A Matter of Habit

The other day, I experienced an odd and quite uncomfortable twinge of pain low in my torso.

It happened again yesterday. I didn't like it.

Then, this morning,I sat down in my usual booth at Duke's Chevron, opened my paper, took a swig of my morning diet cola, and read a little item about a study done by the National Institute of Health, about the effect of cola on kidneys. Here's the original story, from the New York Times:

Oh, darn. I'd already read that the acid in sodas thins tooth enamel (I still have all my own teeth and I'm hoping to keep them for four or five more decades) and that sodas also leach calcium out of your bones. I'd like to keep my bones reasonable functional awhile too. Ditto my kidneys. Particularly my kidneys.

So I've decided. It's time to kick the cola habit. Which, since I usually end up buying two a day (my cola ritual requires that I drink only from ice-cold cans purchased individually) costs me $1.50 a day. I did a little math, got a $45.62 monthly average expenditure (yikes!) and plugged that into the calculator in this website's sidebar to find out how much I might save over 10 years if I invested that at 6%. The answer? $7,513.56.

Hmmmm. Knowing that is,I hope,going to make giving up this little habit a bit easier. (But, oh, that first hit of carbonation! That sweet first slosh of bright, fizzing acid!)

How do you get rid of a bad habit, whether personal or financial? Most of us have a bad money habit or two, whether it's an uncontrollable urge to run amok at the mall or an inability to resist every "buy one, get one free!" pitch we see.

First, recognize that you do have a problem. (It's almost taboo to use the word "problem" these days after business consultants sold corporations on the idea that people would work so much harder to solve problems if everyone used the so-much-more-motivating word "challenge." Oh, please. A problem is just something you solve. But first you have to recognize you have one.)

Then do a little analysis. Figure out the negatives aspects of the habit, and the postive rewards of changing it. In my case, the negatives are stained, thinning teeth, bones that look like Swiss cheese and aching, inflamed kidneys that are....okay, I'm getting much too graphic here, I know. Sorry.

Positives? I'll be able to really chew, and walk and....uh...
Okay. I'll just be healthier. Much healthier.

Next, figure out what triggers the habit. You may realize that you feel that irresistble urge to spend whenever you find a new "discount" store. Or after you have a really lousy day at work. Or see a commercial on a shopping network for the newest "cool" product, or when you go to a movie with friends and they want to stroll the mall afterwards. For me, the urge to knock back a cold one comes when I sit down to read that paper each morning and when I drive.Especially when I drive. I want an ice-cold aluminum can of cola in my cupholder.... just opened, sweating a little in the hot Texas sun, cold in my palm as I tip it and take that first, long, sharply-sweet swallow...

Sorry. I really am trying to control myself. Really.

The next step is finding some way to avoid reponding to those triggers. Just going without--the cold turkey technique-- can be tough. Very often, the best way to stop a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. So I need a new reading-the-paper or driving-in-the-Texas-heat drink ritual.

I've already found one of those popup drink containers made of the kind of plastic that doesn't leach chemicals into whatever liquid it holds.(Mine features a Texas Rangers logo, and was bought at a garage sale for ten cents.) I'm also stocking up on instant tea and apple juice, (I'll cut the apple juice with ice to shrink the calories.) Now I just have to GET IN THE HABIT of going to the kitchen each morning and grabbing that beverage container, because if I get over to Duke's and don't already have something to drink, the siren song of the canned cola will be nearly impossible to resist.

To make sure I remember, I'm placing my keys each night on the kitchen counter by the Texas Rangers drink container.(Or in the refrigerator, if I've got my drink chilling.) Silly, yes, but it works.

Come up with something similar to help you break your bad financial habits. If pulling out a credit card has become a reflex action, get in the habit of carrying a small notebook and writing down every purchase you make...just before you make it. Seeing that dollar amount in black and white may make you think twice...and keep from you reaching for that credit card.

If you get lunch at delis or drive-throughs each day, cook triple batches of your favorite foods on the weekend, freeze individual portions and heat and eat those at work, then spend the rest of your lunch hour taking a walk, listening to music, or reading that book you never have time to read at home.

And focus on postive results, not negative consequences. Instead of imagining yourself going broke if you spend unchecked, imagine feeling more secure as you add to an emergency fund each week, or grinning as you open up a credit card bill that shows a steadily shrinking balance.

In my case, I'm imagining bright, strong teeth, little white flecks of calcium thickening and strengthening my bones, and kidneys that can take that apple juice and....

Sorry.

Finally, remember that no one is perfect, and new habits take a bit of time and effort to establish.If you occasionally "fall off the wagon"--just get back on!

Let's see how I do. I'll add "days without cola"--DWC--at the bottom of each post for awhile, as a motivator. Meanwhile....

....I wonder how apple juice tastes if you drink it from a well-chilled aluminum can?