Rewards and Regret

I believe in rewarding yourself. I believe your rewards should be more than a WHOLE bell pepper or having to choose between a tiny glass of wine and a spoonful of peanut butter
But my rewarding was getting out of hand.
I don't need to get fast food, a soda, a candy bar, hot chocolate or Wisconsin cheddar bites just because I went grocery shopping or got gas or actually worked.
I'm not a dog. Why am I using food as a reward. Essentially too a reward for being an adult. (Okay, sometimes being an adult deserves a reward!)
Here's the thing about my reward system.
1) it's not a system and 2) if I was rewarding myself with anything but food, I'd instantly regret it. If instead of a milkshake, I bought a magazine, I just wouldn't do it. I can look at things and say, I don't need that. I can prevent myself from buying an item, no matter how cheap or possibly helpful because it costs money. The same amount of money on food? No big deal. I'll buy that.
Even if I saved the money, put it away in a jar where I could see a visual representation of my reward (for both not eating something bad for me and for something big I could buy for myself or the house), I still wouldn't do it. I still would unlikely get the same satisfaction, even if fleeting, that I do from food. So I guess that's my new goal. Put aside money or even buy stuff I don't need (because seeing it accumulate even for a short period will be a good visual representation of what I'm spending/doing with food), instead of buying myself a treat.
Now if you excuse me, the bagel place with lox bagels just opened.