Do You Make Enough Money to Live in a Metro City? Pritesh Kakani breaks down Living Cost for a 4-Member Family in a Metropolitan City

An IIT Kharagpur alumni, Kakani claims on X that 20 lakhs per year is the minimum for a family to sustain themselves in a metro city.

17 April 2024

By Khushi Maheshwari

Pritesh Kakani, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus, posted a structured list on X (formerly Twitter) on 14th April, breaking down all the necessary expenses of a 4-member family in a metro city. The breakup of costs was based on his personal yearly expenses. Kakani specified that he has not included any luxury expenses.

The list includes electricity, gas, water, school fees, transport, laundry, mobile, rent/emi for housing, society maintenance, apparels, furniture, mattresses, etc, which are necessities in a metropolitan city. 

However, other items on the list have sparked an intriguing debate on X. These items include travel (the cost of which amounts to a yearly 1,41,800 rupees as per the list), dogs, cars, OTTs, movies and hotels.

Some verified users claimed that 20 lakhs is the bare minimum cost of living in a metro city in India. X user and Hyderabad-based entrepreneur Raghavendra Sharma said, “I completely agree. Even though I don’t have a dog or a few other things. The amount balances with other elements. Few might say too much. But we as individuals are attached to a certain lifestyle. Medicine for elders costs more.”

Subhrajit Guha, another entrepreneur, replied to the list saying, “You are bang on. It is minimum I guess.”

In stark contrast, some users feel that most of the items are unnecessary and should be considered luxuries. “There are some unnecessary expenses added in this and home loan is not a necessity. Better to stay in rent and invest money. It’s not expense,” said Alok, a blogger and crypto investor. Another user went as far as to claim that the list itself is a luxury. 

However, a third group of people didn’t agree with either of the aforementioned points and held the view that 20 lakhs is not sufficient to survive in a big city. “I honestly think this is still pretty conservative for a metro city expense if we are to assume it is an upper-middle class family,” read one user’s reply. 

So far the list has garnered a lot of engagement with almost 4 thousand likes, 1.1 thousand reshares and 1.8 comments. 

All in all, whether or not debates like these ever come to a middle ground, one thing is certain — ‘luxury’ is subjective and will vary between persons and cities. It is not simple to determine what would be sufficient to make ends meet for an individual and their family.