Is More Money Just Leading to More Spending (Lifestyle Creep)?
It’s easy to assume that earning more will solve your financial stress—but what if the real problem isn’t income, but habits? In this episode of Financially Confident Christian, Ralph explores the subtle trap of lifestyle creep, where higher income leads to higher expenses without any lasting progress. If you’ve ever wondered why your raise didn’t translate into more savings, peace, or margin, this conversation will hit home. Ralph breaks down the emotional, spiritual, and practical dynamics behind the pattern of more money more spending.
Check out the full podcast episode here
You’ll hear how to spot lifestyle creep in your own life, how to set firm financial goals before your next raise, and why intentionality matters more than income when it comes to stewardship. Ralph also shares one key mindset shift to help you resist cultural pressure and build a life aligned with your values. If you’ve been earning more but feeling stuck—or if you’re just getting started and want to build healthy habits early—this episode will help you slow the creep and refocus on what truly matters.
Chapters:
- 00:12 - Breaking the Cycle of Spending
- 01:24 - Understanding Lifestyle Creep
- 05:19 - Understanding Lifestyle Creep and Financial Intentionality
- 06:24 - Combating Lifestyle Creep
- 11:36 - Financial Guidance and Next Steps
Takeaways:
- We often think more income equals more wealth, but lifestyle creep begs to differ.
- Lifestyle creep is that sneaky little devil making our spending rise with income increases.
- The key to fighting lifestyle creep is being intentional with every single dollar we earn.
- Contentment is crucial; we need to focus on what truly matters, not just more stuff.
- If you're not careful, your extra cash might vanish into thin air thanks to lifestyle creep.
- Plan ahead for any income increases to ensure you're building wealth instead of just spending.
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00:00 - Untitled
00:12 - Breaking the Cycle of Spending
01:24 - Understanding Lifestyle Creep
05:19 - Understanding Lifestyle Creep and Financial Intentionality
06:24 - Combating Lifestyle Creep
11:36 - Financial Guidance and Next Steps
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You got a raise or maybe your business is booming and that's awesome, but then
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a few months later you look around and you realize you don't feel any wealthier.
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Where did that newfound money even go?
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What if I asked you if earning more money is just leading to more spending
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and secretly stealing your progress?
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Well stick with me today 'cause we're getting into it exactly how
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to stop that cycle on today's show.
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Hey there.
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Welcome back to your Daily, financially Confident Christian.
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I'm Ralph and it's generally great to be with you again today.
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This is the show that helps you answer that question, how can I become a
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financially confident Christian?
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And we're continuing our series today dealing with that stress of money worries.
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And we all know what that stress can feel like when we're always focused on money.
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Now, yesterday we tackled the unique challenge of managing when you have
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unpredictable income and how to bring some stability to those, what
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I called feast or famine cycles.
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I'm gonna encourage you to go check it out if you missed it.
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Today we're gonna talk about a phenomenon that affects almost everyone.
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And that doesn't matter what your income level is, it's regardless of your income
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level, especially as your income grows and it's what I call lifestyle creep.
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And it's not a creep that you wanna be around.
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So let's ask today, is more money just leading to more spending that's lifestyle
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creep, and is it happening in my life?
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Maybe you've experienced this firsthand, you get a better job, or maybe you
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get a raise or perhaps your business starts to really make more money.
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You feel this immediate sense of relief even you might feel a little flushed.
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Uh, we talked about that feeling yesterday on the show.
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When you have, you have one of those great months perhaps, but then slowly and
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sometimes without you even noticing it.
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Your expenses just start to increase ever so slightly, and they tend to do that
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right along with your income for you.
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Maybe you upgrade your car or maybe like me, you eat out a little more
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often, or maybe you decide I'm gonna subscribe to a new service.
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Or maybe you think about that slightly pricier vacation.
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And when you look at it overall individually, these
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changes might seem small.
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They're just this, and this little piece here and this little piece there.
