A 22-year-old software professional from Bengaluru has sparked a conversation online by laying bare the financial pressure young professionals face in India’s so-called Tier 1 cities. In a Reddit post that’s striking a chord with working millennials, the first-year IT employee argues that a post-tax income of ₹4–5 lakh per month is the bare minimum to sustain a “normal” lifestyle in cities like Bengaluru—without luxury, but with basic comfort, stability, and future planning.
The post opens on a note of anxiety. “I’m earning okayish right now but the future scares me,” he admits, before diving into a sharp expense breakdown—one that many in their 20s and 30s are silently calculating.
His estimated monthly expenses paint a stark picture:
- Rent near tech parks: ₹60,000 for a “half-decent apartment”
- Electricity + maintenance: ₹11,000
- Internet, mobile bills, subscriptions: ₹5,000
- Car EMI, fuel, taxes: ₹30,000
- Groceries, supplies, house help: ₹20,000
- School fees for two children: ₹20,000
That adds up to ₹1.5 lakh monthly—excluding holidays, gadgets, or other one-time expenses.
Then comes the long game: ₹1.5 lakh per month set aside for investments and long-term goals like retirement and children’s education. Combined, the essential cost of just sustaining a modest urban life climbs to ₹3 lakh a month—before factoring in leisure or emergencies.
“I’m not into flashy stuff,” the user clarifies. “But even without that, the cost of living seems too high.”
Just a year into his job, the techie says the reality of urban expenses hit hard. For anyone who wants children, a home near work, a decent car, and enough saved for the future—₹4–5 lakh per month, after tax, starts to look less like luxury and more like survival.
“It just seems impossible to lead a good life without it,” he writes, inviting others in the 30–35 age bracket to weigh in on whether his expectations are exaggerated—or simply realistic in today’s India.
The post taps into a larger anxiety around middle-class stagnation, rising urban costs, and what it now takes to simply feel financially safe in modern India. Because as he puts it: “You have to make it to the top brackets of IT to live such a life.