THE SPENDING SPIRAL

How small lifestyle upgrades quietly ruin big financial goals

- Viral Bhatt

A financial mistake rarely looks like a mistake when it's happening. But in today's India — where aspirations rise faster than salaries and where happiness is often measured in lifestyle — the real danger to wealth is not luxury purchases, but tiny, frequent lifestyle upgrades that snowball over time.

Earn more, save less

Over the last decade, salaries have grown, opportunities have expanded, and access to lifestyle consumption has exploded.

What hasn't grown? Savings.

According to RBI data, India's household financial savings have dropped to a 47-year low. Not because people are irresponsible — but because life is subtly getting more expensive through micro-spending habits.

Lifestyle inflation today isn't loud. It's quiet, recurring, monthly, digital, and invisible.

That small upgrade

It usually begins innocently:

• "I deserve a better phone." • "Let's upgrade to a premium OTT plan." • "This café coffee is only ₹180 — what's the harm?

• "Let's use Uber instead of auto — convenience matters."

• "One weekend dinner won't affect anything." Individually, these choices are harmless.

Collectively, they become a pattern — a new baseline of lifestyle. Your mind adjusts. Your budget does not.

Real-life example: Take an average professional in their 30s. Daily lifestyle upgrades: