A starting plan for ₹30k a month
This uses take-home pay and puts rent at 30%. Got a different rent? Type it in and the rest adjusts: wants shrink first, savings last.
| Category | Per month | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | ₹9,000 | 30% |
| Groceries | ₹3,000 | 10% |
| Bills and phone | ₹1,500 | 5% |
| Transport | ₹1,500 | 5% |
| Eating out | ₹3,600 | 12% |
| Shopping | ₹2,700 | 9% |
| Fun and subscriptions | ₹2,700 | 9% |
| Emergency fund | ₹3,000 | 10% |
| Investments | ₹3,000 | 10% |
Rent: keep it near ₹9,000
The plan above puts rent at ₹9,000, which is 30%. In a metro that’s usually a shared flat or a PG. If your rent is ₹12,000, type it in. Wants drop from ₹9,000 to ₹6,000, and savings stay at ₹6,000. That’s about as far as it stretches.
Living with family? Put 0. The ₹9,000 moves to savings, and you’d put away ₹15,000 a month.
The ₹9,000 for wants
₹3,600 for eating out, ₹2,700 for shopping and ₹2,700 for fun and subscriptions. That’s a meal out most weeks, a few small buys and your OTT plans. Food delivery is the one to watch. Three ₹300 orders a week is ₹3,600 a month, the whole eating out budget.
Saving ₹6,000 a month
₹3,000 to an emergency fund and ₹3,000 to a SIP or a recurring deposit. Essentials on this plan come to ₹15,000 a month: rent, groceries, bills and transport. Three months of that is ₹45,000. At ₹3,000 a month you’ll get there in 15 months. Send the full ₹6,000 there first and it takes 8.
Try your own numbers in the emergency fund calculator.
Plan the costs that don’t come monthly
Health insurance, a trip home for the festivals, a phone that breaks. On ₹30,000, any one of them can wreck a month. The sinking fund calculator turns them into one small amount to put aside each month, so the money’s there when the bill comes.