I think I finally titled this thread without a typo--yay! Sorry I'm a day late--I was in NY working all day.
The first part of this chapter is setting up "being conscious" about spending. They firmly draw the line between Step 3 and budgets, which no one likes and no one sticks to.
They explore the possibility that money is a socially-acceptable addiction, and they tell why:
...we reach for it compulsively even though it doesn't bring fulfillment
...we are convinced we can't live without it
...the thought of living without it overwhelms us with fear
...the need for it is intense, chronic, and seen as essential to our sense of wholeness
...etc.
They also draw analogies to dieting, which typically doesn't work--healthy eating patterns only change when the following two things are addressed:
1) You identify internal signals, not external admonishments or habitual desires
2) You change your patterns over the long term, not what you eat in the short term
So, changes in spending can occur in much the same way--just by paying attention and by "saying 'yes' to being conscious"
How do you pay attention? Did you ever budget? Did it work? Do you have things in place that force you to be conscious of your spending? Can you give an example of when you made a "conscious" spend vs an unconscious one? What does conscious spending mean to you?