7-Day Budget Challenge – Let’s stretch every dollar, baby!

Welcome to Week 6 of the 90 Day New Page Challenge!

Before we get into it, how did Week 5 go?

Did you put the phone down at dinner? Do a brain dump? Try a no-complaining day and discover, with great horror, how often you complain? (It’s more than we think. It’s always more than we think!) 

I hope you found a few moments where you were actually present, unplugged, and in your own life instead of watching a stranger on the internet make a smoothie bowl at midnight.

And if you picked up your phone out of habit seventeen times and had to put it back down seventeen times like a person wrestling with a very inconvenient reflex—same. We keep going.

Now. Let’s talk about Week 6. I’m excited about this one! 

This Week, We’re Talking About Money.

You may or may not know that for the last 15 years, I’ve taught budgeting online. What started as a little family Blogspot Blog, sharing how I was able to help get our family out of over $15,000 of credit card debt on a $31,000 income, turned into a decade+ of classes, conferences, TV segments, courses, YouTube videos, blog posts, and much much more. I have ate, slept, and breathed budgeting and frugal living! 

And yet…

Here I am, in desperate need of a reset. 

Since my divorce, finances have been a bit ever-changing. It’s been a few years, so I feel like I’m finally getting my feet under me. But a lot of my good budgeting habits went out the door…and it’s time to get back on track!

Most of us have a general awareness that we’re spending money. We know this because the money keeps disappearing. It was there, and then it wasn’t. But the exact details? The specific amounts? The full picture of what is actually leaving our accounts every single month?

That’s where things get a little murky.

Week 6 is all about budget and spending. Hang with me…I promise it won’t be miserable! We’re just looking at where the money goes. Getting honest about it. And making one or two small changes that actually stick. My budget planner is a great help with this. 

Here’s the thing about money stuff: it feels overwhelming, so we avoid it. And the more we avoid it, the scarier it feels. And then suddenly it’s December, and we have no idea what happened.

This week, we’re breaking that cycle. Gently. 

Why a Spending Reset Matters

Let me paint you a very familiar picture.

You open your bank app, and you start scrolling through transactions. At first it’s fine. Groceries. Gas. Normal, responsible adult things. But then you start seeing things.

The subscription you signed up for during a free trial and meant to cancel. The three streaming services you’re paying for when you realistically only watch one. The app that started charging you in October, and you never noticed. The Tuesday that cost you $54 at Target when you went in for paper towels and one other thing.

We have all been here. Every single one of us has that Tuesday.

The goal this week isn’t shame. It’s awareness. Because you cannot make good decisions about money you’re not actually looking at.

And the beautiful thing? Once you start paying attention, even tiny changes add up surprisingly fast.

What We’re Resetting This Week

Week 6 is about getting honest and intentional about spending without making your life miserable in the process. We’re not eliminating every source of joy from our existence or turning into a person who tracks every single penny and brings their own snacks to the movies.

It’s about knowing where your money is actually going, plugging a few leaks, and quietly moving some of it to savings before your brain can talk you out of it. For me, it’s about being smart with my money so I can give my kids experiences and create lasting family memories.

Small shifts. Real results. Zero rice-and-beans-forever energy.

Let’s Be Clear: This Is Not About Deprivation

Quick pause, because I can already see some of you spiraling.

If your brain immediately went to “Great, now I have to give up everything fun and eat sad meals alone in the dark while my streaming services mock me from across the room,” no. That’s not what we’re doing.

This week is about awareness and intention. The goal isn’t to squeeze every drop of enjoyment out of your spending. The goal is to make sure you’re actually choosing where your money goes, instead of waking up on the 28th of the month wondering what happened.

There is a big difference between spending intentionally and spending on autopilot while your bank account silently weeps. This week, we’re shifting from autopilot to intentional.

Week 6 Nudges—Pick a Few and Actually Do Them

Same rules as always: don’t do everything. Pick two or three, actually do them, and feel unreasonably good about it.

Start a budget. Sit down this week and write out where your money is going. Income in, expenses out, what’s left over. That’s it. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It just has to exist. Writing it down is half the battle. Grab a budget planner, open a spreadsheet, or use the notes app on your phone. Whatever gets it out of your head and onto something you can actually look at. Now you actually know what you’re working with, which means you can do something about it. Knowledge is power, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Need tips on where to start with creating a budget? Check out this blog post on starting a budget for pointers. Another budgeting method I love is the envelope method. I teach you how to do it here. Plus, there’s a free printable! 

