Smoking is a horrendous habit for the health, but it is also a bad habit for the wallet. Many people know that they have a bad vice and that vice may get in the way of their health. Many smokers and coffee drinkers have tried multiple times to get rid of their bad habit, but they may be missing a key piece to the formula.
The financial incentive should be just as important as the health benefit. When these two are combined, the results could be spectacular.
What this means is that every indulgent moment ignored should result in a small deposit in a bank account. If someone decides not to buy a pack of cigarettes, they should add $4.5 to an account.
The clear advantage to this strategy is that the saver is combining the financial aspect with the bad habit. They are intentionally taking money that would have been spent and placing that into the bank.
Connecting the Action with the Saving
Some take it to the point where they will stop and make a $5 deposit in the ATM after work (because they opted out of that expensive Starbucks coffee). This is an important step in this money advice. It is an embodiment of the savings.
Instead of putting it in the bank at the end of the week, the person losing the habit is acknowledging the exact amount. It is a great way to make note of a bad habit on a daily basis.
Furthermore, a single skipped coffee is a lot easier than a whole week. Smartly, the recurring addition of money saved from a bad vice could accumulate to a pretty solid amount. After a month, the person may no longer be interested in the habit at all.
Money That Will Not Be Missed
The money will not be missed, of course. It was money that was going to be spent anyway, and that is a key element to great money advice. Also, the money is out of reach. It can be used to buy two coffees the next day because it is in a separate inaccessible account. The account can then be transferred to a compound interest account.
Some accounts may not accessible every single day. The balance is in finding an account that can be added to easily but not necessarily removed from. A savings account is the best approach. Most banks offer infinite adds, but they restrict it to three or four withdrawals a month. That will not be a problem because the money should not be removed and used.
It is there for an emergency. The amount should be reasonable, and never escalate to thousands a month. If that is the case, there may be more advice needed than a vice account.
All other saving techniques require taking an amount that could be spent on something. It requires removing that amount into a compound account. But, any money added into a vice account is money that would be in the hands of anyone else. It also promotes a healthier lifestyle. Habits need about three weeks to really stick. After that, they become a habit that can stay around.
