30-Day Money Cleanse (2024)

Think of this four-week program as the money equivalent of a fat-busting juice cleanse. It's meant to shock you out of your financial rut and put you on a path to better spending habits that'll last forever. Pick a Sunday to get started. You'll use weekends to tackle long-range goals, and complete doable, satisfying challenges on the weekdays. By the end of the month, you'll have a solid budget, way less money stress, and a healthier bank balance. Like any cleanse, you'll see results fast. And you can eat whatever you want... except maybe caviar.

The "weigh in": Know what you owe. Make a list of all your debts, along with the interest rate you're paying for each and your monthly payments. Do you have a mortgage? Student loans? A balance on credit cards? Did you buy a sofa on an installment plan? Owe any back payments to the electric company? Write them all down on a sheet of paper or in a Google document.

Now, tally your other monthly expenses. Figure out how much it costs to keep your household running, from groceries to Girl Scouts dues. Add this amount to your debt sheet from yesterday.

Name your main money goal. If you've got high-interest debt, like on credit cards, your plan should be to pay it down, because it's costing you big. (For example, if you owe $3,000 on a card with 16 percent interest, you'll end up paying more than $4,000 if you're making only the minimum payments.) No high-interest debt? Aim toward beefing up your emergency or retirement funds, then saving for a trip or giving more to charity.

Financial date night! Get your partner on board: A recent study found that feeling like a spouse wastes money boosts the risk of divorce by 45 percent. Show him the numbers you've worked up, and agree together on how much you'll put away each month toward your goal. If you're single, write out a contract with yourself, and sign on the dotted line to make it official.

Wrangle your paperwork. Pull out all the receipts, tax returns, bills, and insurance claims you have lying around in various folders, drawers, purses, or envelopes. Stack 'em in a neat pile--you'll need them tomorrow.

Set up a financial filing system. Grab all the stuff you compiled yesterday and organize it. Designate one folder for receipts to get you ready for next year's tax deductions, one for unpaid bills, and others for any categories that make sense for you. If you get some or most of your bills electronically, use the free site manilla.com to organize all of your paperless statements in one place, to keep you on top of bill paying.

Start tracking your spending. An easy way to stick to the budget you set up on Day 4 is to sign up for a free account at mint.com or another budgeting site. Or you can opt for an old-fashioned notebook and use that to log all your expenditures.

Spend nothing today. Your first week was all about getting a grip on exactly where you stand with your bills and out­standing debts. Now, it's time to start being more mindful about your purchases with a one-day money "fast." No eating out or ordering in. No quickie trips to Walgreens--and bring your coffee from home. You'll see just how much you could be banking after you detox from all that unconcious spending. (Cash saved: $30--$50)

Go cash-only. An MIT study found that people spend up to twice as much when they pay with a credit card instead of cash, perhaps because handing over cash is more viscerally painful. Leave the cards at home. (Cash saved: $15--$25)

Check your credit. Your credit score is like a report card for your financial life. A high number (anything above 720) typically means you'll be able to get low-interest loans for things like a house or a car, while a low one means you'll have to pay more to borrow money. You're allowed one free report a year from the three major credit-reporting companies at annualcreditreport.com. Or use creditkarma.com for a pretty accurate estimate of your number.

Shop for the best credit card. Pull out that debt list you made on Day 1 and see if any of your credit cards have interest rates over 16 percent (the national average). If so, think about getting a new one with a lower rate, minimal fees, and easy-to-redeem rewards. If you have a lot of debt, look into a card with a zero-percent rate for balance transfers. More on that tomorrow....

Move some debt around. If you're carrying big credit card balances, consider transferring them to the one with the lowest rate (or to the new one you may have applied for yesterday). If you're debt-free, call all of your card companies and ask for a lower rate. Hey, you're a good customer!

Automate! Accidentally missing a bill's due date can cost you $25 in late fees. Sign up for automatic bill pay for everything from your student loans to your cell-phone service to make sure it never happens again. Bonus: Consistently paying on time is one of the best ways to raise your credit score. Also, set up bank transfers to move a set amount from your checking account into a savings account each month. Since you'll never see this, you'll barely miss it. (Cash saved: $25)

Shop for your lunches for next week. You don't have to brown-bag it forever, but do it five days in a row, to get yourself in the habit. Transfer the money you would've spent (the average is $7.50 a day) to your savings account, and put it toward your main money goal. (Cash saved: $38)

Get cable for less. The average monthly cable bill is about $70, but a few major providers are experimenting with scaled-back packages for about half that. So call yours and ask. And look into HuluPlus or Netflix, which stream a selection of shows and movies for around $8 a month. You'll need a device like a Roku ($99) or Xbox ($199) to connect these services to your TV, but it'll pay for itself in a few months if you're switching from cable. (Cash saved: up to $62)

Give shopping bookmarks the boot. The easier it is to shop, the likelier you are to do it. Comb your web browser's bookmarks folder and remove all those tempting shopping links to sites like Gilt and Overstock. And "un-like" too: A 2010 survey found that more than a third of people who follow a brand on Facebook say it makes them more inclined to purchase that brand.

Try a D.I.Y. mani. If you're a fixture at your nails place, try alternating pro polishes with at-home touch-ups. Stick to a simple color and no one will spot the difference. (Cash saved: $240--$480 a year)

Slash your phone bill. Eight out of 10 people overpay for cell- phone service, meaning they're locked in to a pricier plan than they really need, according to research by billshrink.com. Check your last bill to see how many minutes or texts went unused. If it's a lot, downgrade your plan. (Cash saved: $30)