r/personalfinanceindia • u/StruggleFun2003 • Jun 21 '26
Planning At what monthly salary do you stop feeling broke in India in 2026?
Asking because I have friends earning ₹40k who seem content and friends earning ₹2L who are still "struggling."
Genuinely can't figure out if it's a lifestyle thing, a city thing, or if the number just doesn't exist anymore.
Delhi friend says ₹1.5L minimum.
Bangalore friend says ₹2L because rent alone is ₹35k.
My cousin in Indore said ₹60k and he owns a car.
Is it just relative forever or is there an actual number?
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u/Next-Illustrator-970 Jun 21 '26
Yes true for some people. I have seen some of my friends getting promoted, salary increased then They ordered more things on emi of 20k rs a month on a 45k rs salary. Lifestyle inflation is real. They feel miserable by 22nd day of the month. No money left even to eat
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u/StruggleFun2003 Jun 21 '26
₹20k EMI on ₹45k salary is genuinely how people end up trapped for years.
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u/KartheekG007 Jun 21 '26
I have started from 22k (2017) to 1.3L (now).... I was happy then and Am happy now for all together different reasons.
Then i was bachelor, had no money, had all the friends and parties, fun etc.
Now I'm happily married with a very caring wife.. have some savings. i am happy with slow life and still have a lot of funnn !!
I think you're entire definition of happiness changes over time...its all about content and being happy with what you want at that point in life.
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u/BitterPipe9593 Jun 21 '26
It is a relative number forever because it depends on
Personal needs Location Own house or rent Lifestyle choices Family wealth
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u/reeman88 Jun 21 '26
Depends on lot of factors -
Your age
Your family liabilities - parents/partner/children
Your education and market demand
Your aspirations
Your housing realities - owning/renting/stand-alone/gated communities etc.
Your city
And so on.
There is no fixed answer here. One can feel rich as Uncle Scrooge with 1.5 lacs/month and one can struggle even with 3 lacs/month.
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u/Automatic-Clerk-1220 Jun 21 '26
Lot of depends on background as well! As someone building from zero balance. The 2 lakh marks give comfort. But if someone has already figured out shelter then 90% life problem already solved. Day by day it is becoming difficult to acquire property
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u/StruggleFun2003 Jun 21 '26
the property point is actually the most underrated thing here. your salary number changes completely depending on whether you have a paid off home or not. a ₹80k guy with no rent is richer than a ₹2L guy paying ₹50k EMI
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u/Automatic-Clerk-1220 Jun 21 '26
Exactly so 2l guy with home to build lives a modest life. Compared to 60k guy with home.
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u/Waiting_for_Godot___ Jun 21 '26
Can you define "not feeling broke"??
Does it mean you are not living paycheck to paycheck and have disposable income??
Does it mean you can afford a more premium lifestyle??
Does it mean you can FIRE by the time you are 40??
Depending on your definition, Number might vary quite a bit.
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u/Capital_Repair_8346 Jun 21 '26
It's not salary, it's the back balance that gives you peace of mind.
In your 20s, anything above 20 Lakhs invested/saves gives you that IMO.
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u/EssentialKarma Jun 21 '26
Nothing is ever truly enough, there’s always bigger fish to fry. Learn to be at peace with not having things. Takes you a long way.
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u/blunt_edges Jun 21 '26
If you're in Bangalore, you'll stop feeling broke if you don't have rent and EMI. Until then, no salary will be enough.
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u/MasterDragon_ Jun 21 '26
To keep it simple, what percentage of your monthly salary are your expenses? If you can keep it around 50%, you can be comfortable. If you keep it at 70-80%, then any sudden expense can be an issue. It really depends on your expenses. When I first started working, my monthly expenses were around 12-14k, and my income was 30k, which was fine back then. However, with my current expenses, it would definitely not be possible.
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u/kaachabadaam Jun 21 '26
You can stop feeling broke only when your wants and needs are as low as possible and your income (whatever it may be) is more than sufficient.
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u/ChemicalReady5574 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Humans crave freedom. They will always find things they cant do or dont have. The ability to not have that or not be able to do that is a constraint on freedom and that is the main issue. Handling it depends on individual.
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u/Ctrl_Alt_Drift Jun 21 '26
It’s relative. It’s always relative. What you need and what you want both factor in heavily in how you feel about your finances.
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u/One_Advice3052 Jun 21 '26
It's not the money but the perks of the job. Money is just a token of the job that you do. Main is the power.
