Frugal New Year resolutions: part 8

We've all got them. Bad habits are sucking our bank accounts dry - whether it be a weakness for shoe shopping, $5 lattes, overeating, lovely bottles of pinot noir or little side trips to Vegas, all of us have a dirty little habit that is keeping us from realizing our financial goals.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle

Using willpower to force yourself to do something will only last for so long. Motivation, willpower, and self-discipline are tools to help you take the desired action, but they require constant effort. Try to develop habits that make your actions automatic. The goal is to do something long enough until it becomes a habit. Once it becomes a habit, it won't require as much effort.

Habits are relatively simple to develop. Did you have to work hard at developing the habit of overeating or reading too many blogs? (sidenote: ha ha) Of course not. You just did it long enough, through repitition, until it became a habit. But why do you keep doing it?
Upon examination, undesirable habits all have something in common: they all give you some type of feeling that is rewarding, such as relaxation, stress reduction or even excitement.
We are not addicted to the actual activity, but the feeling that the activity gives us and the "reward" that it provides, and that's why we continue to do it. We don’t do things habitually that makes us feel bad, at least not at the moment that we’re engaged in doing it.

The trick, then, is to develop the habit of taking care of yourself in the best way possible. Cultivate daily exercise, healthy eating and a distaste for all things bad for you (you're eating fries? OMG!). Tightwad is committed to it this year, and hopes that you will join her.

What negative habits will you try to break in the new year?