Cutting lifestyle is not the answer

The 3-bucket method + lifestyle filter to enjoy now and invest for later

Jun 25, 2025

You want to travel. Try new restaurants. Celebrate birthdays.
But you also want to retire early. Fund your child’s college. Buy that flat.

This isn’t a budgeting issue. It’s a priority clarity issue.

The goal isn’t to cut lifestyle it’s to fund it without killing your financial future.

STEP 1: Apply the “three-bucket life allocation”

Structure your income using post-tax, post-EMI cash flow.

If your lifestyle bucket exceeds 40%, you're not living freely you’re eroding future optionality.

STEP 2: Use the “travel fund, not travel guilt” model

Create a dedicated SIP or RD called “Experience Fund”
→ Auto-debit ₹3,000–₹8,000/month.
→ Let it grow 6–12 months.
→ Use only that pool for travel or gadgets.

Result: You say yes to Goa or Japan without wrecking your retirement plan.

STEP 3: The lifestyle inflation filter

Ask these 3 questions before upgrading any lifestyle element (car, phone, subscription):

Will this bring joy > 6 months from now?
Can we buy this without EMIs or dipping into SIPs?
Is this a status response or a need upgrade?

If answer is NO to 2 or 3 → Wait 90 days. Let the impulse expire before your freedom does.

STEP 4: 3 Types of spending

Don’t eliminate joyful spending. Cap it, fund it, then guilt-proof it.

STEP 5: Travel vs goals

Lifestyle becomes sustainable only when investments are automated first.

STEP 6: The “80:20 freedom framework”

Use 80% of your income to secure.
Use 20% of your income to enjoy.

Never confuse the two.

STEP 7: If You’re Choosing Between Lifestyle and Wealth,

Ask:

Is this helping me feel rich or be rich?
Will I be okay delaying this by 12 months?
Can I match this cost with an equal-sized SIP?

A ₹1L Maldives trip is okay if you're investing ₹1L in your future too.

You don’t have to choose between joy and discipline

Build your wealth. Then budget your wildness.

The idea isn’t to live like a monk today.

It’s to create a life where you never have to ask permission , from anyone, including your own budget.

Know a couple who might benefit from this?

It could be the conversation starter they didn’t know they needed.