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But when you add them all up, they do add up to something bigger.
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And the struggle is that realization that despite earning significantly
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more, you know you got that raise.
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You had a good month here, your business is booming and
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it's more than you're used to.
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But here's the problem.
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You are not saving anymore.
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You're not paying off debt any faster.
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And the big takeaway from today is you don't feel any more financially secure.
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All that extra income is just being consumed by an inflated lifestyle and
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that lack of progress, that feeling of being on a financial treadmill, and
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even if that treadmill is going at a higher speed, trust me, I've been there.
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It's incredibly frustrating and it is incredibly stressful.
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But here's the thing I want you to understand.
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Today, you're missing out on the opportunity to build
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real wealth and freedom.
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Here's the thing.
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You gotta understand Lifestyle creep sneaks in and it happens passively.
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It's what happens when you don't actively decide where that
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increased income is gonna go.
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You don't have a plan for it, so it just gets absorbed by that increased spending.
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Now I'm gonna be very candid with you.
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Oftentimes I think it's driven by societal pressure and comparing ourselves to
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others and comparing ourselves to those people we see on social media or the,
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or those neighbors that we see that, oh, they've got the new car, or, Hey, you
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just got back from a beautiful vacation.
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In a lot of cases, it's simply a lack of intentionality.
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I talk about that on this show all the time.
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Many times, our financial mis cumings, for lack of a better term, are
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just a lack of intentionality, and the Bible speaks directly to this.
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It offers what I'll call a counter-cultural wisdom.
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Let's look at the book of Hebrews chapter 13, verse five,
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and it speaks directly to this.
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It says, keep your lives free from the love of money.
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Be content.
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I love that word because that's the thing we need to focus on and
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be content with what you have.
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And then we look at Luke chapter 12, verse 15, and it warns us this.
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And it starts out with a very bold warning.
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It says, watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed.
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And then it ends with this purely beautiful scripture that
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we all could apply to our life.
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Life does not consist in abundance of possessions.
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I'll tell you what, I could hear that today, and I need to learn that myself.
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Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.
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I think we've all bought into this lifestyle creep, this culture that,
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that, that we think that if we get more stuff, we have this abundance of
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possessions that that's truly life.
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And see, combating lifestyle creep requires intentionality.
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It's something you gotta be intentional with and it's
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actively choosing contentment.
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We talked about that in that first Bible verse, the love of money
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and be content with what you have.
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See, we've gotta actively choose contentment over that
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constant, state of upgrading.
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And in the end, this is a hugely wise act of stewardship.
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And it's our decision to direct our resources to what truly matters.
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And that's the, that's the big takeaway from today.
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What truly matters, your financial goals, your giving, and that future security,
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rather than just letting it be eaten by unconscious spending, increases
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driven by a desire and, and I hate to say this, a desire for just more stuff.
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And in the end, it's really aligning your spending with your
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values and with God's priorities.
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not just allowing your lifestyle to expand to fill in that new income.
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So now you're probably asking Ralph, great, what can we do?
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How do we stop this lifestyle creep from robbing us of our financial
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progress and our financial peace?
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And I've got a solution today.
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It comes down to intentionality and being proactive.
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You gotta decide exactly where any increase in income is going
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to go, and then allocate that to specific financial goals before
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you get used to spending the money.
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In the end, it means that you become the boss of your money, especially new money,
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and you're telling it where to work for you instead of just letting it disappear
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into that abyss of increased spending.
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So here's your one vital action step for day, and this is specifically laser
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focused on combating that lifestyle creep.
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I want you to start by identifying any recent or expected income increases.
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Think about raises that you've gotten, or maybe you've got a bonus coming up,
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or you've got a big raise coming up, or maybe your business is growing and and
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you're seeing it, you're gonna have some.
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Additional income.
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So be prepared for that, be understanding of that.
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Then I want you to decide where it's gonna go.
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I want, this is a step of being proactive.
