In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy opens up the machinery that moves money out of a household without ever passing through a decision.

He starts with the narrow definition psychologists use for the word "habit" — a behavior repeated in the same surroundings until conscious decision-making drops out — and walks through the 2002 wristwatch studies that measured how often people's minds were somewhere else while they acted.

He makes the case that habits are not a character defect but a feature that buys back mental energy, then shows why the same mechanism that makes a habit useful is what makes it nearly impossible to recall.

Today, we’re going to continue our exploration of financial literacy with a fairly straightforward conversation about our consumption habits and how they can, over time, derail our ability to save for the future and establish the financial security that so many of us desire…

Speaking of habits, the monthly review of your financial records should be a habit you adopt and never break. Yes, this habit should be reviewed periodically with an eye toward making the review more efficient, but it should be something you do every month for the rest of your life.