“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” — Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

It is easy to draw a parallel with personal finances and eating. I write enough about this correlation that readers and fellow bloggers often point me to sites or articles that do the same. Communicatrix sent me this one called Food Psychology that discusses food habits, food spending and how people can be more in control with their food choices.

I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. Sounds a lot like all the issues that people deal with when it comes to money. A couple examples are found here:

– Does Stockpiling Accelerate Consumption?
– Do Larger Packages Make Me use More?
– Bigger Isn’t Always Bigger, Right?
– Why are Serving Sizes and Packages so Big?
– When will this “Portion Distortion” Stop?
– Do Supermarkets Exploit Us?
– Why Do We Buy Things We Never Use?

This brings me to my favorite called: Why we buy products we never use: The truth about “Cabinet Castaways”

“Everyone has purchased products they never used. Although consumers are often quick to place the blame on advertising and bulk buying, recent studies at the University of Illinois found that most of those unused products are really the result of over-optimistic plans.”

“A study found that more than 63% of unused products were actually bought for specific recipes (such as Beef Wellington) that were never made or specific occasions that never occurred. When people buy products for specific recipes or specific occasions, they tend to be overly optimistic. After buying the product, people lack the time to prepare the recipe or they overestimate the amount of people at their party; leaving the occasion-specific product unused, unwanted and sitting in the backs of their cupboards. The unused products were not the result of flashy advertising and bulk buying — they are simply souvenirs of unfulfilled plans.”

“The consumers had visualized a use for the product that quite simply never materialized,” said Dr. Brian Wansink, lead author and Director of the Food and Brand Lab.

“Wansink suggested that consumers make sure that doesn’t happen by working to make sure that the products they buy aren’t forgotten. He said consumers can do the following to make sure products are either visible or used:

– Rotate products from the back of the shelf to the front during cleaning.
– Plan new uses for abandoned products.
– Dispose of expired products.
– Donate non-expired, abandoned products to the local food bank.”

Moral of the story: stop buying stuff that you don’t need. They say it’s the trick to being thin and wealthy.