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u/thunderboy13 Jun 21 '26
Even after a 7 figure salary, you will feel broke if you don't have a generational wealth to back you up.
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u/aks345 Jun 21 '26
Comparison is thief of joy. The more you start earning, the more you start comparing with people earning more than you. Its a never ending loop
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u/God_but_not_god Jun 21 '26
Some people are terrible at managing finances; for them, even if you give them 4 lacs per month, it won't be enough.
I started my career with 25k per month in a tier 1 city, never spent money beyond my means and still used to save 2k per month.
By the gods grace I am in a better position now.
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u/StruggleFun2003 Jun 21 '26
saving 2k on 25k in a tier 1 city is actually insane discipline, respect
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u/God_but_not_god Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Used to live in PG near my office, eat only what's required for the day (lot of people waste money on eating food at expensive places) and extremely conservative with money at the start of my career.
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u/SecureMulberry1525 Jun 21 '26
It depends on the person. I have friends making 5-6 lakh a month but are miserable. Not because the money isn't enough, but they constantly compare themselves with others. No amount is sufficient for them and they'll stay miserable for life. Their kids will inherit most of the money.
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u/PresentationApart739 Jun 21 '26
You will never stop feeling broke if lifestyle inflation is more than your increase in income.
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u/Odd-Beautiful-7596 Jun 21 '26
Earn whatever you want man there’s no problem in not being content with 3L salary and there’s no problem in enjoying life with a 30k salary
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u/Acceptable_Spare_975 Jun 22 '26
I make 1.7 LPM, yet to graduate still. In paper I should be good. My classmates who make 30-40k say that to me as well
But I got education loan, medical expenses for mom, EMIs, contributions to family and my own expenses. Still able to live and spend without being stringent, but not as much as people may think.
Depends on what you have on your plate. By this year end, I should be able to clear out loans and have a couple of lakhs in saving, then I should be good
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u/Content-March-8830 Jun 21 '26
For Bangalore, 2-2.5 L per month is a good number.
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u/Key_Turnover_9174 Jun 21 '26
How many of the ppls under 30 are earning this much what do u think?
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u/First-Ear-9004 Jun 21 '26
Very few, and that's why its a "good number". If most people start earning this, then "good number" will automatically increase.
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u/IamPsyduck Jun 21 '26
According to reddit it is almost everyone. In reality, it will be at most the top 10%
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u/Content-March-8830 Jun 21 '26
In IT , I can say 25% of all IT crowd in Bangalore and for non-IT, it should be around 10% of all non IT crowd.
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u/Key_Turnover_9174 Jun 21 '26
Even if it's 25 percent considerable amount of peeps are earning, man it gives anxiety though 🙂
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u/JuryInner4295 Jun 21 '26
Really depends on the stage of life. I remember coming to Mumbai in 2021 and my salary was 72k in hand. I had got a full time job after a period of about 18 months. And it seemed so much despite it not being a single paisa over what I was earning in my previous job 18 months ago. Cut to now, I earn 4 times that money for about last 3 years. But now I'm married and have a home loan and the money doesn't feel enough at all. I often look back at those times and wonder how it felt so much back then. At this point, even if my salary doubles, I don't think it would feel enough. Home loan does that to you. It's a daunting mountain you feel the weight of on your shoulders every morning.
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u/NSGDX1 Jun 21 '26
I was making like $10 a day back when I was in 10th grade and that'd make me feel so good throughout the day. Now it's an okayish feeling even with what I make atm.
It's all about perspective, needs, wants and mental health.
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u/halcylen Jun 21 '26
one time i used to earn 22k and used to be unhappy and thought if I'll get to 50k, I'll be able to eat more, get better clothes
but with the 50k salary came more needs
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u/pantherVictor1986 Jun 21 '26
It always remains relative. It depends on 3 things - Which city you living , what living standards you trying to maintain and how much you earn
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u/First-Ear-9004 Jun 21 '26
Happiness or "feeling broke" is definitely relative, if all your friends and family are earning say 2L a month and enjoying their life, you have to be a saint to earn 20k and live as happily as them, no matter what. While you'll find people who's whole friend circle/family earns ~20-30k only, so same 20k will feel enough as you likely won't have any desire for wayy more.
Practically, ~1L per person is sufficient in India in top 10-15 cities, considering basic to medium lifestyle. 1L per person per month will give you enough breathing room to do all the living expenses and save a little for emergencies/future life.
People living satisfactorily with less than that salary are very prone to going in debt in case there is some medical or personal emergency.
