How Eliminating a Single Expense Can Transform Your Financial Future

I’m going to say the unpopular thing: you can’t separate your business money from your personal money. I mean, technically, you can. Different accounts, different cards, different piles of receipts you swear you’ll organize someday. But the reality is the way you treat money in one area of life is the way you treat it in all areas.

If you’re disorganized at work, chances are your personal finances are just as messy. If you’re great at saving in your business but constantly swiping your card at home without a second thought, that stress eventually bleeds right back into your work. You can’t have financial peace in one world and chaos in the other. They’re connected. Always.

The good news? You don’t need to overhaul your entire financial life to get ahead. You don’t need to sell your car, stop eating out, and start sewing your own clothes (although my EA does, and she’s pretty fantastic). You just need to start with one small move.

And the move is this: cut a single expense. Just one.

Why one expense matters more than you think

I know what you’re thinking because I’ve heard it before. “Mike, cutting expenses sounds like punishment. Now I have to give up Netflix so you can sit in silence staring at your wall. And I am NOT saying goodbye to coffee, which would mean saying goodbye to my will to live.”

That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m not suggesting you strip your life down to bread and water. I’m saying, look for the expenses that are quietly draining you.

The software subscription you forgot to cancel. The random $29 a month tool you signed up for in a moment of “this will change everything!” that you haven’t touched in six months. The membership you’re paying for out of guilt because you keep telling yourself you’ll use it “next week.”

Cut that one.

Because here’s what happens when you do: you don’t just save money, you build confidence. You prove to yourself that you are the one in charge. That tiny act of control sends a big signal to your brain: “Hey, I can do this.”

And then something funny happens. You start noticing other leaks. You start making better decisions automatically. And suddenly you’re not just saving money. You’re changing the entire way you interact with it.

Business + personal = One money habit

Here’s the kicker: the habits are identical.

If you cut a $50 expense in your business, don’t just let it sit there waiting to get absorbed by the next shiny thing. Move that $50 into your profit account. That’s right, turn wasted money into actual profit. Boom.

Now take the same principle home. Cancel a streaming service you never use and move that same $50 into savings or a “sleep-better fund.” Every time you look at that account growing, you’ll feel a little jolt of peace. You’re no longer the passenger. You’re the driver. 

What you do at work bleeds into what you do at home. What you do at home bleeds into what you do at work. If you can prove to yourself in one area that you’re capable of steering your money, you’ll reinforce the same behavior everywhere.

That’s why entrepreneurs who get their personal finances under control suddenly find their business finances start clicking too, and vice versa. The brain doesn’t compartmentalize money habits. It just learns patterns.

A quick example

Let’s say you cut out a $100 monthly expense in your business. Maybe that extra software license you’re not using. You move that $100 straight into your profit account every month. That’s $1,200 at the end of the year, which is real profit, without doing anything except canceling something you don’t use.

Now let’s mirror that at home. You cut out a $100 “I didn’t even realize I was spending this” expense—maybe a subscription box, for instance. Fun? Sure. Necessary? Not really. Cancel it. Move that $100 a month into savings. By the end of the year, that’s another $1,200 sitting there.

Together, that’s $2,400. From cutting two things you don’t even miss. And, more importantly, you’ve trained your brain to choose where your money goes instead of letting it leak away.

But Mike, one expense won’t change my life

No, one expense won’t make you a millionaire. But it will start the shift.

Think of it like going to the gym. You don’t start by running a marathon. You start by walking around the block. The goal isn’t to change everything overnight; it’s to prove to yourself you can start, and then build momentum.

That’s what this is: financial momentum. Every little cut, every little redirect, creates a snowball effect. And pretty soon, you’re not just canceling one expense, you’re making smarter choices everywhere. You’re looking at money through the lens of “Does this serve me?” instead of “Well, I guess that’s just how it is.”

Your challenge

Here’s your assignment (yep, I’m giving homework):

Pull up your business bank statement.
Pull up your personal bank statement.
In each, circle one expense that’s leaking your money.
Cancel it today.
Redirect the money to profit or savings.

That’s it. Not ten expenses. Not a full financial audit. One.

And then, when you’ve done it once, do it again. And again. And again.

Because  – and I know you’ve heard this from me over and over – financial freedom doesn’t come from one massive move. It comes from small, intentional choices made consistently. It comes from building patterns that reinforce each other at work and at home.

One expense at a time. Cancel, redirect, repeat. That’s how you take control. That’s how you stop stressing about money. That’s how you build not just a profitable business, but a peaceful life.

– Mike

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