I've tackled it by forcing spending at sustainable levels. I've done the endless playing with the FIDO calculator and Firecalc, and come up with a very sustainable spend rate good through age of 95 (could easily stretch since pension and SS are about half). That amount starts the month, forcing us to move money from the investments to the local credit union. At the end of the month what doesn't get spent is moved into "temporary savings" account. Rule is that anything in there must be spent, can't be moved back to "investments."
I appreciate you mentioning that method. It lodged in my head, and I've been pondering it the past couple days. I think I'll give it a try.
I'm still early in retirement, but my natural spending seems to be at around a 2% withdrawal rate. In a sense, that's nice -- it provides a lot of financial and emotional security. But on the other hand, I know that if that spending rate continues, I'll end up winning the booby prize of Dead Guy with Lots of Money in the Bank.
One thing I've noticed is that, even though I'm free to spend much more than I do, I still habitually procrastinate about doing it. For instance, I'd like new windows in my house. I can afford it. But despite that, it's very easy for me to put it off, to say to myself, "Well, but do I really NEED new windows? They're expensive. It'd really add to the budget for this quarter, and I like seeing the spending numbers come in low."
Before I retired, having the spending numbers low meant additional security; it meant I could more easily pull the plug, without worrying. It felt good. I lived a long time like that, so it's automatic at this point.
But now that I've retired, low spending is taking on a different meaning. It's starting to feel as if I'm cheating myself somehow, being overly cautious, and setting myself up to win the booby prize mentioned above.
Anyhow, I'm going to see if I can implement a method similar to the one you describe. Maybe that will help me to spend more.