This is the same thing that happened with coffee and bread. People pay for the can or the bag because it saves time, then act shocked when the raw ingredients cost almost nothing. A bag of dried beans is like the cheapest protein in the store and it lasts forever in the pantry. Same deal with rice, oats, dry pasta. The can tax is real and it adds up fast over a year. Once you see it you can't unsee it.

Man, this reminds me of when I tried to quit biting my nails in college. I put a rubber band on my wrist and snapped it every time I caught myself, not the calendar thing but same idea of making it real in the moment. Lasted about two weeks before I just got used to the snap and kept chewing anyway. Your X on paper sounds way harder to ignore than a wrist sting, so maybe I did it wrong.