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The Google Diet

The Google Diet

April 25, 2012 by Justin

Google is making a conscious effort to change the eating habits of their employees.  Did they put all their employees on a diet?  That would not be very Google like, would it?  They made small changes that are paying off big!  Change is difficult, but worthwhile.  If you think I am only talking about diet, you never read my articles before.  Find out how the Google diet can help your finances!

Hard(er) to Find

Google made six (6) small changes with food at their offices and they saw positive results.  The first was making the M&Ms harder to find.  They did not hide them, but changed from a clear glass jar to an opaque one.  If you don’t see it you won’t want it as much.  An automatic savings deduction from your paycheck is similar.  If you don’t have it, you won’t spend it.  Saving for retirement is made easier, if automatic.

Choose the Good Stuff

In their cafeteria, you will find salads first because they say people will load up on whatever food they see first.  To encourage better choices, they put the salads first.  How can you use this thinking for personal finance?  Take a look at the good choices first.  Pay down your debt before you start spending your money.  Just like salads, it is better for you in the long run.

We are Visual

Using small plates for food choices assists you in self selection of less food.  If you use large plates, you tend to load up.  Small plates will naturally reduce your portions.  There are restaurants who understand this concept too well.  This can be a metaphor for spending less.  I believe in buying quality items because they last longer and in the long run are cheaper.

Labels Give Permission

In their cafeteria, they would label the safe or healthy choices using colors that gave you permission to eat and other colors to avoid or take less.  In personal finance, there are red flags or signs that indicate danger and we need to pay attention to them.  For example, the old axiom of spending less than you earn is a clear warning to avoid problems, but we still ignore it.  A budget will provide a structure to avoid dangerous behavior and keep you on the right track.

Avoiding Binges

Google made their deserts smaller.  It was intended to reduce calories and make you think twice about taking seconds.  How do you control your spending?  I stay away from the malls, but I do buy some products online.  I use shopping bots to find the lowest prices.  Since I am buying online, I am delaying gratification.  It takes a few days to ship the products to me.  I have to think about or plan my purchases much more which makes me more frugal and effective.

Water, Water, Water

Before you get to the sugary drinks, you have to pass the water cooler.  When you finally get to the kitchen, the water is set at eye level and the sugary drinks are on a lower shelf.  Positioning is great marketing.  In supermarkets, they understand this principle far better than the consumers.  That is why they sell more of the profitable products which are not necessarily good for you.

If you want to change your bad habits, you have to make a conscious effort and it will take twenty-one (21) consecutive days to form a habit or break a habit.  Develop good personal financial habits, ones that will help you achieve success and your goals.  Also, think about what you are modeling for the next generation in your home that watches everything you do. Be a good role model for your children.

Final Thoughts

I really think it is wonderful Google is helping their employees to be healthy.  Small changes can make huge differences in your life.  Depending on the particular change, they saw a 9% decrease in calories to as much as 47% increase in water intake.  If you just achieve as little as 10% decrease in spending or increase savings to 10%, would be wonderful.  Small changes in diet and personal finance will pay off big.  Use the Google diet to tune up you personal finances.

Photo by:  Robert Scoble

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Filed Under: Goals Tagged With: Budget, Budgeting, Cash, Credit cards, debt, Finance, financial decisions, financial literacy, frugal, Frugal Living, Goal setting, Goals, information, interesting, lifestyle, Personal Finance, Savings, spending, Stretching your Money, Values

Comments

  1. Miss T @ Prairie Eco-Thrifter says

    April 25, 2012 at 5:38 am

    These are great paralels. As always I am impressed with Google. I wish more companies made the effort to look after their employees health.

    In relation to finance, there are a lot of similarities like you mentioned. I really liked the point about the colour and warnings. We have our budget laid out in Quicken so when we enter transactions we can see how close to the limit we are getting. It’s great at keeping us on track.

    • Krantcents says

      April 25, 2012 at 6:43 am

      Using psychological and other techniques to help us achieve our goals is always a good thing. When I read their changes, it just seemed to apply to personal finance.

