Bad Habits

[2moretrees]

Do you have a bad habit that you know costs you money, but can't seem to break it (or just don't have the will). I have this problem with eating junk food. I know it's bad for me, I know it keeps weight on me, I know it costs me extra money, but I still can't break the urge and end up doing it even though I know I shouldn't. have you ever had a similar problem to this and if so (and you were able to break it), how did you manage to do so?

[robex]

My bad habit is buying clothes. I know that I could go to second hand stores, and buy high quality, inexpensive clothing, but I don't want to. This drove my mom crazy when I was a teenager. I remember telling her that I didn't want to wear something that someone else had already worn and she said,"That's funny because you have no problem going into a store and trying on clothes that 10 people tried on before you!" I love my mom.

[jodi]

In response to 2moretress...I broke the junk food habit by going on the South Beach diet. It was surprisingly easy after the first few days. It's basically a no sugar, no white flour, no highly processed food diet with emphasis on veggies, lean meats, eggs, low-fat cheeses for the first two weeks, then adding back fruit and whole grains after that. The first few weeks aim to break the sugar dependency that a lot of us have If you're interested, get the book out of the library and just read it before making any decisions. It was written by a cardiologist and has a lot of very valid arguments for the diet. I have lost nearly 10 pounds in about a month and am getting a lot of compliments on my appearance
The downside: it's expensive! Whole grain anything seems to cost about twice as much as the highly processed counterpart.

I used to have a dependency on thrift store clothes!!! Finally my closet got too small and I forced myself to stop "thrifting". But now that I have nearly dropped a pants size...I'll have to get back on that wagon

[Dingoluv4eva]

going out on weekends and getting trashed.

[sweeps]

I don't know much about the SB Diet, but I do agree the first few days are the hardest. You almost have to shock your body with a drastic change, and then after day 3, it gets much easier. I've reduced my calories substantially and I lost 20 lbs in a month.

My biggest change was changing my breakfast. I was eating Post Great Grains and a tall glass of orange juice every morning. I switched to Special K with a small glass of orange juice. That reduces my morning calories from over 2000 to less than 700.

[PrincessPerky]

Congrats on the weight loss!

I have lots of bad habits , dunno if I could pick one for saving money right now.

[Firefly]

Drinking soda. We spend so much money on soda. If I could get him to quit drinking it so much, I could probably kick it.

[cercis]

Bad habits

Milk chocolate chips. I got them really cheap at sam's when they were clearancing them out - a large bag for 81 cents. Semi-sweet morsels wouldn't be so bad, but milk chocolate is nothing but fattening.

Soda. I've stopped somewhat. I now got a week or more between sodas, but when I have one, I have one - 40 oz or more.

Staying up late just because. I say I have insomnia, but the truth is that I just like being up late. I love the feeling at night.

Eating out. We eat out at least once per week. Mexican food mostly. High fat, highly processed food.

I've gained 15-20 lbs since we moved down here last year.

I did South beach and it worked extremely well. I lost too much weight. I was down to 120.5lbs and I'm 5'8". I need to do it again, but I'll have to watch it better this time. The problem was I lost so much weight I freaked out and started adding things so that I could gain it back and that worked too well too.

[abowers]

Bad Habits that cost me money:
-Buying new clothes that I probably don't really *need*.
-Buying coffee/lattes/etc at Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. I know I could save money by only making coffee at home (which I already do) but I like getting it somewhere else too, probably 3 times a week. I like coffee.

[arianeira]

Originally Posted by abowers

-Buying coffee/lattes/etc at Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. I know I could save money by only making coffee at home (which I already do) but I like getting it somewhere else too, probably 3 times a week. I like coffee.

This is probably my biggest bad habit. Of course I tell myself that I DID quit smoking in April, so my coffee is "allowed". Hmm, yeah.

[shengmei]

Starbucks for me too!

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by Firefly

Drinking soda. We spend so much money on soda. If I could get him to quit drinking it so much, I could probably kick it.

Maybe if you kick it he will too. I had to be the first one to kick that habbit around here, DH still drinks, but not anywhere near as much as before.

[Bluezy]

Coffee. It's horrible for you but I adore it so...especially when it's run through the press.

[Armywife]

Chocolate and soda... mannnn, I wish they could just make chocolate soda so I can kill two birds with one stone lol. I am an exaggerated chocoholic since I stopped smoking.

[FrugalTexan75]

Eating chocolate and other junkfood, but mostly chocolate. Soda used to be a big problem for me too, but since September I've only had one 20oz soda, plus a few sips other times. I can't have chocolate in my house. It doesn't stick around very long at all.

Laura

[Dingoluv4eva]

so if i made some carbonated chocolate milk? u guys would all buy???

[cercis]

Originally Posted by Dingoluv4eva

so if i made some carbonated chocolate milk? u guys would all buy???

Isn't that what YooHoo is? I've never tried it, but that was my impression.

[Dingoluv4eva]

no clue.. chocolate milk with an expiration date 2 years away, was never my thing.

[DivaJen]

Originally Posted by Armywife

Chocolate and soda... mannnn, I wish they could just make chocolate soda so I can kill two birds with one stone lol. I am an exaggerated chocoholic since I stopped smoking.

There is a carbonated chocolate soda, put out by Canfields. It's called diet chocolate fudge soda. I've had it, and I have to admit, I kind of like it.

[Luv2shop]

Dunkin donuts coffee 1-2 times a day. I don't like the taste when I make my own. Its pretty bad when I pull up and they say "large, black with sugar?"
Oh and I must not for get the cigarettes. But atleast I get them almost free!