This simple advice shows you how to indulge but not overdo it

Flickr/Ginny

Last Saturday, I walked down the aisles of my favorite grocery store and stopped at the chocolates and snacks section. It was that time of the day where I rewarded myself for being a frugal, controlled human being.

I hovered over to a specific rack and scanned for my favorite chocolate bar. There she was. That very evening as I began to unwind, I decided to eat a row of decadent goodness while reading a book. I ended up eating the entire bar. That is a lot of chocolate.

But the more I consumed, the less content I was. I realized I finished the entire bar out of a sense of obligation. Then came the headache.

Financial planner Carl Richards says the phenomenon of liking something less and less, the more and more you do it, or have it, actually has a name. And it is as close to a law as we get in economics. It’s called the law of diminishing marginal returns.

In plain language, what this economic jargon means is: your return (enjoyment) decreases as consumption increases. Pleasure fades.

But to truly enjoy our indulgences – whether they are clothes shopping or watching TV shows on Netflix – Richards proposes that we recognise enough is enough.

“It’s just as true for high-priced items as low-priced ones, but let’s stick with the financially cheap (but calorically expensive) frozen treats.

“Enough is probably not at the bottom of the pint for you. Maybe it’s a quarter of the way through, or halfway through the second scoop in the sundae. Wherever it is, learn to recognize it, and stop there,” he says.

And it takes practice

Look out for the signs. Start paying attention as you consume.

Richards recommends practice anticipating that point of contentment before you reach it, so you will still have time to wind down. If you do not, you are bound to end up with a headache, along with everyone else who went too far.

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