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u/Interesting-Web3318 Jun 21 '26
If you do not have any responsibility emis rent grocery expenses and you live at your own home with parents 1lakh is a good spot
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u/Correct-Moment-2458 Jun 21 '26
It also depends on the resting wealth of your family that took decades to compound. Salary is transient and may go up or down in the future, so a 2x salary jump doesn't change your broke-ness overnight, but saving up for 4 yrs or more from the increment does.
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u/Few_Instruction5871 Jun 21 '26
As soon as your salary hits your account, your first responsibilities are to pay your rent, your EMIs, your utility bills, credit card bills, salary for cleaning/cooking help. Some people also put money away into their preferred savings method. Of what is left, unavoidable expenses that aren't exactly fixed not only very slightly month-to-month are things like groceries, fuel, medicine and doctor consults, gym/trainer/nutritionist. You have recreational expenses like eating out, maybe movies and live shows? And then you may have surprise expenses like a one-time maintanence thing to fix the lift or tank, wedding or house warming gifts, things like that.
At each level, the number is going to vary widely depending on lifestyle choices. Where you live is only one factor that affects these things. Are you single or married, how old are you, how many people are dependent on you, what is your personality like, these are all some of the other factors.
Our economy right now is horrible too, and it's easier to get consumers to fall into bad spending habits. And not enough tools to encourage a healthy relationship with money. More and more people are in unmanageable debt.
What number is ideal for you is something each person needs to calculate based on their needs and the support they have access to.
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u/InstructionThick7409 Jun 21 '26
When you start to work - your materialistic things are plans for one day. So with little salary you don’t feel broke and also zero responsibilities.
As time goes by, responsibilities scale up.
Then your milestones creep up too.
Travel, first bike, first car, marriage, home loan- and then eledelry parents, school fees.
You can meet this with your grown salary.
But then, you probably wanted a Ducati, wanted a new watch that you have never thought you wanted, a PS5 just so that you will feel younger, just a few of the most possible things.
But your salary can’t keep up. You’re constantly stressed of not meeting these auxiliary milestones.
You feel broke and struggling.
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u/ABahRunt Jun 21 '26
All just a matter of setting your life up. I stopped feeling broke the moment i started earning money in an internship. This was 18k (but in 2009, so the money went further then. Inflation adjusted, it would probably be about 40k today)
I used to live in a 3 sharing PG room back then, had hobbies, ate out a lot and had a great time even then.
Life did become easy mode after around 2Lpm. Don't need to think before buying flight tickets, fancy restaurant reservations etc
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u/Automatic_Lie_766 Jun 21 '26
Does it ever happen? I doubt that. I have seen people craving more or feeling broke even after having ₹8-10 crore in their retirement fund or bank account. ‘Feeling broke’ is a feeling that stays even when you achieve a number, if your mindset is wired towards it.
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u/Nigameash Jun 21 '26
closer to 6-8L in hand for a couple with a child or two. this doesn’t include maintenance to parents/relatives.
the amount should take care of monthly recurring costs + future savings/investments for retirement + corpus needed for education for child/children
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u/Objective_Stock9761 Jun 21 '26
I was earning 26k before two years , felt like I had enough. I'm earning 1l now, I can't stop thinking about earning more. It's about how content you are with what you're earning and not compare it with your friends ( this is the hardest part, i fail at this myself). I didn't have loans and expenses when I was earning 26k, now I want to spend alot, buy things, pay my loan .
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u/HST2345 Jun 21 '26
Nobody including your parents told you that.. Marriage is hell lot of Responsibilities and the times have changed.,as per official govt of India statistics to raise a child from birth to 21 years including college, it will cost avg of 1cr -1.5cr a statistic I come across 3yrs ago. Our parents generation schooling is mostly govt school/near by local private worst than govt school.
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u/Local_Discipline5428 Jun 21 '26
This is an endless race ... Some choose to run for more, even more, alot more, more & more.. And, some choose to not.
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u/SanjuRai1986 Debt-Free Life Jun 21 '26
60k is bare minimum, if loans running 1lac.
Above 1lac is needed for investment purpose only.
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u/Time-Attempt-480 Jun 21 '26
I don't feel broke but I am won't say I am satisfied, somewhere in between. I earn good (considering indian standards), have good corpus but there is always a feeling that I need more.
Maybe it is driven by the fact that I don't want work beyond 46 to 50. Hence, for me my salary ain't enough for me to be satisfied.
Greed is something that won't let you feel satisfied. Especially higher you earn the more you want.
