Your first week with Cost Me: a 7-day plan

New apps usually get opened twice and then forgotten. Cost Me only works if it becomes a tiny habit. So here is a simple seven-day plan to make it stick — no willpower required.

This is for anyone who just downloaded the app and wants a gentle on-ramp. Five minutes a day, tops.

Day 1: Type one price

Just one. The next thing you feel tempted to buy, type its price before you pay. See the 30-year number. That is the whole task. You are teaching yourself the new reflex: price first, buy second. (New here? Start with getting started with Cost Me.)

Day 2: Use the vault once

Find one want that is not urgent and drop it in the 48-hour vault instead of buying. Then forget about it. (How it works: how the 48-hour vault works.)

Day 3: Log an honest purchase

Bought something? Good. Tap Already purchasedand log it. This is not a punishment. Honest logging keeps your numbers real and helps the app learn your habits.

Day 4: Check your savings number

Look at your lifetime savings total. Even a small number proves the habit is working. (What it means: reading your lifetime savings number.)

Day 5: Talk to Amy

Feeling an urge you cannot shake? Open Amy, the in-app money coach, and talk it through. She helps you think before you tap buy. (Meet her: meet Amy, your AI money coach.)

Day 6: Set your threshold

Decide on a price above which you always run the app. Maybe $50, maybe $100. Below it, do not bother. This keeps the habit easy and stops it feeling like a chore. (More: setting a price threshold.)

Day 7: Look at your streak

A week in, you should have a small streak going. That little run of good days is what keeps people coming back. (How streaks work: building a resist streak.)

Why a week matters

Habits form through small, repeated wins, not big bursts of effort. Seven gentle days is enough to wire in the price-first reflex. After that, Cost Me mostly runs itself in your head — you start picturing the future number on your own.