Lifestyle creep happens. It happens rather quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve started to experience the creep. I put the creep off for a long time, not buying a new car or moving when I got a raise or made more money through a business. But in late 2021, I made a lifestyle shift unconsciously, buying a new home and buying a Tesla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve been buying on wants and not needs. For example, buying gear for streaming when I only stream on weekends. Instead, I should have built some success by adding a webcam or a Key Light<\/a>. Now I am using these as a motivator to stream more and build a bigger audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve also subscribed to SaaS businesses that make my life easier, some for business and some for personal reasons. A few of these subscriptions save tons of time, and I get a dollar value back. For example, SavvyCal allows me to manage my week, which prevents me from over-scheduling or double booking a meeting. I can also directly charge someone for a 1-hour consultation. Others like Fortnite Crew were only for fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe in the principle of investing 30% to 50% of your income. Others have 50\/20\/30 rules which say spend 50% on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% towards investing and savings. Unfortunately, I broke the rules, stretching my lifestyle beyond the income I had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have to make a fundamental change in my financial life in order to not make myself or my family miserable. While my spending increased, the cost of consumer goods steadily rose. For example, a simple grocery store run before was $130 to $150, now that trip could be closer to $200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The simple answer is to reduce spending and increase income. This, of course, is the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, I am adding actionable goals to straighten out my finances going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Build more “passive income” through courses and templates<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Someone said, “I believe everyone has a golden nugget in their Google Drive.” They’re referencing the templates, processes, and documents we’ve all created in Drive. These could be sold and repurposed as a course or template. I’ve started this with the Google Responsive Search Ads Template on Gumroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scale\/Increase my Earning Potential for Marketing Consulting<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve made great strides with clients. However, I haven’t focused on a website, marketing funnel, or long-term marketing strategy for myself. I don’t have a website for my marketing consulting. I need to define my offering, find clients, and build a site.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Stop Lifestyle Creep?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n