A year-old interview with a Bengaluru-based software consultant is currently going viral again, and has sparked a discussion about salaries and savings on X. Last year, Surya spoke to mutual fund consultant Anshuman Sharma about his major expenses and lifestyle inflation, seeking advice on maximising his investments.
He claimed that despite earning ₹45 lakh per annum, he feels broke at the end of the month.
The conversation was shared on YouTube and was recently reposted on X, where it has reignited the debate around how much one should save.
“I don’t have anything left”
During the course of the conversation, Surya told Sharma that he has lived in Bengaluru for the last 14 years and is currently working as a software consultant. His salary is ₹45 lakh per annum, while his take-home pay is ₹2,45,000 per month ( ₹2.45 lakh).
{{/usCountry}}During the course of the conversation, Surya told Sharma that he has lived in Bengaluru for the last 14 years and is currently working as a software consultant. His salary is ₹45 lakh per annum, while his take-home pay is ₹2,45,000 per month ( ₹2.45 lakh).
{{/usCountry}}Despite this very respectable paycheck, Surya struggles to save.
“Right now the challenge that I’m facing is that at the end of the month, I don't know where my money is going. I usually don't have anything left at the end of the month,” he said.
He explained that he lives with his wife and their 3.5-year-old child. “After I got married and we had a child, the expenses caught up and I couldn’t significantly increase my SIPs,” he said.
A breakdown of expenses
Surya elaborated on his expenses, saying the biggest chunk of his salary went to home loan EMIs every month. He pays ₹63,000 as EMI, which mutual fund advisor Anshuman Sharma called a good number as it is less than 30% of his income.
A breakdown of his expenses shows that he also pays ₹11,000 per month as school fee for his son. Food and groceries take up ₹12,000, while miscellaneous expenses eat up another ₹20,000.
On shopping, trips and eating out, Surya spends roughly ₹32,000 per month. This was the part of his expenses breakdown that sparked a conversation online.
Bengaluru techie’s expenses spark debate
India has more of an issue of poor financial planning than inflation💰🇮🇳
“India has more of an issue of poor financial planning than inflatio. Take this guy from Bengaluru who has an in-hand salary of ₹2.45L pm (post tax). He pays ₹11k fee for his only son's nursery fee (+3L admission fee)... He has a home loan EMI of 63k but spends 32k on shopping + trips every month,” wrote an anonymous X account while reposting the clip.
“There's no financial planning issue here. He's still saving 25% of his income. God forbid a man wants to send his kids to good schools and spend some money on fun things for himself,” another X user countered.
“He is taking care of his parents and grand mom, still manages to save 26% of his income, don’t see a problem here. In some way house EMI is a nature of saving,” X user Sahil Mehra agreed.