Your lifestyle crept up. Let’s fix it
Have you ever looked at your bank account and thought: Wait, how is it already this low?
You didn’t go on vacation. You didn’t make any major purchases and you didn't spend that much at the recent Sephora sale. Yet somehow, money is leaving faster than it’s coming in. If you're like me, you've fallen off your budget, as I do every April.
That’s lifestyle creep. It’s when your spending slowly increases as your income grows. Not because you're being reckless, but because you can. A better salary turns into a better apartment. Ordering in once a week turns into three times. Upgrades become the default. And then one day you realize you’re not saving as much as you used to or at all.
It happens to the best of us. The good news is, you can reverse it.
Own it
This is not about shame. This is about clarity. Pull up your monthly spending and compare it to your spending from a year or two ago. Where are the increases? Groceries? Rent? Subscriptions? Dining out? Figure out where your money’s crept up and name it.
Let's acknowledge that some things have gone up and will probably go up even more with the tariffs, so we're not talking about the needs here.
Cut with care.
No, you don’t need to go on a money diet or some extreme budget but you do need to trim the wants. Cancel the subscription you forgot about. I just got rid of two. Do a no-spend weekend. If you’re spending $300 a month on food delivery, see what happens if you bring it down to $150. Reversing lifestyle creep is less about deprivation and more about boundaries. Baby steps.
Re-visit your goals
Maybe you’re saving for a house, or to take a sabbatical or to start your own business. Remembering why you want your money to grow helps you stop mindlessly spending it. Set a short-term savings goal and automate a weekly transfer into that account.
Embrace the downgrade on purpose
This isn’t about punishing yourself—it’s about proving to yourself that you don’t need the upgrade every time. Try one downgrade this month.
Make lifestyle creep work for you
Lifestyle creep isn’t inherently bad. You work hard, and you should enjoy the benefits of your labour but try splitting the difference. When you get a raise, increase your savings and your fun budget. It's like what Kelly Peters, Behavioural Economist Leader and Partner at Deloitte told me for this article. It's about impulse savings. Future You will be grateful. Present You still gets to enjoy life.
The truth is, lifestyle creep isn’t a failure. It’s a feature of modern life and like most money habits, once you notice it, you can do something about it. And when you do, you make space for freedom and for options.
This week’s readings:
Sex Workers Already Predicted There's A Recession Coming — Here's How They Know (Yahoo! Finance)
Professor Answers Supply Chain Questions | Tech Support | (WIRED)
Layoffs mount in Canada as companies cite U.S. tariffs (CP24)