  2. Daisy @ Add Vodka says

    April 25, 2012 at 6:14 am

    Wow, this is great, I’m so glad they are doing this. I actually didn’t know lots of these tips, although they do make sense. I don’t know if 21 days actually breaks bad habits or enforces good ones, though. I guess maybe I’m not somebody who really picks up habits but I’ve not been particularly successful in the 21 day rule.

    • Krantcents says

      April 25, 2012 at 6:45 am

      We live our lives in routines and usually only change when there is a compelling reason. Whether it is a diet or paying off debt, we make changes to achieve a different result.

  3. Kurt @ Money Counselor says

    April 25, 2012 at 8:19 am

    I think this is a great business decision by Google. Healthier employees translates to lower health insurance costs for the company.

    • Krantcents says

      April 25, 2012 at 11:58 am

      Hi tech companies are usually ahead of the curve in many areas.

  4. John says

    April 25, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    I love it that Google is doing this for their employees. Truly amazing. Not only are the employees going to be healthier people, they are going to produce better products and services for Google. Hmmm… I think Google knows what it’s doing! 😀

    • Krantcents says

      April 25, 2012 at 4:01 pm

      Google is marketing a healthier lifestyle through their efforts. I think is also good for personal finance too.

  5. Jessica says

    April 25, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    Hey Krantcents, did you get this information from our recent infographic? We would appreciate if you cited it. If not, glad you liked similar things we did!

    • Krantcents says

      April 25, 2012 at 4:17 pm

      Although I just published today, I wrote this article three weeks ago. I used Fast Company magazine article to convey the personal finance theme.

  6. 101 Centavos says

    April 25, 2012 at 7:39 pm

    How very nudgey of Google. That says something about how lardy-butt this country is getting, if a company in fitness-obsessed California is concerned about their employees’ weight. Good parallels, KC.

    • Krantcents says

      April 26, 2012 at 6:29 am

      I think we expect benevolent employers to take care of us. I think we can apply their thinking to personal finance too.

  7. Barbara Friedberg says

    April 25, 2012 at 8:05 pm

    Wonderful analogy. Making important disciplined choices automatic, yields really productive results.

    • Krantcents says

      April 26, 2012 at 6:30 am

      Thanks, I think we can take an active approach to personal finance and build better habits.

  8. Christa says

    April 26, 2012 at 11:59 am

    Good for Google! We have a small local company who has made changes for their employees’ health as well. They made a beautiful walking path near a lake, offered employees free water and charged for soda, and set up free exercise classes. I think this new focus on the employees’ well-being can make for much healthier and happier employees. Great connection to finances!

    • Krantcents says

      April 26, 2012 at 12:07 pm

      It is a good first step. It will prevent many of the futuree problems inherent with those things.

  9. Darwin's Money says

    April 29, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    Interesting stuff; I lost a good 10-12 pounds last summer and added it back this winter. I like to eat! Gotta get those pounds back off again. A few tricks that worked for me were tracking my weight daily with the app LoseIt, drink a lot of water before each meal, jog a bit more and this one’s simple but tough to do – eat less sugar. Cut out desserts virtually altogether, drink primarily water and even stuff like ketchup. The sugar’s a killer!

    • Krantcents says

      April 30, 2012 at 6:26 am

      I find the exercise helps the most! I have difficulty maintaining a strict diet,exercise seems to balance that.

  10. TM @ Young and Thrifty says

    May 1, 2012 at 6:05 am

    Very interesting. I bet a company like Google has done all kinds cost-benefit analysis of encouraging such a healthy lifestyle for their employees. It makes you wonder why other companies don’t instantly look at best practices of an industry leader like that and copy their model hey?

    • Krantcents says

      May 1, 2012 at 6:34 am

      Before you can look at others, you need to identify it as a problem. Even in big organizations, it takes just one person (decision maker) to identify a problem and do something about it.

  11. Untemplater says

    May 1, 2012 at 7:59 pm

    Although I don’t agree with everything G does, good for them making these changes. All of them make a lot of sense. I’m guilty of loading up large plates at buffets just to fill up the plate. Next time I’ll leave some space lol. 🙂

    • Krantcents says

      May 2, 2012 at 6:34 am

      I avoid buffets for exactly that reason. Small changes with food can work for personal finance too.

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