Humans are creatures of habit. Some habits we design intentionally. Others sneak into our lives quietly, without permission. And your financial behaviors, including subscriptions and recurring purchases, fit neatly into this same pattern.
Understanding the difference between deliberate habits and indeliberate habits can help you spot spending patterns you never realized you had.
Two Types of Habits
A habit is a learned behavior that becomes automatic through repetition, allowing you to perform it with little or no conscious effort 1,2. These habits shape much of our daily behavior, keeping us efficient and predictable, sometimes more predictable than we’d like.
Broadly speaking, there are two types:
- Deliberate habits are intentional. You choose them, practice them, and reinforce them with awareness. They typically support a goal you care about.
- Indeliberate habits form quietly in the background. They emerge from convenience, environment, emotions, or repetition, often without you noticing 3.
Both types can be helpful or harmful, but one thing is certain: you’re forming them whether you realize it or not 3.
An Example: The Grocery Store Candy Bar
Suppose the first time you visit a grocery store, you grab a candy bar while waiting in line. No big deal, it is just a small, intentional treat.
But the next time, you grab another one. And the next. And the next.
Before long, you don’t even think about it. That candy bar has become part of your shopping routine, an indeliberate habit you never consciously chose.
Going to the grocery store? A deliberate habit. Buying the candy bar every time? An indeliberate one.
Subscriptions Are Deliberate Habits
A subscription is usually a deliberate decision: you intentionally sign up to pay for a service or product on a specific schedule. You know the price, the frequency, and the value you expect to receive.
Examples include:
- Streaming services
- Gym memberships
- Meal delivery plans
- Software licenses
Subscriptions are predictable. They appear on your bank statement neatly, regularly, and at the same price most of the time.
Recurring Purchases Are Often Indeliberate Habits
Recurring purchases are different. They aren’t usually planned or scheduled; they just happen over and over because that’s what you’ve always done.
These might include:
- Stopping at the same café every week
- Ordering takeout on Friday nights
- Going to the grocery store once or twice a week
- Buying the same supplies whenever you run out
The spending is recurring, but the timing isn’t predictable. One week you shop on Monday, another on Wednesday, another on both days. The pattern is regular, but not scheduled.
Reviewing Your Habits Changes Your Behavior
Most people don’t know what their true spending habits are. They might know their subscriptions, but they rarely recognize their recurring purchases, those quiet, automatic behaviors that add up quickly.
The good news? Reviewing your habits gives you the power to change them.
- Which subscriptions do you genuinely use?
- Which recurring purchases are just candy bar equivalents?
- Which habits support your goals and which drain your budget?
Once you see the patterns, you get to decide whether to keep them. Like the candy bar, ask yourself: do you really need it?