The Two-Week Spending Cleanse: A Game-Changer for Your Budget

A stolen idea that can really help you control your spending.

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I stole the following idea. I swiped it from a young couple who reached out to me. That said, I am not above taking credit for this. It’s very good. And when you try it and it helps, think of me, not some anonymous twosome out there. For all we know, they could be horrible people. Well, they actually did seem quite nice on the phone.

This couple, late 30s, had followed my advice and done a very detailed spending summary, did an excellent job. They went over a three-month period as recommended, and they felt, as everyone seems to, it was a great exercise. They spotted many areas where money was slipping between the cracks. Areas where they were spending more than they had realized, quite a bit more, and they had to make some changes.

But that doesn’t mean, again, they weren’t getting the matching level of joy from those expenses. So they started chatting about all of that. Where aren’t we getting enough bang for our buck? What would we be better to shift dollars to and from? Problem is, they really weren’t sure. And one would say “From here!” but the other would say, “No, no, that doesn’t make any sense.

From here.” And that’s where they came up with this clever solution. No discretionary spending, none, for two weeks. And I mean none. Obviously bills were paid. And food was purchased. As was gas. But that was it. No dining out. No new clothes. No Tim Horton’s or Starbucks. They passed on a concert, etc. So what happened?

Well, obviously, they saved a little bit of money. But, more importantly, they realized there were some things they didn’t miss at all. Plus, they adjusted amazingly quickly to various cutbacks. Good example: the wife said she was angry that first Monday when she couldn’t go to Starbucks. Thought that would be the first thing she said, the first expense that she’d argue to reinstate.

By Friday she admitted that she wasn’t missing it at all. This two-week-long spending cleansing worked beautifully to shine a light on where the cutbacks would be felt the least (or not at all). Fantastic! It really helped them. And there was another huge benefit we’ll talk about in an upcoming video. Oh yeah, that’s a professional teaser. Spending cleanse after spending summary. Cool idea. Glad I thought of it.