The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It

MONEY MANAGEMENT FOR TEMPTED SELVES
One of the biggest challenges for recovering drug addicts is holding on to their money. Many don’t
have bank accounts and so must rely on check-cashing businesses to cash a paycheck or social
services payment. That lump of cash burns a hole in their pockets, and they can easily blow a two-
week paycheck on a single night’s entertainment—leaving them unable to buy food, pay the rent, or
send child support. Marc Rosen and Robert Rosenheck, psychiatrists at Yale University School of
Medicine, have created a money-management program for recovering addicts that both Cortés and
Schelling would approve of. It’s called ATM—short for Advisor-Teller Money Manager Intervention.
The program uses a combination of rewards and precommitments to make it more appealing to spend
wisely, and more difficult to spend foolishly.
Recovering addicts who enroll in the program are assigned a money manager. They agree to
deposit their money in an account that only the money manager can access, and the manager holds on
to the client’s checkbook and ATM card. The money manager talks each “client” through a goal-
setting process, helping them identify what they want to do with their money, and how saving money
could support their long-term goals. Together, they create a budget for the month, deciding what to
spend on food, rent, and other expenses, and write checks to pay any bills that are due. They also set
weekly spending plans consistent with the client’s long-term goals.
The money manager gives each client only enough money to cover his or her planned expenses. To
make an unplanned purchase, the client has to meet with the money manager to fill out a formal
request. The manager can put a forty-eight-hour hold on any request that is not consistent with the
client’s stated goals and budget, or if the manager suspects the client is intoxicated or high. In this
way, the client is held to his or her rational preferences, and cannot act on a tempted self ’s impulses.
The manager can also “reward” clients with access to their own money when they take steps to
support their recovery, such as looking for a job, attending rehabilitation meetings, and passing
weekly drug tests.
The intervention has proved successful not just in helping recovering addicts manage their money,
but also at reducing substance use. Importantly, it’s not just the precommitment that helps. The
program changes the way the recovering addicts think about time and rewards. Research shows that
the program lowers their discount rates and increases the value they place on future rewards. The
recovering addicts who show the biggest decrease in their discount rates are the most likely to avoid
future drug relapse.
One reason this intervention works is that the participants are held accountable by someone
who supports their goals. Is there someone you can share your goals with and call on for
support when you’re feeling tempted?

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