The phenomenon of Lifestyle Creep has become a frightening specter for many people. This condition occurs when income increases but savings remain stagnant, while expenses for lifestyle choices become more burdensome. The increase in spending on lifestyle standards due to increased income traps many people, ultimately destroying their financial foundation.
Characteristics of this lifestyle include changes in thinking and behavior regarding expenses, focusing more on wants rather than needs. Instead of saving, the increased income is used to raise the standard of living.
The situation can become very severe and damaging to the future when lifestyle creep persists but your income decreases, such as due to job loss or entering retirement, ultimately depleting all savings and assets.
Signs You’re Affected by Lifestyle Creep
When experiencing an income increase, people often tend to lose track. Suddenly, they have a lifestyle without control, failing to adjust between needs and wants.
One simple sign of being affected by Lifestyle Creep is frequently changing to the latest gadgets and subscribing to unnecessary cable TV. Your eating and dressing habits may also drain a significant portion of your monthly budget. As a result, your closet may be full of expensive clothing that is rarely worn.
This condition ultimately leads to a chaotic financial budget without a clear goal for the future.
Avoiding Lifestyle Creep
The first thing you should do to avoid this lifestyle is to reiterate your life goals and priorities, while slowly relearning to be thrifty and set aside money for savings.
Decide how much money you want to save from each income and make it a habit. When this becomes automatic, try to increase the amount you save. When it comes to buying things and going on vacation, choose items you actually need and opt for fun vacations within a budget. The key is learning to appreciate yourself wisely.
When experiencing an income increase, make lifestyle changes gradually. You can still have inexpensive hobbies like biking or gathering with friends to play board games, so continue these hobbies.
You deserve to celebrate your achievements and enjoy your success, but in a measured way. Financial discipline, learning to be thrifty, and maintaining a simple lifestyle will help you achieve your long-desired life goals.
Start Learning to Invest
One way to wisely allocate your increased income is to start learning about investing. Start with profitable investments with affordable and inexpensive capital.
The good news is, you can even start investing with a small amount in Treasury! You can buy it online through a smartphone app. Treasury is the right platform for you to invest in gold! Especially since you can buy gold starting from Rp5,000, cheaper than the price of a glass of milk coffee or even a bowl of chicken noodles!
Don’t worry about the legality and security of Treasury. Treasury is the first digital physical gold trader licensed by BAPPEBTI. Digital transactions are guaranteed safe because they are registered with KOMINFO and partner with ICH to ensure transaction security. Treasury is a member of ICDX, a clearing and futures exchange institution.
Transactions are also secure because Treasury is a member of ICDX, a clearing and futures exchange institution supervised by BAPPEBTI.
Other features of Treasury are also interesting. You can grow your assets up to 9% p.a. in the Panen Emas feature, or you can also temporarily sell your gold in Jamimas at a low cost. You can also buy gold jewelry and Koin Nusantara coins here!
Exciting, right? Let’s invest in gold in Treasury now!
