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It seems that vices or bad habits are frequently associated with things that both endanger your health and/or cost money: smoking, drinking alcohol, drinking coffee & colas, eating out frequently at fast food restaurants, gambling, shopping to excess, etc. It can be hard to stop habits like that, even though you know that doing so would be better for you all around. One thing I’ve found that helps is to replace vices.

For example, I eat out more than I would like to, so what I’ve started doing is eating more often at healthier & less expensive places than where I usually do. In other words, I’m replacing one vice with a very similar but less damaging one. This makes the transition toward a desired behavior easier. Normally I would just stop something like that cold turkey (like I did with drinking caffeine) but in the case of eating out I don’t want to eliminate the behavior entirely.

You can apply the same theory to spending money: if you normally stop each morning on the way in to work for a donut & a large drink, change to donut holes & a small drink instead. Calculate the savings, and see if you aren’t just as fulfilled with the smaller portions plus the savings in money as you would be with the larger portions plus the guilt.

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