I Quit: the Hidden Cost of a Habit

A habit is defined as an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary. I bet anyone reading this has at least one habit you’d like to drop out of your routine.
Whether it’s smoking throughout the day, drinking after a hard day’s work, or 4 or 5 cups of coffee in the morning, we all have that need we crave most that’s usually followed by some form of regret. The vicious cycle repeats and repeats till the year is almost over and resolution time is right around the corner. But the new year doesn’t have to be the end all be all of these habits; you can actually start any day of the week.
In this day in age, there are so many methods to help you remove a habit from your life. The digital world has a variety of apps specific to what you’re trying to quit. The one app I find that works best for a variety of things is Quit That!, downloadable for both iPhone and Android.
This app allows you to keep track of as many things as you’d like to give up and includes not only how long you’ve quit for, but other valuable reasons like money saved and reasons why you gave these things up.
Let’s use a glass of wine a night as an example. A decent Pinot Noir will cost you about $9.00 a glass out at a bar or restaurant. (not counting the tip when all is said and done either) I decide I don’t like a hangover in the morning, how dehydrated I am, and how slow my mornings are because of just that glass I have to have, so I quit September 12th. I download my app, input my data, and voila.
  1 glass of wine – $9

2 glasses of wine – $18

The time breakdown might be a bit excessive, but the information that really matters is how much money I’m saving, my reasons for changing my habit, and most important – how I’m feeling.

I now have more disposable income for other priorities (halfway through a month without 2 glasses a night and about $300 in the bank!), I start my morning with a clear head and more energy to be productive throughout the day. I even realize I don’t need that wine to end every day.
Now that I see the benefits of curbing a habit, I can keep a healthy lifestyle and transition into enjoying a glass maybe once or twice a month; my excessive consumption has now become something I enjoy and choose to have.
So, how much is a habit costing you?