Mel Abraham#1 Best Selling Author, Money Mentor

One Simple Way to Make Every Raise Count

18 Oct 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:51

In this short talk, Mel Abraham warns against lifestyle inflation—the tendency to let expenses rise in lockstep with income, which creates a financial treadmill where higher earnings don’t improve net wealth. He proposes a practical allocation method for any raise or windfall: divide the extra money into three "slices" for enjoyment, taxes/living expenses, and the remainder for long‑term financial security. The portion earmarked for the future is invested using his "leapfrog funding" approach, which prioritizes accelerated savings to build wealth faster. Abraham emphasizes that celebrating increased income is fine, but disciplined slicing ensures each raise truly advances financial freedom rather than just funding a bigger lifestyle.

Chapters

And you earned it, right? I get it. You worked hard. You deserve the nicer things. I get it. And maybe you do. But when your lifestyle rises to meet every single dollar of income, then you've just built a treadmill instead of a machine. The faster you run, the more you have to run just to stay in place. You could double your income again and end up in the exact same stressed position because the lifestyle would simply rise to swallow that up too. Now, I'm not saying not to celebrate. I'm not saying not to enjoy it. I want you to enjoy it. Here's what I tell people to do. I want you to take a slice of that windfall, a slice of that income, and set it aside for your enjoyment. Take another slice, maybe you have to set it aside for taxes, 'cause we wanna make sure that it's taken care of, and you might have to take a slice to put aside for additional expenses or your living. Anything beyond that should be put towards your financial future. I call it leapfrog funding.