You earn more now than you did 5 years ago. So why does it feel like you save the same — or less? This calculator compares your savings rate then vs now, shows what % of every raise leaked into expenses, and what your corpus would look like if you'd held the line.
Lifestyle inflation isn't a moral failing — it's the default. Income goes up, the rent goes up to match, the car gets nicer, the holiday gets longer. Five years later, you're earning twice as much and saving the same amount.
The fix isn't spend less. The fix is to save every raise before you see it — auto-debit it to your SIP the day the increment hits, then live on whatever lands in the account. The lifestyle catches up to whatever's left.
