I’m sure you have heard of the lifestyle creephttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥴" title="Woozy face" aria-label="Emoji: Woozy face">

But let me tell you about a REAL LIFE example

That many of you have probably heardhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👀" title="Augen" aria-label="Emoji: Augen">

(thread)

A few months ago

A coworker asked if I could help her build a budget https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤩" title="Vom Star geblendet" aria-label="Emoji: Vom Star geblendet">

She wanted to get better with her finances and start saving more

So I sat down with her to go over her expenses and spending

It was not pretty.... https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥴" title="Woozy face" aria-label="Emoji: Woozy face">

She was spending nearly all of her income

And what she had left over

She said she would save!

However

Most of the time

She had nothing left over to savehttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥴" title="Woozy face" aria-label="Emoji: Woozy face">

*Side note*

I truly do not care how you decide to spend your money

It’s YOUR money

But

If you ask for my advice

I am going to give it to you straighthttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷🏼‍♂️" title="Achselzuckender Mann (mittelheller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Achselzuckender Mann (mittelheller Hautton)">

Okay... back to the threadhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👊🏻" title="Fisted hand (heller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Fisted hand (heller Hautton)">

Fast forward to a few days ago

I was talking to my coworker again

She mentioned how she was looking to get into management

That is GREAT!

However

What she said after that

Is the DEFINITION of lifestyle creephttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😳" title="Errötetes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Errötetes Gesicht">

She said

“Once I get into management, I am going to buy myself a new car” https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚘" title="Entgegenkommendes Auto" aria-label="Emoji: Entgegenkommendes Auto">

Oh no...

I know 3 things about this situation

1. Her current car is perfectly fine, so she doesn’t NEED the car

2. The management position doesn’t pay that much more

3. It will be financedhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤢" title="Angewidertes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Angewidertes Gesicht">

Again

I truly do not mind how she or anyone else decides to spend their money

But

Lifestyle creep, like this situation...

Is robbing you of financial security

And many people don’t recognize ithttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😩" title="Mattes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Mattes Gesicht">

How do you beat lifestyle creep?

1. Don’t increase your spending as your income increases

OR

2. Only increase your spending a fraction (20-30%) of the income increase

Then

Invest the increasehttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💰" title="Geldsack" aria-label="Emoji: Geldsack">

That’s all you have to do!!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤝" title="Handschlag" aria-label="Emoji: Handschlag">

I hope this situation was a great LESSON for you to understand how

Lifestyle creep can secretly rob you financiallyhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥴" title="Woozy face" aria-label="Emoji: Woozy face">

If you think this thread could benefit others, feel free to share!

Thanks again for reading thishttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">

@DecadeInvestor