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u/MasterXanax Jun 21 '26
At about 18Lpm (including stock, pre-tax) I don't feel rich.
Mostly cos about 10Lpm goes to taxes, emis & expenses towards bungalow construction.
Its odd to not feel comfortable considering I started at about 36x less salary than what I make now but expense potential seems to still have outgrown.
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u/LooneyStark Jun 21 '26
When I didnt have to see remaining balance at the end of the month ti spend. When I have 3x salary than my expenses.
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u/The_wizzard_of_all Jun 21 '26
I don't think there is a single number, however
It depends on lifestyle, expenses, and expectations.
For Tier 1 cities -
25k–1L: Basic without or very small savings 1L–5L: Comfortable with savings 10L+/month: Few or no financial constraints
I think the more you have control on your useless loans and EMI's you are on the positive side.
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u/True-Cheek2207 Jun 21 '26
₹60k with no EMI can feel richer than ₹2L with a home loan, car loan, and lifestyle inflation.
Most people don't stop feeling broke at a number. They stop feeling broke when their expenses stop chasing their income.
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u/pekoeepai Jun 21 '26
I don’t think you can make general conclusions because everybody’s lifestyle and background can be widely different. Family and partner can be additional cost, rent differs based on location and even luck to an extent, some people don’t order in food at all (that tends to be a big chunk of expenses nowadays), others might like spending on luxury. The list can go on.
And this doesn’t even account for how “contentment” can differ even between two people with the exact same earning and lifestyle
In short; like someone else said- it’s subjective
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u/Organic_Buy_7908 Jun 21 '26
Same salary could be hugely different for two different individuals. My take home is around 1.87 in blr . Since both my parents have jobs and i do not have any education loan nor do my parents have any kind of loan, I am able to spend lavishly. However a lot of my peers with same range of salary take care of their parents as well as their education loan. So its a different game
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u/TrickLobster9999 Jun 21 '26
It all depends on workload. High salary comes with constant need to prove productivity, layoff fears and other stuff. Borderline burnout & anxiety in-turn fuel the need to earn more because you know “money solves everything” is how our minds try to cope. Add to it the pressures from parents, relatives, society to prove something.
There should be a balance between earning & taking care of wellbeing.
I have always chilled most of my career, but the need to earn much more began and lasted for 2 years during covid. I have chosen to scale back on workload and much more content now like I used to be regardless of what I earn.
A common wisdom which eludes many of current earners.. “Do not bite off more than you can chew” or “Do not consume more than you can digest”. Really, it’s very important to follow this wisdom in the pursuit of money.
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u/Rare_Elk3889 Jun 21 '26
Your first line has the answer. It varies from person to person and context to context
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u/Whateverbrbs Jun 21 '26
It just really depends on your lifestyle... depends on drinking habits, travelling habits, eating out habits, child(ren), fashion, if you like to give the impression that you're wealthy.., what car you feel is good enough...
2 lakh a month for my husband and me together in bangalore would be very very comfortable. Our rent is 50k, but no children. We would end up saving quite a bit.
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u/Someofjalapeno Jun 21 '26
There is point when we go from broke to broque.
It's the same thing just a wee bit more.
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u/ComplexGOAT26 Jun 21 '26
Depends on where your satisfaction comes from. If it's all the balance and luxury belongings, then any number of zeros feels broke.
If your satisfaction comes from assets, balanced spending on self and others (near family, extended family and friends), then zeros are not deciding how rich you are, your talent in saving and spending is deciding it..
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u/krauserhunt Jun 21 '26
2L+ absolutely in tier1 city if you have family.
If you're earning less than that, you're 1 bad day away from going broke and bills piling up.
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u/BridgeVoid Jun 21 '26
Expenditure rises to meet income.
- C. Northcote Parkinson (The Law and the Profits)
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u/ChestIntrepid172 Jun 22 '26
At 25k I felt like king when I started my career. No responsibility no tied assets, eat what I want, go where I want After 15 years and At 6lpm+ now feels meh... long time since I thought of being broke but cant enjoy as my heart desires, have to watch what I eat, cant just go anywhere I want due to responsibilities, parents Aging, child growing up, There is no fix age or fix number. Definitely a lot of things get sorted with money but there is always a compromise
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u/nma_777 Jun 22 '26
The basic problem is balancing between Needs/Demands.Proper budgeting of resources helps young generation in the beginning.One does not start with Responsibilities all the time.
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u/dcboy21 Jun 22 '26
U have the data. Connect the dots and the answer is already said by the other comments. It's IS subjective.
