A man sparked a discussion online after explaining why a household earning ₹3 lakh a month can still feel financially stretched despite having a seemingly comfortable income.
Taking to Instagram, Dr Sunny Garg, co-founder of brihas.ai, gave an example of a husband and wife who each earn ₹1.5 lakh a month, taking their combined monthly income to ₹3 lakh. While the figure may appear financially comfortable on paper, he explained how rising expenses and lifestyle commitments can quickly make the income feel insufficient.
Garg pointed to expenses such as ₹60,000-70,000 in home EMI or rent, ₹25,000-30,000 in school fees, transport, car EMIs, parents, SIPs, weekend outings and subscriptions. He said that as these expenses accumulate, the income can begin to feel like it is simply keeping an expensive lifestyle running.
Garg said the bigger issue is not necessarily the expenses themselves, but how financial commitments gradually become dependent on two incomes. "House decide kiya because do income hai. School choose kiya because do income hai. Car upgrade ki because do income hai. Lifestyle build ki because do income hai," he said.
"And suddenly you realise, ₹3 lakh kamane wala household bhi financially free zaroori nahi hai," he added.
According to Garg, a better measure of financial freedom is not simply how much a household earns, but how long it can comfortably sustain its lifestyle if one income suddenly stops. "Maybe wealth is not just about increasing what comes in. It is also about building a life that doesn't collapse the moment you stop running," he concluded.
{{/usCountry}}According to Garg, a better measure of financial freedom is not simply how much a household earns, but how long it can comfortably sustain its lifestyle if one income suddenly stops. "Maybe wealth is not just about increasing what comes in. It is also about building a life that doesn't collapse the moment you stop running," he concluded.
{{/usCountry}}" ₹3 lakh/month can look wealthy on paper and still feel surprisingly tight in real life. Because as income grows, often the life built around that income grows too," Garg wrote in the caption of the post.
"Maybe the real measure of financial freedom isn't just how much you earn-but how much flexibility your life gives you when one income pauses," he added.
Social media reactions
The video prompted several users to share their own views on lifestyle inflation, EMIs and financial planning.
One user wrote, "This is so true."
"Exactly my Brother in law and sister in law earn more than 2.lakh pm in govt teacher profession but they always cry at month end due to EMIs burden," commented another.
"People be buying flats , car ,etc doing SIP and then say that they are not feeling rich. One should know the difference between capital expenditure and revenue expenditure," commented a third user.