We all know that we have lofty goals and good intentions,whether in diet, exercise, or finance.

But somehow life seems to get in the way and stall our progresstoward those goals.

Now a series of experiments in behavioral economics has led researchers tobelieve that four strategies can help companies “leverage humannature to make it easier for low- to moderate-income householdsimprove financial decision-making and their own well-being.”

So says a report in TechCrunch. It highlights thework done by researchers in working with fintech companies, creditunions and nonprofits to test assumptions on whether/how behavioralscience can help improve financial well-being.

Two years of experiments have led to findings that there areindeed strategies that can help people work against their worstinstincts when it comes to finance. Read on to see the fourstrategies researchers say can benefit workers in making betterfinancial decisions:

4. Remove the environmental barriers surrounding financialdecisionmaking.

When the decisions on how to surmount financial hurdles are leftto the individual, it’s tough for that individual to managevariable income and expenses. What results is pressure on theindividual to do complex mathematical balancing acts.

But if the decision-making burden is moved from the consumer tothe company, say researchers, “it becomes a win-win for everyoneinvolved. The company gets to enhance their value proposition byoffering helpful products and features, and the consumer’s lifebecomes dramatically easier when financial decisions are taken offtheir shoulders.”

Some of the real-life examples researchers offer are a creditunion’s retirement savings product that automatically deducts moneyfrom new members’ paychecks. Known as a “transparent default,” itopts people in automatically but immediately gives them the optionto close it.

Another is a scheduling app for small businesses that helpsemployers give employees more advanced schedule notice as well ascreating more consistent, reliable schedules. “This shifts theburden off the employee and onto the employer,” the report says,“providing greater visibility to the employee and helping themmaximize attendance and earnings.”

Another is a credit union savings product attached to a loanproduct that takes a single payment from the member and appliespart of it to the loan and part of it to creating a financialsafety net.

3. Make the right financial decisions dramatically easier.

Taking away the constant pressure to consume and spend, spend,spend is tough, with few tools to combat spending impulses, sayresearchers.

But new developments in the field include a tracker for foodstamp use that breaks the food stamp budget into weekly segments tohelp people budget and save money; applications that change thetiming of payments and saving to make financial management easier;and another app that asks people how much they want to save out ofa coming tax refund—before the refund arrives.

Then the app automatically saves that amount. By getting them tothink about it in advance, it’s helped double the amount of savingsfor participating customers.

2. Help people take advantage of resources they alreadyhave.

Work in this area is all about helping people to realize whatoptions and resources are already open to them, and then helpingthem take full advantage of them rather than ignoring them.

One app makes discount redemption easier, so that peopleactually get to realize savings that they often fail to use, whileanother sends reminders to parents to make deposits into theirchild’s college savings account—thereby countering people’s normalprocrastination about doing so.

1. Increase motivation for people to make the right financialdecisions.

Even though people know what they have to do, trying to decidehow to do it—such as choosing between paying down debt or savingfor an emergency fund—can be tough.

They also may simply not be motivated enough to take actionwithout a little prodding.

Among the strategies researchers find effective to spur peopleon to the right decisions are a change by a payment company in howwages are displayed for hourly workers.

In focusing workers’ attention on their projected annual wage,the change creates “a long-term mindset and improve[es] theirmotivation to engage in long-term positive behaviors, like savingfor retirement,” researchers find.

And another organization simply provides people with punch cardsthat track their savings progress, thus making it easier for themto see how well they’re doing or to improve their savingsrates.