You Can’t Avoid Lifestyle Inflation. It’s a Good Thing

Reading financial advice feels like someone’s slapping my wrist when I reach for my wallet.

“Lifestyle inflation kills your savings,” it says.

I disagree.

Spend more as you earn more. Just don’t let things get out of control.

Numbers paint the full picture

Nobody teaches you to save money better than a financially struggling mother.

I saw my mom count pennies at the kitchen table as a young boy. That instilled some good habits in me.

In the first three decades of my life, I thought lifestyle inflation was for suckers. Then, I started to make real money. My paycheck has grown three times since 2014.

I had no clue how much I could afford. Five-star vacations and fancy cars weren’t on my radar. A coffee machine was the height of my imagination.

You can’t miss what you’ve never had.

But I didn’t really get a handle on my spending until recently. Because… Numbers. They help you go from “Let me splash $10,000 on that vacation” to “I can double my $10,000 in seven years if I invest it.”