Avoiding Lifestyle Creep Helped Me 1ox My Net Worth in 5 Years

Lifestyle creep (or lifestyle inflation) truly is the silent killer of wealth, especially in expensive housing cities like New York. It can feel like it’s out of your control, which is why it’s so nefarious to your finances.

You start to rationalize it every time the rent goes up. Everyone’s spending more than half their paycheck on rent each month, so it must be normal right? And aren’t we supposed to be working our butts off so we can finally afford the new construction building with the in-unit washer/dryers?

Not if you want to build lasting wealth.

Yes, of course, you should rent a home that is comfortable and safe. But I knew soon after moving to New York in 2010 that I was going to have to forfeit proximity to the city for comfort and affordability. That’s why I moved to Astoria, Queens instead of trendier neighborhoods in Manhattan or Brooklyn. I was able to keep my rent less than 30% of my income, and that is a rule I follow even to this day. That’s right — my mortgage bill isn’t more than 30% of my household income.

In 2016, I was engaged and planning a wedding with my fiancé. I had just secured a job offer at a startup and was about to earn more than $145,000 a year — 30% more than my previous job.

Many New Yorkers would have taken that raise and moved into a nicer apartment with better amenities.

I decided to move in with my future in-laws instead.

As hard as it was to let go of our beautiful apartment and a neighborhood we loved, I knew it was best for our long-term goals. We did love Astoria, but realistically I knew we weren't going to live there long-term. I didn’t want to shell out $1 million for a condo and deal with increasingly crowded trains. We also wanted a big wedding, and I refused to go into debt to finance it.

By saving that $2,100 each month instead, I knew we’d have enough for our dream wedding and we could invest more aggressively.

We squeezed into his parent's tiny Inwood apartment and I'm not even gonna front -- it was TOUGH. My commute time doubled, I was sharing one bathroom with 3 other adults, and I missed my space. We made it 9 months before we gave in and went back to renting our own place again.

But keeping our housing expenses low is one of the key ways we've been able to 10x our net worth in just 5 years.

So many people have taken advantage of the new remote work lifestyle of the pandemic to reduce their housing expenses. Has that been you?