Gurugram man says he needs Rs 7.5 lakh a month ‘just to breathe’, the Internet reacts: ‘Mumbai is better’

“Here’s what you really signed up for: ₹2.08 lakh EMI for a ₹3 crore house. ₹12,000 per month maintenance for the fountain. ₹60,000 car EMI—because you can’t roll up in a Swift. ₹65,000 per month for IB school for kids. ₹30,000 per month for ‘foreign trip proof-of-life’. ₹30,000 monthly for domestic staff—cook, maid, driver. ₹20,000 for club nights and dinners you don’t even enjoy. ₹12,000 for grooming and dressing ‘DLF Phase 5 ready’. ₹10,000-plus on random purchases. ₹15,000 for birthday gifts and wedding envelopes—a ‘fake smiles tax’,” he wrote.

The expenses add up to a staggering Rs 5 lakh per month, and Vaibhav further breaks it down what that means in pre-tax income terms. “Now factor in income tax at 30 percent. To spend ₹5 lakh a month, you need to earn ₹7.5 lakh (₹90 lakh/year pre-tax). We had neither done savings nor bought insurance. And I haven’t even eaten yet.”

Concluding the post, he wrote, “That’s not top one percent income—that’s top 0.1 percent burn rate.”

See the post here:

The post quickly gained traction, prompting several social media users to compare Gurugram with Mumbai and Bengaluru. “Mumbai still better,” a user wrote. “FP&A bloke alert, lots of lavish spending found,” another user commented.

“Over a decade ago I was in DLF Phase 2 near JMD arcade and then moved to Phase-5 near Amex. Things weren’t tht expensive back then,” a third user noted.