There’s something oddly sticky about habits, especially the bad ones.

As a Behavioral Financial Advisor™, I’ve sat across from smart, successful professionals who make quick decisions all day long, only to watch them freeze when we talk about changing how they spend or save. It's not a lack of information. It's not even a lack of willpower. It’s the invisible weight of habit.

I get it. I’ve been there too.

After welcoming our daughter last summer, my wife and I swore I'd cut back on impulse Amazon buys (what does a baby need with three different bottle warmers?). Easy to say, harder to do, especially when a habit has been building for years.

So, how do we break bad financial habits for good?

Let’s walk through it step by step.

Understanding Why Financial Habits Are So Hard to Break

On paper, it sounds simple:

• Save more

• Spend less

• Cut out the stuff you don’t care about

But in practice? It’s more like telling yourself you’ll stop checking your phone first thing in the morning. Your brain knows what to do, but your fingers scroll anyway.

Habits are rooted in psychological patterns that follow a cycle: cue, craving, response, and reward. Breaking this cycle requires disrupting the triggers and replacing them with healthier behaviors. For example, if your morning routine involves scrolling through shopping apps and impulse-buying items you don’t need, removing the app from your phone could interrupt the habit loop.

Changing habits can be especially hard because they often stem from emotional or subconscious decisions rather than rational ones. Most of us developed our attitudes toward money long before we had our first job. These patterns become so ingrained that changing them feels like trying to write with your non-dominant hand.

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Spending Habits: Small Wins for Big Results

One of the most effective strategies I use with clients is starting small. Instead of overhauling your entire budget overnight, focus on eliminating one expense you don’t care about. This can be one of the most effective (and surprisingly simple) strategies.

For example, if you’re paying for multiple streaming services but only use one, cancel the extras. Live without the extra streaming services for 3–6 months and see how it feels. If you don’t miss, that’s a win.

Once you’ve adjusted, move on to the next unnecessary expense. Clients often come back shocked by how easy the first one was and how motivated they feel to do more.

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Real Results Through Incremental Change

Let’s look at Mark, a tech executive earning over $2 million annually but somehow still running through his cash. His impulse was to create a draconian budget, cutting out everything he enjoyed, but Mark decided to take a different approach.

He started by eliminating just his unused streaming subscriptions, saving about $120 monthly. After four months of success, Mark moved on to reducing his Uber rides by interchanging rides with public transportation, saving him more than $1,000 monthly. Six months later, he tackled his habit of impulse-buying expensive tech gadgets.

One year later, Mark was saving an additional $75,000 annually without feeling deprived. The key wasn't willpower. It was patience and sequencing.

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Creative Tips for Cutting Costs

Most advice about “spending habits” sounds the same: cut lattes, cancel memberships, stop shopping. But that’s not the full picture—especially when you’re making real money.

Here are a few unconventional but proven strategies that can be helpful:

• Name your spending triggers. Not just “emotional spending,” but what emotion? Is it boredom? Stress? Guilt? Knowing this is key to cutting the loop.

• Use obstacles to your advantage. Move spending to a card you don’t carry. Unlink payment apps from your phone. Even a 15-second delay can make impulse spending way less likely. One client who struggled with online shopping had his wife change all his saved passwords, thus putting obstacles in his way to continue impulse buying.

• Decide your defaults. If you default to saving 40% of your bonus before it hits your checking account, you’ll never miss it. Automation beats discipline every time.

• Practice “luxury limits.” Want to keep a few indulgences? Great, but just cap them. Give yourself a $500 “fun fund” each month and call it good.

• Create "pause rules." For any purchase over a certain threshold (say $1,000), enforce a 48-hour pause. Just sleeping on it can dramatically reduce buyer’s remorse.

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Building New Financial Habits (That Actually Stick)

Real change isn’t about guilt. It’s about consistency. Here’s how I help clients build better habits without burnout:

1. Pick one goal. Not three. Not ten. One.
2. Attach it to a routine. Want to review your budget monthly? Pair it with something you already do, like your morning coffee on the first Saturday of the month.
3. Celebrate progress. A little reward (even just saying it out loud) trains your brain to keep going.
4. Track emotions, not just numbers. Journaling how you feel about money choices helps build long-term awareness.
5. Use the “replacement strategy.” Instead of just cutting something out, replace it with something positive. Cancel the fancy wine club? Replace it by picking one wine each month on your own then adding the excess money to your investment accounts.

Stack a few small wins, and you're not just budgeting but rewiring behavior. That's when change sticks.

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Myth-Busting: What You Think You Know About Money Habits

Let’s bust a few myths I hear all the time:

• “Once I make more, I’ll save more.”
  • Nope. Your spending habits scale with your income unless you consciously change them. Sometimes individuals making $300K have better saving habits than those making $1M+.‍‍
• ‍“Big changes = big results.”
  • Small, consistent changes win every time. Think of it as compounding but for behavior.‍
• ‍“Budgeting is restrictive.”
  • Done right, it’s empowering. A clear view of your spending gives you the confidence to spend on what matters without guilt.‍
• ‍“It’s too late to change.”
  • I’ve worked with clients in their 50s and 60s who turned it around fast once they aligned spending with purpose. It’s never too late.

The Role of a Behavioral Financial Advisor™

Traditional financial planning focuses heavily on investment strategies and tax optimization. While these are crucial, they're only part of the equation. As a behavioral financial advisor, I focus equally on the psychological aspects of wealth management.

This approach acknowledges that even high-net-worth individuals struggle with financial decisions that seem irrational on paper. By understanding the underlying motivations and emotional triggers that drive financial behaviors, we can create strategies that work with your psychology rather than against it.

Ready to Change? Let’s Make It Happen

What is the reason most people fail at changing financial habits? They try to overhaul everything at once and end up quitting by week two. But if you start with something small, something you don’t even care about, you’ll build momentum.

That momentum turns into confidence. That confidence fuels bigger shifts. And that's how you go from being stuck in your ways to being firmly in control.

You deserve to feel like your money aligns with your values and your goals, not like it’s slipping through your fingers while you’re busy with work, family, and life in New York City.

I’ve seen it happen again and again. Change is possible. You just need the right system and the right support.

At Servet Wealth Management, we help successful professionals shift their relationship with money by aligning their habits with their highest priorities without sacrificing the life they’ve worked hard to build—here in NYC and across the country virtually.

To see if we can help you create a financial life that feels as good as it looks, click here to schedule a conversation today.

Remember, the path to lasting change is paved with small, consistent steps—not dramatic overhauls.

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