<prompt> Human: A couple weeks ago I wrote this rant slash advice piece related to the importance of recognizing and planning in advance for lifestyle creep.And I received quite a few commentsPMs along the lines of Why dont you just make more money?So I thought Id take a few minutes to explain why this isnt always an intelligent cure-all for overcoming lifestyle creep.For the Sake of Argument, Lets Presume Increasing Income is Always an OptionWhile its clearly not realistic for many people to simply change gears and earn more money - lets presume for a moment that it is.Lets presume that retraining, asking for a promotion, working extra shifts, starting a side gig, getting a 2nd job or any of the other possible strategies for making more money are readily available across the board.Lets presume that earning more money is actually as simple as deciding to do so.And lets double down on this presumption by assuming that you want to choose an action from this list to make this bump in pay happen.Once You Pop You Cant StopJust like a can of Pringles, once its open the Pandoras Box of must earn more is difficult to close.If your solution to lifestyle creep is always to make more money - youre shoving yourself into a hamster wheel where you perpetually need to repeat the process to make up for additional creep.Its the Never Ending Story but without a big, fluffy Falkor.But its Not Just the Stress of Perpetually Needing to Earn More Money thats a ProblemIm not saying that theres anything wrong with aspiring to reach a high level of earnings. Everyone wants to make more money. Everyone.But its important to realize that earning more while simultaneously spending more will eventually trap you into a scenario where earning less is no longer an option.While my own personal life philosophy very much comes into play here - having the option to earn less and still enjoy a satisfactory quality of life is one of the greatest things money can buy.Whether its working fewer hours or taking more vacation weeks or taking a job thats lower stress or changing careers into something you truly enjoy, there are a myriad of reasons why having the option to earn less is amazeballs.And youll never have the option to earn less if you dont grab lifestyle creep by the balls no political pun intended.A Personal AnecdoteMany years ago when I still lived in the US and was working at Safeway, I was out golfing one day with my manager.To paraphrase, he said Managing a supermarket fucking sucks and I hate it. Get out of this business while you can.So I asked him, Why dont you quit and do something else?In short he explained that it was too late. He was used to earning 6-figures and had a mortgage and car payments and lifestyle to match - that it simply wasnt feasible to suddenly earn 30 less just so that he could experience greater worklife balance.Needless to say, his story struck a chord.It really did.Theres nothing wrong with aspiring for success. Theres nothing wrong with climbing the ladder. Theres nothing wrong with earning a lot of money and spending a lot of money.But its a dangerous tightrope to walk - and the more you keep lifestyle creep within the bounds of reasonable the shorter the fall between the rope and the ground.And all of this completely ignores the fact that counting on high earnings to pay for your fancy lifestyle could turn around and bite you in the ass if you lose said lucrative position and are unable to procure another one.  <response>: Very good advice! I think the most important thing is to be especially careful with long-term financial commitments. While it might be painful to cut back on buying expensive consumer goods or dining out at fancy restaurants several times a week, its still easily doable. On the other hand, getting out of a huge mortgage or underwater car loan if your financial circumstances change can be extremely difficult. Id suggest living well under your means in all aspects of your life, of course, but splurging on a nice vacation or a fancy TV every now and again is better than going out and upgrading to the biggest house that your bank will give you a mortgage for. Personally, I always tried to live well within my means; kept the same house, same car, and same lifestyle even after getting a new job with a 60 bump in salary. That allowed me to build my retirement and savings quite a bit, and when an opportunity arose to do something Id been wanting to do for years live and work in Ireland, I was able to take advantage of it even though it meant taking a 20 pay cut. 