A post by an IIT alumnus recently stopped thousands of people mid-scroll. He had shared a detailed breakdown of his monthly expenses in Pune, rent, groceries, gym, subscriptions, eating out, all adding up to ₹73,000 a month. Just to live alone. The post ignited a furious debate across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Reddit. Some called it reasonable. Many called it tone-deaf. But buried under all the arguments was a quieter, more uncomfortable question that very few people said out loud:
If ₹73,000 a month feels tight to someone with an IIT degree and a high-paying job, what does that mean for everyone else?
Before the comment sections decided he was either a victim or out of touch, let us zoom out.
Pune is now one of India's fastest-growing tech cities. Rents in areas like Kharadi, Viman Nagar, and Baner have jumped anywhere between 20% and 35% in the last three years. A decent 1BHK in a good locality easily costs ₹20,000–₹28,000 a month. Add food, transport, utilities, health insurance, and the occasional birthday dinner and ₹40,000 is gone before you've bought a single luxury.
For a software engineer earning ₹1.2 lakh a month, that is uncomfortable. For a teacher, a nurse, a mid-level accountant, or a call centre employee earning ₹30,000–₹45,000 in the same city, it is a crisis hiding in plain sight.
Let's be honest about who actually lives in Pune and in every other Indian metro.
For every IIT alumnus tracking his Zomato bill, there are hundreds of thousands of people in the same city who are doing completely different math. Here is what that looks like in real life:
Ravi is a 27-year-old graphic designer in Pune. He earns ₹32,000 a month a decent salary by national standards, and one that felt exciting when he first moved from Nagpur three years ago.
His rent: ₹12,000 for a shared 2BHK in Hadapsar. His share of groceries and cooking gas: ₹5,000. Internet and phone: ₹1,200. Commute on his two-wheeler: ₹3,000 in fuel. Electricity: ₹1,500. That is ₹22,700 before he has eaten a single meal outside, bought new clothes, seen a doctor, or sent money home to his parents.
He has ₹9,300 left for the rest of his life that month.
No emergency fund. No savings. No margin.
That moment when the numbers simply do not add up, is where financial anxiety begins. Not dramatically. Not all at once. It creeps in as a low hum in the background of daily life.
It is the 2 a.m. thought of: what if my bike breaks down this month?
It is skipping a friend's birthday dinner and saying you're "busy."
It is the knot in your stomach when your phone buzzes and you think it might be a bill.
Why Money Still Feels Less, No Matter How Much Is Earned
Even when income grows, the feeling of “enough” often doesn’t follow.
Life improves step by step, a better flat, more food orders, small comforts. At first, it feels like progress. Then it quietly becomes normal. Expenses rise with income, and the sense of stability never quite arrives. On paper, things look better. In reality, it can still feel tight.
Add social media, office chats, and constant comparisons. Someone is always travelling, upgrading, or spending more. Slowly, habits change without much thought, ordering in more, spending more on weekends, keeping up just to fit in.
For many, it’s not just about money. It’s the feeling of always being slightly behind, no matter how much is coming in.
This is where the IIT alumnus's post and Ravi's reality meet on the same ground because financial worry does not care how much you earn.
Whether you are worried about your lifestyle spending not leaving enough savings, or whether you are worried about making rent the brain processes both as threat. Sleep suffers. Concentration drops. Small decisions feel heavier than they should.
A study on Indian farmers in Tamil Nadu found that financial stress physically reduced cognitive performance the same person scored measurably lower on reasoning tests during financially tight months than comfortable ones. It is not a personality flaw. It is neuroscience. Financial anxiety literally narrows the bandwidth available for clear thinking.
This is why someone who is struggling with money sometimes makes choices that look irrational from the outside, skipping a doctor's visit to save ₹500, or taking a short-term loan at high interest just to breathe for a few weeks. The stressed brain is not thinking long-term. It is surviving.
The most dangerous part of financial anxiety in Indian cities is how thoroughly it is hidden. We do not talk about money. We share salary hike posts but not savings panic. We post food photos but not the fact that we ate Maggi for four days before payday.
A 2025 survey of over 10,000 Indians by Manoshala found that men in urban cities consistently cited financial pressure as a primary driver of anxiety, yet almost none of them had spoken to anyone about it. Not a friend. Not a partner. Certainly not a professional.
The silence makes it worse.
Let us skip the "make a budget" and "cut your subscriptions" tips. Those are written for people whose problem is discipline, not income.
You are not bad with money. The city is expensive relative to what most salaries actually pay. That is a structural problem, not a personal failure.
One emergency fund goal at a time. Financial therapists recommend focusing on one small target, ₹5,000 saved rather than the overwhelming full picture. Progress matters more than perfection.
Talking to someone helps. Not necessarily a financial advisor. A trusted friend, a free counsellor or even an online community of people in the same situation. Financial stress carried in silence becomes anxiety. Spoken out loud, it becomes a problem and problems can be solved.
Name the treadmill. Recognizing that lifestyle inflation is a cycle not a destination is the first step off it.
Measure your "freedom ratio." What percentage of your income is actually available after fixed costs? If it is less than 20%, you are one bad month away from stress regardless of your CTC.
The upgrade can wait. Research consistently shows that experiences a trip, time with people you like, rest, create more lasting wellbeing than the next purchase. The gym membership you use is worth it. The one you feel guilty about every month is not.
The IIT alumnus who posted his ₹73,000 breakdown probably did not expect to start a national conversation. But he did because tens of millions of people in Indian cities are quietly doing their own impossible math every month, and no one is talking about it.
Some of them earn ₹73,000. Many earn ₹30,000. Some earn ₹18,000.
They are all living in the same city, looking at the same rent notices, buying from the same supermarkets, sitting in the same traffic.
The anxiety is not about the amount. It is about the feeling that no matter what you do, the numbers never quite work and that somehow, that is your fault.
It is not.
Feeling suicidal or in crisis? Contact a helpline or emergency service immediately.
1. Vandrevala Foundation Helpline:
+91 9999666555 (24x7)
2. Sanjivini (Delhi-based):
011-40769002 (10 am - 5:30 pm)
3. Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based):
044-24640050 (8 am - 10 pm)
4. National Mental Health Helpline: 1800-599-0019
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