Money Fix: Stopping binge spending

Geneen Roth knew quite a bit about binge eating, having penned the bestselling "Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything."

In December 2008 she started appreciating similar patterns she had with binge spending, and other money issues. That was shortly after hearing that her family's financial "guru," Bernie Madoff, was in handcuffs and that 30 years' of life savings was gone.

In her new book, "Lost and Found: Unexpected Revelations about Food and Money," she writes on how she came to realize that her connection to money "was no different from my relationship to food, to love, to fabulous sweaters."

Here's what she learned:

1. Break the trance. Often we live in "a trance of depravation," she says, feeling "as if we can never get enough," leading to stockpiling of new boots, sweaters, black jackets. It's important to break that trance. Recognize the trance and name it, she says. That helps you manage the terror, allowing you to make better decisions about what to do next.

2. Focus on what you have. It certainly wasn't easy, she says, but she did start appreciating "the fact I could still drink tea from my favorite mug, play with the dog, watch the hummingbirds, hold my husband's hand."

3. Find perspective. That's a useful approach, says Susan Ganz, a financial planner with the Center for Wealth Preservation in Syosset, who, before tackling financial matters, tries to help clients in turmoil get a fix on resources, like family, friends, health, faith, community goodwill. It provides perspective, she says, so they can take control and move on.