Kind of a dumb question coming from someone in finance but how do you deal with lifestyle creep? As I've moved up in my career and achieved a higher income, my expenses have increased as well (not just talking inflation here!). Things that were formerly luxuries are not anymore. Can anyone else relate?

likehelpfulsmart
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The mathematical way to fix this is to just set a budget. However budget runs up against real life sometimes and choosing to go out with friends is probably more beneficial to your wellbeing than saving $50. So there is a balance to strike. What sorts of things do you spend money on? Is it hobbies? Booze? Buying never ending stream of bs on Amazon?

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I attempt to prevent this by updating my direct deposit with each raise so that the majority of each raise goes into investments (mine is split between Roth 401k, Roth IRA, HSA which is invested and not used for current medical expenses, and after tax brokerage account). Basically prevents me from being able to spend it. I admit that reverse already occurring lifestyle creep is difficult psychologically, but it is possible.

likehelpful

This is the strategy we used and the one I recommend as well. Each and every bonus I split a portion to spend and I portion to save. I had the benefit of a deferred compensation program that made it easy to set and forget. I retired 7 years ago at 52 using the strategy. It works.

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It's about having restraint. Plus after things becoming common then it does tend to get boring and not worth the extra expense

likehelpful

Of course. Set a monthly and annual budget for yourself and stick to it. Hold yourself accountable.

Create a plan where you have to allocate a specific amount or percentage of your income towards investments, essentially forcing yourself to only have a set amount to spend on lifestyle creep items.

The only thing we spend money on is vacations/travel, food, and real estate. All the other fancy crap/depreciating assets (cars, clothes, tech, etc.) is to impress people we really don't like, so we don't do it.

^That last paragraph may sound a bit pretentious, and it is, but it also keeps our finances in order, prevents too much lifestyle creep, and prevents the bullshit psychological traps that are the rat race/monkey see, monkey do/constant comparison.

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It is true the more you make the more you spend even if it don’t seem that way. We tend to live to our salaries, but also want the better things in life so when we get those bigger paychecks and we start making that extra money the things that we couldn’t afford Seem to be easier to manage and then all of a sudden we’re in the same position we were back when we didn’t have the money, I live very frugally and based my income off of what I used to make as a sales person, knowing that I make finance money I tried to save the money that I get extra And invested in different things.

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My net worth is 7 figures but people would think I’m homeless; car has 250k miles, sheets are ripped to hell, live simply. Invest, invest, invest.

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This is the way. plus, when you have nice things, people shoot you in the face and take them.

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Break everything down to a percentage of your income. Allows you to enjoy more as you make more but still within reason

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You may have heard about “propensity to consume.” We tend to spend more as our income grows. I think the trick is to be aware of it, and perhaps have a percentage automatically go to savings.

likehelpful

I agree with you. Especially now day. So may people loss their job due to layoff, I'm also one of those people. I didn't know I'm going to face financial issue this bad. All I can do looking for job try to catching up all the bills, not to mention foods all time high smh.

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I often say, “A luxury once enjoyed becomes a necessity.”

likefunny

I flew first class for the first time recently and now for each flight I think about how I really would prefer to fly first again. This is so true 😅

likefunny

One piece of advice in spending I’ve appreciated is “will this help me make more money?” If no, then I don’t need it. I’m still trying to justify a hot tub purchase but can’t seem to get around that pesky question…

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I outgrew the new car iche and haven’t had a car note in 12 years. You would be amazed how much money that saves!!!

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I’m ‘deflating’ my lifestyle as we speak. First step is to track everything to get a sense of where your money is going. I recently finished ‘The Simple Path to Wealth’ and the advice is to save 50%. With some cuts I realized that is possible for me. I’ve been delaying non-essential purchases until the end of the month, and only make them if there’s still room in my budget. It doesn’t have to be extreme as some have commented, you can still spend on what you enjoy the most and make meaningful progress.

likehelpful

I did this. I moved back home with family with higher income in an effort to pay back loans. I like it because I have more funds to do some side things while also spending time with family.

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I tend to have sticker shock and don't 'start' certain things so that I dont get used to them.

But I've certainly gotten comfortable with certain things and 'gave' myself permission in my thirties to pay a premium for certain conveniences and experiences. I just try to not 'let loose' every category of consumption and I monitor overall savings.

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OP, what has changed in your lifestyle?
Normally when people have more income they start to do more making it harder for them to go back to a place where they were before.
Have you started a family? Bought a house? Etc.

helpfullike

Live like a person on basic salary and check yourself once in a while and see if you deserve a treat as you’re not broke anymore. But wherever works for you.

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50% expenses and day to day, 30% investment 20% short term goals such as car, house down-payment etc

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The real secret is to pretend that you are currently making the last salary that you almost had enough money to get through the week that being paycheck to paycheck and banking any and all extra
Net so that when you reached to summit of your career and income and either let kicked off or fall off you have savings to be able to assist in making it back to the ground level employment where you will unfortunate one day return.

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I found I was comfortable at my last promotion, so what I did was do a budget based at my previous salary - I.e. bills, outgoings and every penny over my previous salary went into savings and investments. Doing this built my investments and savings very quickly to the point I now have a secondary income coming in monthly

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Can you offer to take a pay cut for the good of the company?

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