I have a serious problem. I don't turn off lights when I leave a room. Last week, I had a plumber (who was also the previous owner of the house) over and he pointed out how much I waste electricity. It reminded me of how I tortured my father by constantly leaving the lights on in vacated rooms. It was horrible.I finally came to the realization of why I don't turn off the lights. I hate the dark! I hate the feeling of darkness behind me, of a shadow. Maybe this is a callback to my caveman days when light meant warmth and survival. You probably never heard a cavewoman say to a caveman "Uggo! Stamp out that fire!"
The lights the plumber was talking about were halogen flood lamps in my kitchen. And he was right, they were wasteful if left on - two at 50 W a piece. So, instead of trying to curb a millenia of a habit, I changed them to dimmable compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. These were $16/each and consumed 20 W. CFL's last for 8000 hours compared with the halogen lamps that last 3000 hours and cost $9 a piece. Compared over the lifetime of the two CFL's, the total saving is $64.
If you have bad habits you just can't change, change the things that thrive on these habits. Do you use crazy amounts of toilet paper? Try kleenex. Is your window always open out of habit? Turn off the air conditioner or heating. Heavy on the gas pedal? Get a smaller car.
Behavior is very hard to modify, but it shouldn't be an impediment to thriftiness. While you work on your behaviour, adapt your environment to help you accrue wealth.