Spending freeze day: Pick one day this week and spend absolutely nothing. No takeout, no Target, no “it’s only $4” purchases that somehow add up to $40. Just one day. Eat what’s in the house, use what you have, and discover that you probably have more than you think. Most people are genuinely surprised to find that a spending freeze day feels kind of great. 

Cancel one subscription: Go through your subscriptions and cancel one you forgot about, don’t use, or could live without. Check your bank statements, your email receipts, your app store… Cancel one today. You will not miss it. 

Move $10–$100 to savings: Whatever you can manage—$10, $25, $50, $100—move it to savings right now, before you think too hard about it or convince yourself you’ll do it later. The amount matters less than the habit. You are the kind of person who puts money into savings. Act accordingly.

Audit your auto-drafts: Sit down with your bank statement and go through everything that automatically charges you each month. Subscriptions, apps, services, that gym membership. Find the ones you forgot about, the ones you don’t use, and the ones that quietly raised their price without mentioning it. This exercise will almost certainly find you money you didn’t know you were losing. It’s like a scavenger hunt, except what you find is your own money.

Ready to Level Up? Here’s Your Bonus Challenge:

If you’re feeling ambitious this week, try the Level Up Challenge with me:

7-day Spending Freeze.

One full week. No non-essential spending. No takeout, no shopping, no online orders, no “it’s just a small thing” purchases you absolutely do not need but somehow end up in your cart anyway. 

Now I know exactly what your face is doing right now.

“Seven days? That sounds absolutely miserable, Jordan.”

I hear you. And I’m telling you anyway, because here’s what actually happens during a spending freeze week: you get creative. You cook things you forgot you had. You realize how much of your everyday spending is pure habit, and that realization is genuinely worth something.

Also you end the week with more money than you started with, which is a beautiful feeling. 

If seven days sounds like too much, try three. Or two. Or just string together as many spending freeze days as you can and see what happens. Here are some tips on how to do a spending freeze if you need them! I have a YouTube video on it, too! 

I’m doing the spending freeze challenge this week myself – I’ll be sharing all about it on Instagram! 

A Few Resources Worth Checking Out

If this week’s theme is hitting close to home and you want to go a little deeper:

Budget planners—Writing down your actual income, expenses, and savings goals changes something in your brain. It makes it real. Grab a budget planner and actually use it. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to not stay blank.

Rocket Money App—I’ve been using the Rocket Money app to track my spending and it has been a game changer. Not only does it help keep track of my daily spending and monthly expenses, it also helps me keep control over my subscriptions and on track to meet my financial goals. 

Free Printables—We have several free printables you might find helpful this week. This money-saving chart is a great way to visualize your progress, and you know we love the envelope system. If you’re paying off debt, our debt tracker is a great resource. 

YouTube—I have a ton of budgeting resources on my YouTube channel. Check out the Money 101 playlist for tips on how to budget, how to save money, and even how to do a spending freeze. 

A Little Reality Check

Will I be perfect with money this week?

Ha. No. But if I cancel a subscription I forgot about, go through my auto-drafts, move some money to savings before I can talk myself out of it, and stick to my spending freeze? 

That’s a win.

And if you do the same? That’s a win too.

Money stuff doesn’t have to be this big scary thing you avoid opening until the end of the month when it’s too late to do anything about it anyway. It can just be something you pay a little more attention to. One small, non-terrifying step at a time.

We’re In This Together

I’ll be on Instagram this week sharing my own spending freeze and budgeting journey. 

Come find me and show me what you’re working on!

• Sign up for weekly emails — every Sunday, the new theme and nudges land in your inbox
• Follow along on IG — daily updates, behind-the-scenes, and more shenanigans than I probably should share publicly
• Download the 90-Day New Page Challenge calendar – download and print the free 90-Day New Page Challenge calendar and write down your nudges each week to help you stay organized. (If you printed this last week, we made a few small updates, so you’ll want to print a fresh copy!) 
• Tag me and use #90DayNewPage — I will find your posts, cheer loudly, and repost you. Share the messy parts. Especially the messy parts.

If you’re just finding us and want to join, learn more about the challenge here: https://lifeonanewpage.com/the-90-day-new-page-challenge-lets-level-up-together/

Let’s keep getting 1% better every day. Now go open your bank app. You’ve been avoiding it long enough.