My BLR expenses FY 2025-26

[Advik]

Family of two.

Total: ~6.5L (roughly 40‑80k per month). We're not living a fancy lifestyle, but I'm not sure how to cut it down much more. I already feel I can't provide my family with basic comforts without worry. With all the layoffs, I'm uncertain about the future.

Books: ~3k – want to spend more now that I've started reading during travel.
Daily travel: ~13k – shared auto, bus, metro, occasional booked auto, cab, bike.
Travel: ~40k – trip to Mysore with family and spouse's hometown visit.
Wearables: ~12k – basic clothing.
Monthly household items + groceries: ~90k (45k + 45k).
Gas: ~4k.
House items: ~70k – we just moved, so this should drop this year.
Rent, water, maintenance: ~2L for a 1.5BHK.
Electric, Internet, Mobile: ~10k, 10k, 12k – mobile recharge could be trimmed a bit.
House help: ~20k.
Outside food, office food: ~17k (could be cut to ~15k).
Medical (OPD, tests, meds): ~45k.
Term/life insurance: ~20k.
Health insurance (us, mother 64+): ~32k, ~34k.
Devotion: ~5k.
Various celebrations: ~5k.
Memberships: ~1k.
Gifts/unavoidable expenses: ~10k.
Others: ~5k.

These are rough yearly figures. I'd love to hear how others manage. Any tips on where we might be overspending? Anyone earning less than 50‑60k per month with a family? How do you cope? Thankfully we've avoided loans so far.

Edit 1: CC usage here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCardsIndia/comments/1sv1k9x/my_cc_usage_in_202526/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[Saritha]

That's impressive. I used to spend around 50k a month back in 2016‑17, staying in a PG in Bengaluru and eating out three times daily. It's good to see two people managing comfortably on the same amount.

Keep doing what you're doing. The only thing I notice is there's no mention of investments or an emergency fund. Ideally the emergency fund should be twice your annual expenses. Also consider diversifying into mutual funds, gold, PPF, NPS.

[Aryan]

Reading while travelling can strain your eyes.

[Vaishali]

Wow, looking at your numbers makes my monthly spend look like your yearly spend. I really need to sort my finances.