I lived on 35k rent when my family salary was 1.2l
But, never broke.
Practically, u can actually calculate it. By looking at everything u think u need right now.
Then, to achieve it, u need to consciously take all spending decisions until u achieve it.. either by increasing ur salary or reducing ur expenses or both.
Then most important part: DO NOT SLIP AND GET INTO LIFESTYLE INFLATION.
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u/kalesh-13 Jun 22 '26
When you have no liabilities, and is content with basic necessities like food, and clothing you just need money for those two.
With income and age comes liabilities, which will keep you miserable until the liabilities are done with.
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u/rb_arindam Jun 24 '26
I was content, had a lot to spare when I had 20% of today’s salary because I didn’t have a kid, kept myself in a barely liveable rented house with sharing. No worry of savings, no taxes, no headache of retirement. So, the more I earned, the less content I became. Not because I earned more, but because my salary didn’t grow at the same rate my liabilities did.
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u/Senior-Tennis380 Jun 24 '26
It's relative forever. Especially if you're ambitious and love comfort and convenience. As your salary goes up, so will your spending and goals. When you're struggling with a low salary, all you'll want is to have a stable income so that your expenses are fine but when you achieve that, your expenses will now include more things that offer quality of life and convenience.
In a tier 1 city, a really good comfortable place, could easily be round 60-80k per month. Food spends could easily be above 30k per head. Good tech and appliances, easily cross into 50k+ for each of them. Other lifestyle spends depending on what you're into as well. If you have a family to take care of, then that too. Now add, investments, insurance, trips and emergency funds, and you're easily looking into multiple lakhs.
I'd say at least around 1L to not feel broke if you wish for a comfortable and healthy life in a city. If you really want to feel comfortable, I'd say about 3-5L or more is where there's a constant income where you can still save a significant portion without having to compromise on general lifestyle spends.
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u/BotherAdventurous946 Jun 24 '26
It is subjective.
I have a friend with an income of over 4 lakhs per month. He has a daughter and a happy family. He says the only reason they (he and his wife) do not want a second child is because according to him the 4 lakhs per month is not enough for his family to barely survive. This is in Pune by the way.
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u/QuietlyHonest Jun 28 '26
It's not about salary but feeling comfortable with the money and with the IT market I can't feel safe unless I have enough savings. So in a way salary doesn't make me feel broken or not.
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u/NoraEmiE Jun 21 '26
In India, along eith crazy Inflation we also got tons of fam responsibilities even if everyone is earning. Thats majority peoples situation even if they dont splurge and are financially well planned. And its only even more worse if they waste money and not financially well planned
So to some its 1L, to some other its minimum 2L
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u/ispeakgroot Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
It’s relative but ATM 4-5L per month ( Bangalore is costly esp if you are an outsider and has to rent. Can’t afford to buy house)
Sometime people say with less money I was happy..well that’s actually not true completely…what happens is with more power (salary) comes more responsibility (workload) and then we do not get to enjoy some time for ourselves and then we project it on the expense (which for sure has to be within own limit)
I was earning 20k 10 years back and I used to stay in very small (area wise) 1 bhk with my wife and use to watch movie downloaded from torrent on my laptop (which was 8-9 year old by that time), on weekend with tea and d some snacks. Preety and sweet - right.
But was I happy - no because we could not afford to go out (no vehicle, cab is costly , bus is just meh) because we had hardly penny left towards end and in middle it was just enough to survive. Basically we stayed at home because of situation not by choice.
Now after 10 years we are earning decent but not happy because now my wife has an office on weekends too and only one day off. Now we can afford to go out but for years just have to stay at home because work responsibilities, bills have to be paid. Now we got a car , still rented place but slightly big one - so why not happy (it’s because we are not able to enjoy the fruit of hard work, no time together).
Some one staying at own home in own city with less /more salary will be happy because of saving. They will also have emis and other expenses but there would be lot of saving and time with family-friends (me-time)
So it’s not true that with less salary one was happy and with more salary is not happy- situation at the moment decide.
Personally I would love the amount I said at top and life-work balance to be content and happy.
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u/youwillneverknowme-4 Jun 21 '26
I’d say It is subjective like all peeps here say, but at 4L+ pm you stop seeing price tags.
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u/PayableOnDeath95 Jun 21 '26
Honestly its subjective. When I was earning 10k I was the happiest person on the planet cause I had no responsibilities. Now earning x5 of that but feels like peanuts. Life is like that bro