A Bengaluru-based woman recently opened up about her monthly living expenses, offering a transparent snapshot of what it costs to live alone in the city. On Instagram, Shradha Saini shared a video detailing her monthly budget after moving to Bengaluru, captioning it with a humorous note: “Somebody manage my finances. Nai ho raha merese.”
In the video, she breaks down her core living costs. Basic necessities such as rent, utilities, upkeep, cleaning services, and groceries come to about ₹40,000 per month. She also explains her daily commute: spending roughly ₹50 each morning on an auto to reach work, with a walking return journey in the evenings, totaling about ₹1,000 monthly.
weekends, she turns to rideshare or taxi services for outings, shopping, and social meetups, which adds about ₹5,000 to her monthly spend.
Food and dining form a sizeable portion of the budget. Saini notes around ₹6,000 monthly on dining out or ordering via platforms like Zomato. She also has recurring automatic payments for services like iCloud and Apple Music, totaling around ₹2,000 each month.
Beyond these essentials, she reveals a higher discretionary expense, spending roughly ₹25,000 monthly on shopping—clothes, cosmetics, footwear, and other personal items. Additionally, she carries an EMI of about ₹18,000 every month.
All told, her monthly outgo is around ₹1 lakh. She admits that because she’s still settling into Bengaluru, her budget hasn’t quite stabilized and saving hasn’t come easily yet. “For now, I’m not saving much,” she says, acknowledging the challenges of adjusting to the city’s cost of living.
Reactions on social media have been mixed. Some viewers related to her spending and shared similar monthly budgets, while others questioned whether all these expenses are necessary or sustainable.
Examples from the comments highlight a wide range of living situations: one person describes renting a small double-sharing room for about ₹12,000, with included meals, gym fees, and various groceries, totaling around ₹25,000–₹26,000 monthly. Another commenter argues that savings should come first and contends that expenses tied to takeout, subscriptions, and constant shopping may be unnecessary; they suggest prioritizing a gym-focused, protein-rich routine as a more purposeful use of funds.
Ultimately, the discussion underscores how city living can stretch finances differently from person to person, and it invites readers to weigh what constitutes essential spending versus discretionary excess.
