Recently around the office, we’ve been talking a great deal about how research on losing weight can be applied to reducing how much people spend. They are both largely issues of self-control in the face of an environment designed to get you to eat/spend more, so there is much that we can learn from eating researchers. Here are a couple of things that we know already, and what we’re hoping to do with them:

• Environmental factors matter. Just as moving the candy bowl a little farther away can reduce the amount you eat, you can avoid purchases by making it a little harder to spend. Try carrying less money and putting your credit cards in an inconvenient place in your wallet. You can also avoid the temptation of new credit cards by opting out of the list credit card companies use to send their mailings. This has the added benefit of helping to prevent identity theft.




• Consistency is key. In the same way that losing a few pounds for a month isn’t so bad, saving a little money once is fairly easy. The challenge is in keeping that weight off/not letting your spending increase. People who set unrealistic weight goals may meet them by crash dieting, but they almost certainly won’t be able to stay that slim and usually rebound above their original weight. Similarly, you can’t crush your entire spending budget in just one month; set a reasonable goal, like reducing your spending by 10% in one area, and strive to keep your spending there.




• Goals and plans are critical. People who use a grocery list consistently spend less and buy less junk food than people who shop without a list. It’s not enough to simply say “I want to spend less” in the same way it isn’t enough to simply say “I want to eat less”. You need to know exactly how much less and you need to have a plan for accomplishing that. For some people keeping a budget works, while others need a more behavioral solution, like deciding to only go out to eat one night a week instead of two.

I’m certain there are other things that eating research can teach us, and we’re actually hoping to bring in an eating researcher to give a talk here at Thrive, so stay tuned: there may be a second piece to this article as we continue to explore this area.