# Lifestyle Creep

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- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-openaccountant-skills-lifestyle-creep`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [openaccountant](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/openaccountant)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [openaccountant](https://github.com/openaccountant)
- **Source:** https://github.com/openaccountant/skills/tree/main/personal/lifestyle-creep

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-openaccountant-skills-lifestyle-creep
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Lifestyle Creep Detector

## Overview
Compares your spending categories over a 6-12 month period to identify gradual, often unnoticed increases in spending — the classic "lifestyle creep" that erodes savings as income grows. Highlights which categories have drifted upward and by how much.

## Wilson Tools Used
- `spending_summary` — pull category-level spending for multiple months to compare periods

## Workflow
1. Run `spending_summary` for the most recent 3 months to get current average spending by category.
2. Run `spending_summary` for the 3-month period from 6 months ago (e.g., if now is April 2026, pull October-December 2025) to get the baseline.
3. For each category, calculate:
   - Dollar change: current average - baseline average
   - Percentage change: `(current - baseline) / baseline * 100`
4. Flag any category where spending increased by more than 15% AND more than $50/month. These are lifestyle creep candidates.
5. Sort flagged categories by dollar increase descending.
6. Present results:

   ```
   LIFESTYLE CREEP ANALYSIS (6-month comparison)
   ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
   Category         6mo Ago    Now        Change    %
   ──────────────   ────────   ────────   ───────   ────
   Dining Out       $280       $420       +$140     +50%  !!
   Shopping         $350       $480       +$130     +37%  !!
   Groceries        $520       $580       +$60      +12%
   Entertainment    $120       $165       +$45      +38%  !
   Transportation   $200       $195       -$5       -3%
   ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
   Total Creep: +$370/mo  |  Annual Impact: +$4,440/yr
   ```

7. Calculate the total annual impact of all flagged increases.
8. For optional deeper analysis, repeat with a 12-month lookback to separate seasonal patterns from true creep.
9. Suggest a target: "If you returned Dining Out and Shopping to 6-month-ago levels, you would save $3,240/year."

## Without Wilson
1. Export 12 months of transactions from your bank as CSV.
2. Open in Google Sheets. Add a "Month" column using `=TEXT(A2, "YYYY-MM")` where A2 is the transaction date.
3. Create a pivot table: Rows = Category, Columns = Month, Values = SUM of Amount.
4. In a new row below each category, calculate the average of the first 3 months and the last 3 months.
5. Add a "Change" column: `=AVERAGE(last 3 months) - AVERAGE(first 3 months)`.
6. Add a "% Change" column: `=Change / ABS(AVERAGE(first 3 months)) * 100`.
7. Conditional format: highlight any row where Change > $50 AND % Change > 15% in red.
8. Create a line chart for each flagged category to visually confirm the upward trend (select the monthly totals row, Insert > Chart > Line).
9. Common lifestyle creep categories: dining out, coffee shops, clothing, subscription upgrades, grocery store purchases (premium brands replacing store brands), rideshare instead of transit.

## Important Notes
- Not all spending increases are lifestyle creep. Inflation, a new family member, or a necessary expense change are legitimate. Review flagged items in context.
- Seasonal effects can look like creep — holiday spending in Q4, summer travel, back-to-school shopping. The 6-month comparison helps smooth some of this.
- Lifestyle creep is most common after a raise, bonus, or debt payoff. Run this skill within 3 months of any income increase.
- The goal is not to eliminate all increases, but to make them intentional. Spending more on something you value is fine; drifting upward without noticing is the problem.

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [openaccountant](https://github.com/openaccountant)
- **Source:** [openaccountant/skills](https://github.com/openaccountant/skills)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-openaccountant-skills-lifestyle-creep
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/openaccountant
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.