WalletPrep

Lifestyle creep

When spending rises to match each raise, so your income grows but your savings don't.

Lifestyle creep usually happens in small steps: a nicer phone plan, more takeout, a pricier apartment at renewal. None of them is wrong on its own, but together they can absorb a whole raise.

The simplest defense is to move part of every raise into savings or retirement before the first bigger paycheck arrives.

Example

A $335 monthly raise after tax with $170 sent to savings still leaves $335 − $170 = $165 more to spend each month.

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