[lifestyle ] Lifestyle creep sets in slowly, is hard to discard: 8-point checklist to keep a check on your spending.

[_Happy boy]

My friend loved fresh flowers. When we were young girls, foraging for flowers in the wild was a favourite pastime. She brought them back to our hostel room and created beautiful arrangements. Now she is a super-rich wife of a successful businessman. By her own account, she spends a huge amount of money on flowers, every other day. Is she overindulging or simply enjoying what she loves?

Spending habits are like that. We can convince ourselves that we deserve the expense, or that we can immensely afford it, and learn to not be guilty about it. Personal finance has a term for such indulgence. Lifestyle creep. The easy ability of expenses to increase with

income. It can move up slowly and make it difficult to shed. The creep up is the stealth with which we allow these expenses to grow.

As incomes move up, we can see lifestyle changes happening somewhat naturally. Most households make better food choices. Increased grocery bills from generous consumption of good food is normal. Healthier po[CENSORED]tions is a normal outcome of better and stable incomes. Households upgrade their clothes, homes, furniture and fixtures, cars, electronics and lifestyle creep is upon us.

The need to belong to a certain social strata creates pressures that households find tough to stave off. Especially while living in a community with houses too close for comfort. Neighbours then set the bar for social markers and expenses. Many households find themselves living paycheck to paycheck because they have purchased a car they can’t afford and have filled their house with stuff that display their status to neighbours.

Living a simple life and fighting lifestyle creep may not always be a virtue. The line between being simple and being stingy is thin. Households are unable to make that decision confidently, unless they are able to truly appreciate and feel proud of their decision to lead a simple life. Severely cutting back on expenses can also be a sign of abundant risk aversion and caution.

How can a household draw a checklist and be sure things are in control?