During one of my stints working in the fast food industry I was struck by how many of my colleagues smoked. As minimum wage workers few of us cleared more than $12,000 in any given year, yet my co-workers had no problem shelling out $8 for a pack of cigarettes.

I finally had to point out to one of my co-workers that her smoking habit was setting her back several thousands of dollars every year, consuming nearly a fifth of her salary. Only when put into this context did she start having reservations about her habit.

Personal finance is often about perspective. By placing spending in its proper context we make better financial decisions. Our small purchases seem so harmless on the surface. Add them up, however, and we get a different story. The yearly tab for some of our simple spending habits would probably hit us like a ton of bricks.

Put your small spending into a larger context and you might rethink some of your spending habits.

The afternoon trip to the vending machine for a Coke and candy bar seems harmless. But would we change our behavior if we received a $650 “vending” bill at the beginning of the year?

Would we still purchase books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble instead of trekking to the library if we faced a $320 yearly book invoice for our reading pleasures?

Would our morning Starbucks fix still taste as sweet with an annual $1423 price tag attached?

Maybe we’d gain new power to change bad behaviors once we calculated their yearly costs. A $2646 cigarette bill might provide the added incentive to quit.

BMWK – Try this. Figure out the yearly tabs for some of your small spending habits. Then decide whether or not they’re worth it?