doesn’t like the indulgence of Starbucks?) I’ve enjoyed coffee out for years but recently it became a bad habit because I felt like I couldn’t regulate myself at all.
Then, just yesterday I realized that I haven’t spent any money on drinks in ten days now.
How did that happen when in the previous three months, I was buying at least three or four drinks a week (often more)?
First of all, I will say that I still did have a few drinks out, but each one was free. I had built up a free Starbucks drink, which I shared with my husband on Sunday; and as a rewards member at Dunkin’, I receive a free coffee every Monday. The thing is, I have been getting rewards during the previous three months in which I still bought numerous other drinks each week. So what was the difference?
I was curious to examine the difference with the hope of harnessing it to keep myself in a better habit loop. What I discovered were a few small shifts.
First of all, it was not just about the coffee (or refresher) itself. With habits that start to feel out of control, it is an indication that something else is off kilter in your life.
After having my son, it took me months to start feeling like I was in charge of my life again, and the same thing happened with my daughter. But in July and August, I was still not there. I was struggling with her sleep at night and her naps during the day. I was exhausted constantly and overwhelmed much of the time.
One thing that helped me relax a little bit was to get out of the house, even if it was just for a drive. Even though it felt like an ordeal just to get both little ones in the car, I started going out almost every day. It made me feel normal again.
Second of all, it was around this time that Dunkin’ Donuts started doing promotions and giving members free coffee every Monday. Another promotion was to give a free drink if you purchased at least three drinks in a week’s time.
Suddenly, I was out every day and I was also enticed with rewards for buying something I already wanted.
It is so easy to get pulled into bad habits, and usually so hard to get rid of them. But with this habit, I noticed that my buying decreased when the second promotion went away. Suddenly, I noticed how much I spent on drinks when I didn’t have a free one at the end of every week. Also, as I’ve gained more equilibrium in my life again as my daughter has gotten a few months older, I don’t feel as overwhelmed. I don’t feel as much need to get out every day. I have also replaced that habit with taking long walks with the kids every day.
Sometimes, what we need to drop a habit is one small tweak. While it’s certainly not that simple all the time, finding ways to place more distance between you and a bad habit can make a huge difference.