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Before that extra money even hits your, your checking account, or, or
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as soon as it does, you gotta decide exactly what percentage or what
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amount's gonna go towards those specific financial goals that you've created.
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Maybe this is based on your overall financial plan.
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Maybe you want to think about accelerating that debt payoff,
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or maybe you need to really work on growing that emergency fund.
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Maybe you've got that, what we call that starter, that baby emergency
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fund, but, but this is a great opportunity to really expand it.
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Maybe this is a great opportunity to expand your savings goals.
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Or, here's one, how about increasing your giving, but you've gotta make a
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concrete plan for that extra income.
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Now, you might be saying to me, Ralph, hey, guess what?
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Spending has already crept up for me.
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And if you've already had that income increase, but you feel like your spending
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has just inflated over time, one of the things that you can do to stop
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it right now is go back and look at your tracking data and identify maybe
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one, two, or three areas where you've seen those expenses subtly increase.
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And maybe it did it without you making this conscious decision
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just kind of happen over time.
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Now, some of that's inflation, but some of it's just, you know, I allowed
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that lifestyle creep to happen.
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I'm gonna encourage you to reduce your budget, reduce your spending
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in those areas, and reallocate back to those goals that you've set.
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And then last but not least, just plan ahead.
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I want you to make a commitment that for any future increases income,
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that you'll have a plan for that money before you even receive it.
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For example, maybe you say, Hey, 80% of any raise goes to debt payoff, and
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then yes, I'll blow 20% of it for fun.
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But you're being intentional with that from day one and see this
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single action, it directly fights that struggle of earning more but
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not feeling financially ahead.
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I hear that from so many people, and it ensures that increased income actually
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translates into accelerated progress towards your debt freedom or your savings
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goals, or your overall financial piece.
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I love this part.
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It really replaces that passive spending with intentional allocation, where
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you're aligning your money with your deepest values and your priorities,
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and truly being a wise steward.
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Let's pray together now.
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Father God, thank you for the income and the resources that you provide.
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We confess that as our income increases, we often fall prey to
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that 'lifestyle creep.' We allow our spending to rise unconsciously.
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So we ask that you would grant us wisdom, Lord, and and mostly grant us self-control
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to recognize this pattern and to resist that pattern and help us to be intentional
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stewards of every dollar, especially when we see increases that you've
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given us, Lord, directing it towards your purposes and our financial goals.
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We ask that you would cultivate in us a spirit of contentment and protect
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us from that love of money that you so eloquently warn us against, and that
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pressure to constantly consume more.
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Lord, guide us in using our resources for lasting peace and lasting impact.
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And we ask this in confidence.
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In Jesus' name, Amen.
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Listen.
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Be intentional with every dollar that you earn.
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Don't let that lifestyle creep.
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Steal your progress towards that financial freedom and that financial
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piece that you're working so hard to get to make a plan for any
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increased income before you spend it.
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You're choosing progress overpass consumption.
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If identifying and fighting lifestyle creep feels like a challenge that
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you need to address, maybe you know somebody else that does as well.
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And I'm gonna encourage you to share this episode with them 'cause it may help them.
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You can find resources and connect with the show at our website that's at
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financially confident christian.com.
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And while you're there, I've got a special gift for you on the journey.
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For the first 100 listeners who go to financially confident
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christian.com/master, I'm gonna give you a free copy of my book.
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It's called Mastering Your Finances.
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Now, this is a quick, powerful read, designed as a starting point to help
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you break that cycle of financial shame and step into confidence.
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Again, go to financially confident christian.com/master
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and get your free copy today.
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Now, tomorrow we're gonna be talking about one of the biggest financial
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decisions that many people face.
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That's deciding if a home is the right financial move for you
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and how to assess affordability.
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That's a episode you don't want to miss.
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So make sure you join me and let's all go out there and be financially confident.
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Christians, you can do this.
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I have confidence in you.
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Have confidence in yourself.
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Stay financially savvy.
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God bless you, and you have a great day today.
