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Sunday Resets have saved me SO much money.
I used to feel like my weeks were just ongoing strings of chaos. I was working 2 jobs and my only day off was Sundays. I would do absolutely nothing on my day off and then it was just more chaos. I wouldn’t have food ready. I wouldn’t have clean clothes. I would be running thru the week by the moment and I always felt stressed.
Then I started doing these Sunday Resets and it helped me spend so much less money. I started spending the afternoon resetting the house and a lot of my systems to make sure that I can do the things that I need to do throughout the week.
This isn’t just about having a clean home/ food prepped. We often spend more when emotions are high, so doing a reset is a great way to reduce stress. This is also about looking at the places that you overspend money and prepare for the week.
I want to make it clear that if Sunday doesn’t work for you for this or if you are on a non-traditional schedule, do this on whatever day works best for you. I do it on Sunday’s because my son is with his dad until afternoon so it gives me a kid free home to get things done.
Here is my Sunday Reset Checklist:
- Clean out purse
- 20 minute house “pick up”
- Clean out car
- Start laundry
- Reset dishes
- Make a meal plan
- Set a 7 Day money goal
- Track income and expenses from past week
- Weekly calendar / to do list
- Read a money book or listen to podcast for 20 minutes
- Do something for self care
If you are creating your own checklist for a reset, look at places that you are often stressed or over spending. Then think of the things were you can prepare for the week. If there is something that is constantly tripping you up through the week, how can you prepare ahead of time for that thing.
This is how it saves me money:
One of the financial puzzle pieces that I talk about in How To Actually Stick to Your Budget is SYSTEMS. This looks like having a routine or money system that helps you out. You are setting yourself up for days so you don’t have to do all the work, make all of the decision. Putting some of the rest of your life on auto pilot during the week because you set up your life during your reset.
1) Dishes
Doing the dishes and making sure my kitchen is clean is preparing my kitchen to be ready to cook the meals for Monday. I am less likely to buy takeout or feel like cooking is a huge task if my kitchen is mostly reset. When my sink is full of dishes, cleaning feels like an impossible task.
2) Laundry
Having laundry done makes sure that I am not running around stressed looking for clothes when we are trying to get out the door. I know this habit will eventually lead to making sure that sports uniforms or specific club t shirts clean. I don’t put the pressure for everything to be clean and put away, but the goal is to get as much as I can clean. I will often start washing clothes on Saturday in an effort to get a good chunk put away. This saves me money because I am not running out to buy new clothes often. Because things are mostly clean every week, I can see all of the clothes that I have rather than feeling like I don’t have clothes available.
3) 20 minute house “pick up”
Again, I am not spending my whole day cleaning the house, but doing even a quick pick up and reset of the main areas clears a little bit of the visual overstimulation and makes it easier to find the things I need thru the week. Doing a pickup and putting things where they go (and everything having a home), helps me find things easier. This saves me money because I am not buying duplicates of things that I already have because I can’t find it.
4) Read a money book for 20 minutes
My goal is to read more if I have time, but reading just a little bit of a money book can help me refocus my why before going into the week! Keeping my eye on the WHY reminds me of why I want to stick to my budget. Lately I have been diving into audiobooks and listening to them on the way to go get my son. Reading helps me save money because I am able to learn new things and stay motivated to budget. I keep an updated list of books that I am reading on my Amazon Storefront. However, I would encourage you to borrow books from a friend or a library.
5) Make a meal plan or meal prep
Meal planning can save you hundreds of dollars a month. Make a plan based on what you already have in your kitchen. I love using my Marker Board Meal Planning process to really make sure that I am using up what I have on hand before spending more money on food! Then I schedule a grocery pickup for what I need for the rest!
If there is anything that needs to go into the freezer or be prepped for the week, I try to do a little bit of work in the kitchen that will lead to less work for the rest of the week.
6) Weekly calendar / to do list:
Having a brain dump of all of the activities for the week can reduce a lot of the “Sunday Scaries” for the week. It can also give you an opportunity to look at which days might be a little more hectic and plan ahead for these. I love using google calendar. But just sitting down and putting in any set plans you have for the week can remove it from your brain and help you prepare for any obstacles that might cause you to spend money!
This saves me a ton of money because I can look ahead at the week and notice that I will need to pack a change of clothes, snacks, or an extra meal for a certain day where it might be a long day. I do this at the same time as my meal plan because I can identify what days need to be crockpot or easy meals. This also helps me look at the weather and what days might need to pack appropriate clothes for the weather instead of stopping to buy new gloves or swim stuff for my son.
7) Clean out purse
I started doing this a few weeks ago. I use this time to take out any receipts. Scan them on my rebate apps. Reset my wallet and put any random makeup or products back.
Doing this helped me make sure that anything I had taken out of my purse through the week went back in, but also helped me take out anything that had been left in there. This really just takes a minute or two now because I have been consistent with doing it weekly!
8) Track income and expenses from past week:
I don’t track my spending every single day. Tracking my spending once a week has given me space away from my budget to live life. Spending just 10-15 minutes tracking my expenses from the week gives me a good idea of what I need to focus on this week. It allows me to look at where my spending is for the month and see where I can improve or if I can loosen the reins on an area.
I talk about the systems that I have in place a ton in my course How To Actually Stick to Your Budget. Only really checking my spreadsheet once a week allows me to not feel so restricted on a budget,
9) Do something for self care:
We are more likely to spend when we are experiencing high emotions (good or bad) or stressed. Taking some time for yourself can improve your mental and emotional space and reduce emotional spending. Take some time for yourself. Do a face mask. Take a bubble bath. Take a nap if you can. This is a reminder that self care also doesn’t have to be expensive. Here is a list of 51 self care things that are cheap or free. Doing something every week sets me up for having a better week.
10) Clean Out the Car
Cleaning out the car before the week starts saves me money because I am not frantically looking for things. This is also the time when I reset my kids daycare bag with diapers, wipes, extra clothes to make sure that I am not running to the store in the morning because the bag ran out of diapers!
This is the time where I put all of the shoes back on our shoe rack, clothes in the laundry, and toys in the toy box so we know where everything is. This helps me so I am able to find things easily, but also just keeps my car from being so messy. More than once, I have skipped this and then wanted to go spend money to get my car detailed, but really I just needed to take everything inside.
11) Set a 7 Day Money Goal
I love a 7 day money goal because it forces me to take action immediately. These can be either action goals or habit goals. Action goals are things like “Put $100 in savings/ towards debt.” or “Side hustle $150” Or they can be habit goals which are things like “don’t eat at restaurants this week” or “only go to the grocery store once.”
I set my goals in a 1-6-90-1-7 method. 1 year. 6 months. 90 days. 1 month. 7 days. This allows me to take one bigger goal and break it down into smaller goals and action steps. It forces me to focus on what I can do right now to work towards this goal rather than setting a one year goal and waiting til the last minute to take action!
My course How To Actually Stick to Your Budget, has an entire module about goal setting to help you set realistic goals and then crush them.
Sunday Reset changed my budget
This Sunday Reset has allowed me to be more relaxed, more prepared, less stressed, and spend less unplanned money.
