5 Expenses You Can Afford Once You Reach Upper Middle Class To Improve Your Life
Written by
Jake Safane
Edited by
Gary Dudak
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Increasing your income doesn’t just mean having more money to flaunt. When used wisely, money can help improve your life in meaningful ways. To some extent, the way you spend money can improve your life no matter what income band you’re in. But when you reach the upper middle class, there tend to be more options to use money to your advantage.
GOBankingRates defines upper middle class based on commonly used income guidelines, i.e., households in the 60th-80th percentile of income, meaning household incomes ranging from $89,745 to $149,132.
Of course, factors like your family size and where you live affect how much disposable income you have. But in general, being in the upper middle class in terms of income can help you afford things that give you more free time and anticipatory enjoyment.
“As a financial psychologist, I love the idea of improving your well-being through financial behaviors,” said Dr. Dan Pallesen, a licensed clinical psychologist, certified financial planner and private wealth manager at Creative Wealth Planning. “There seem to be two categories of purchases that can improve your life. First, purchases that help buy back time.”
“The second category of purchases that can improve quality of life would be the purchases that increase positive anticipation, ” he continued. “One of the reasons why Christmas morning is so exciting for children is the buildup. The same can be true for the purchases we make as adults,” he explained.
Some examples of purchases that fall into these categories include the following, according to Pallesen.
Grocery Delivery Services
Instead of taking the time to drive to the grocery store, pick everything out and wait in line to check out, you can often save time by using grocery delivery services. These services sometimes mark up the cost of groceries and include delivery fees plus tips for drivers, but that can be worth it if you can save time on grocery shopping.
Cleaning Services
Cleaning your home can be a lot of hard, time-consuming work. But instead of, say, spending a Saturday afternoon mopping your floors, you could hire a cleaning service to do that for you, giving you time back to spend with your family, exercise, dive into your hobbies, etc.
Landscaping
Similar to paying someone to help clean your home, you can hire someone for landscaping services, too. If gardening is something you enjoy, you might want to keep that task for yourself, but you could still pay someone for work like mowing your lawn and trimming trees.
“If you have the financial cushion to delegate to others the tasks that would otherwise consume your day, that can be money well spent,” said Dr. Pallesen.
Vacations
You don’t necessarily need to be in the upper middle class to afford a vacation — a weekend car trip to a nearby beach might be within your budget, for example. But, in general, the more money you have, the easier it can be to afford a vacation that improves your life, not only by taking the trip itself but also by enjoying the anticipation of the trip.
“A component of being upper middle class that people can take advantage of is the ability to put time between a financial decision and action. This principle works well with the types of purchases we know can improve well-being — experiences over material goods,” said Dr. Pallesen.
Concert Tickets
Another example of spending money on experiences that have an anticipatory aspect is buying concert tickets. Here, too, you might be able to find tickets within your budget, even if your income isn’t within the upper middle class range, but it’s generally easier to afford this type of experience as your income goes up.
Especially if you want tickets to a headliner playing in sold-out stadiums, you could easily end up spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars. But if you can afford that, you can enjoy your time looking forward to the concert, as well as the memory of it later on.
Minimizing Lifestyle Inflation
While these purchases can all help improve your life, it’s important to be careful of lifestyle inflation as your income goes up. If you end up spending too much money on these types of purchases, to the point where you’re living paycheck to paycheck and stressed about finances, then you might not get as much enjoyment out of your spending.
“The best way to ward off lifestyle inflation is to identify what social pressures are influencing your day-to-day,” said Dr. Pallesen. “Do you want a new car because your old car is unreliable or because your neighbor has a new car in their driveway? Are you longing for the beach vacation because it will recharge your soul or because you can post pictures of it on social media? When you can differentiate between your own wishes and social pressure, you can begin to align your purchases with your own well-being.”
Lastly, it’s important to be objective about your financial position and try to appreciate your financial progress. Striving to reach the upper middle class — or any other income band — can be good at times, but it can also come at a cost.
“For many in the first world, our focus is on what we do not have. Or our focus is on the rung of the ladder we have not yet reached,” said Dr. Pallesen. “The dark underbelly of ‘ambition’ and ‘drive’ is ‘burnout’ and ‘dissatisfaction.’ A more realistic view of our socioeconomic status may bring about more appreciation of where we truly are and where we have come from. This may be another way to break away from the pressure of lifestyle inflation and make better financial decisions.”
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