The late, great Notorious B.I.G. once said “Mo Money, Mo Problems,” and the idea of “lifestyle creep” is a similar vibe. We’ve all heard the stories of people winning the lottery and tragically spending it all on luxuries in record time. Think of lifestyle creep as the slow burn, long game version of that. When your income goes up, you start to treat yo’self more, and may begin developing more expensive habits. It’s not necessarily all bad (yay, more money), but if left unchecked, can cause serious regret down the road. This blog will help you manage lifestyle creep in a way that will benefit you today, and in the future.
What is lifestyle creep?
Lifestyle creep is when you start to develop certain spending habits as a result of an increase in your basic income, leading to an overall more expensive lifestyle. Maybe this time last year, you’d treat yourself to an iced coffee once a week—but now it’s two or three times a week. Or you used to just get yourself a nice manicure for your birthday, and now you have a standing monthly appointment. The thing about lifestyle creep is that it sneaks up on you. Otherwise, it’d be called lifestyle rush & tackle, which is more in line with those lottery scenarios we mentioned earlier. But while treating yourself is a good thing (you deserve nice things), once lifestyle creep hits, it may not even feel like a treat anymore.
What are examples of lifestyle creep?
Of course, lifestyle creep isn’t just coffee and manicures. Let’s say you just got promoted to your dream role (congrats) and your salary just received a significant boost. It’s perfectly normal to say “Let’s go out to dinner and celebrate,” but if you aren’t mindful of your spending, lifestyle creep can start with the very first paycheck. Here are a few common actions people will take that can lead to lifestyle creep:
- Trading in a perfectly reliable car for a brand new one
- Buying a new home or moving into a larger, nicer apartment
- Eating out more often, or enjoying fancier food (beyond just paying extra for guac)
- Upgrading personal tech (ahem, like a perfectly good smartphone) more frequently
- Buying more designer clothes and accessories
You may enjoy these things for a brief period of time, but before you know it, you’re looking at your bank account and wondering where this new salary went. Like TLC said, “no attention goes to show… so I creep.” (I don’t think they were talking about lifestyle, but it still applies here.)
Why should you be wary of lifestyle creep?
Being able to treat yourself and upgrade certain aspects of your life is great, but it’s important to remain mindful of your spending. Otherwise, you may find yourself living paycheck to paycheck. You still want a strong savings account, especially in case something unexpected happens. But if you’re spending all your money on nights out and new shoes, you won’t have much leftover to put away for a rainy day.
So if you find yourself saying “Wait, what?” or various curse words when you check your bank account, or are now realizing that some things you used to consider luxuries have become necessities, you may already be experiencing lifestyle creep. But it’s not too late to scale it back.
How to avoid lifestyle creep
The best way to avoid lifestyle creep is to maintain a budget. Here are a few steps you can take to start being mindful of your spending:
- Track your monthly spending: Sit down and add up how much you’re spending in an average month, from rent, utilities, phone bills and groceries to fast food and trips to the arcade
- Calculate your monthly income: Figure out exactly how much you can expect to earn each month. This includes the salary from your main gig, as well as any side hustles you may have. When you know exactly what you’re working with money-wise, you’ll be better equipped to set financial benchmarks for yourself
- Set a goal: Decide how you want to approach your spending going forward. Are you wanting to apply the 50/30/20 rule (50% goes to needs, 30% goes to wants, 20% goes into savings)? Or are you wanting a more precise, “zero based” budgeting method, where every single dollar is allocated to a specific expense each month?
Once you’ve established a budgeting method that works for you, you’ll notice lifestyle creep starting to back off, and before you know it, you’ll be saying various curse words when you check your savings account (but in a happy way).
How Mint Mobile can help you prevent lifestyle creep
Our whole thing at Mint Mobile is saving you money. So, not only do we write blogs about avoiding lifestyle creep, we also offer plans that can help with that too. Our plan match quiz will help you decide which plan makes the most sense for you, so you don’t overspend on data you don’t need. You can also track your data usage in the Mint Mobile app, and we’ll tell you if you’re using less data than you expected, so you can change to a lower-priced plan when it’s time to renew. And we offer our service in bulk, so you can plan ahead and save even more money over time. Plus, we encourage you to bring your own phone, so you don’t feel obligated to upgrade to the latest & greatest just to enjoy our service.
Keep lifestyle creep in your rear view for good
Lifestyle creep can sneak up on you, silently preventing you from investing your money wisely, building a savings account in case of emergencies or just saving for the future. Mint Mobile wants to help our subscribers achieve financial freedom by empowering them to make informed decisions when it comes to their spending. Take what you’ve learned here, maybe combine it with our tips for loud budgeting, incorporate some of our clever ways to save money and soon enough you’ll be able to enjoy that extra guac, guilt-free. Then get ready to budget even more money into your savings when you make the switch to Mint Mobile. If you aren’t sold yet, we’ve got plenty of other reasons why Mint Mobile is the right plan for a financially savvy budgeter like yourself.
