There is a common phenomenon in the world of personal finance called lifestyle creep. It describes our tendency to buy bigger, better, and nicer things as our income rises. What if we adapted this concept to the rest of our lives in a beneficial way? This post originally appeared onJames Clears blog. What was once out of reach will become your new normal. Yet, lifestyle creep describes a very reliable way that human behavior changes over the long-term....

Hosting a great party on a budgetis easy if you do a little planning. Make fruit skewers for the types of hard liquor that your guests enjoy most. Soak the fruit in the liquor for at least one hour before serving. Boozy Fruit Skewers| Food internet (YouTube)

Mail Pilots main focus is turning your email into tasks.

Youve Been Making French Toast All Wrong (Heres How to Do It Right)| Real Simple

This may seem like a lot, but remember the weight that even one negative comment can carry. When you are with negative people, be on the offensive. Understand that even if they dont say discouraging things, their negative mindset may rub off on you. Dont go looking for confirmation and inspiration. Then find a support connection that can inspire you. Of course, this doesnt mean that you should assume your fans are always right....

Distractions are everywhere, and they can really slow you down. If you find yourself lagging through something because youre distracted, try talking yourself through the process out loud. In astudy published in the Quarterly Journal for Experimental Psychology, researchers split subjects into two groups. Half were asked to look at pictures of various objects and find the banana. Researchers reported that the group who talked out loud found the banana slightly faster....

Sunglasses are an essential summer item, but theres still a right time and place for them. This matrix graphic shows the proper etiquette for wearing and stashing your sunglasses in all types of situations. you could check out the complete matrix below. The Always/Sometimes/Never Sunglass Matrix| The Art of Manliness

Why not put a little color in your home screen. This design comes with bright, vividly colored home screens, separated into four different sections.

If youre shopping for a home, you want to know your market. In some areas, home prices grow faster than the rest of the local economy. When this happens, housing becomes overvalued in that area. Forbes put together a list of the most overvalued and undervalued markets in the States. To rank these markets, Forbes looked at 50 of the countrys most populated metro areas. They then compared the areas economic growth to the appreciation of homes in the area....

Saving money is a hard goal to achieve if you dont have a specific motivation behind it. If youre having trouble finding the motivation to set aside money from your paycheck, try the Cancun Technique. If you dont want something, youll create excuses. Yes, in the perfect world youre going to have an emergency fund. In real life, you need something to get you excited. Of course, some goals may be easier to create than others....

You dont need a high-end lighting setup to take well-lit photos. Use your tablet or smartphone to do some light painting for your shots. Digital Photography School explains how to create the kind of shot above. How to Use Your Tablet or Smartphone as a Light Source for Photography| Digital Photography School

Heres what causes the stench, and few simple tips on how to avoid it in the future. Playing guitar is a workout for your fingers. Workouts usually mean sweat, and sweat buildup means odor. Fortunately, there are some simple ways to avoid the smell and take care of your guitar. Wipe the strings down with a cloth or old t-shirt before and after playing. Clean the fret board and strings with specialty cleaning products....

Sellers of vitamin supplements are fond of saying that everybody is deficient in Vitamin D, and this meansyou. Turns out its not that simple. Vitamin D can come from your diet, or your skin can make it withenough exposure to sunshine. So screening for Vitamin D deficiency sounds like it might be a good idea. Dr. Owens said the committee found a number of potential problems with screening. Vitamin D Screening Not Backed by Expert Panel| New York Times...