A viral Instagram video by the Bengaluru duo Kritagya Nayyar and his wife Ruchi ignited a huge debate on the burgeoning price tag of urban living in India. In the video, the couple had their annual outlay for 2025, ₹38 lakh, freely available. Its transparency regarding the money they manage and life choices can lead to people admiring or critiquing it as someone thinks through the cost of living comfortably in a big city like Bengaluru.
The Breakdown of Expenses:
The couple’s biggest recurring expense is ₹5.5 lakh to rent and maintain their home. The rental prices of Bengaluru’s real estate market have risen sharply since, and their spending shows the living that comes with residing in such a prime urban location. They then spent ₹6 lakh on groceries, dining out and shopping. One highlighted a significant ₹2 lakh splurge on a trip in the US, demonstrating how the global travel side of life can add up to significant annual costs. Travel is another huge spend ₹4 lakh on trips. Curiously, they used credit card reward points to cut down their costs, showing financial savvy while still maintaining a high‑end lifestyle. Daily commuting had earned ₹1.4 lakh as fuel and Uber rides. Commuting costs are a hidden cost for many urban professionals, whose figures demonstrate the cost of transportation in a congested city like Bengaluru. The couple also set aside ₹1.5 lakh for the salaries of house help, reflecting many urban homes’ dependence on domestic assistance. Also, ₹1 lakh has been spent on insurance covering health, term and car policies–a basic but frequently overlooked part of financial planning.
One‑Time Purchases and Investments:
Besides regular living expenses, Kritagya and Ruchi spent a big part of their month–by–month fortune on a ₹11.2 lakh car as a gift for Kritagya’s father. This is an illustration of how family duties and cultural beliefs frequently shape financial decisions in India. What was perhaps most astonishing about their financial breakdown was their ability to invest ₹25 lakh in mutual funds. Despite costly living expenses, disciplined budgeting was shown by them by devoting a significant amount for future expenses. It is this balance of both spending and investing that have grabbed a lot of viewers.
Public Reaction:
The video promptly spread, inciting fiery online discussion. The couple earned praise from some for their honesty and financial self-control, including from workers in the field, who felt it was useful to see young professionals talking openly about money. Still others derided the lifestyle as luxury that was beyond middle‑class families’ means. The debate was part of wider worries about urban living prices in India. Amid skyrocketing rents, costly travel and lifestyle inflation, countless families find themselves pressed for money and pressure to maintain comfort. The couple’s dissolution gave social space to reflect back to us (the people of our times) a vision of what we are dreaming of but wanting now, and the challenges we are also facing on the road to cities.
Lessons from Their Planning:
Their lifestyle, as extravagant as it sounds, provides critical lessons for Kritagya and Ruchi’s financial habits:
- Transparency around spending helps people know the true costs and plan accordingly.
- You can save a lot on travel costs by savvy use of credit cards. Insurance for long‑term security.
- As living costs rise, managing the spending versus the investment provides financially safe investments for the future.
- Recognizing costs of domestic help is the true portrayal of urban homes.
The Bengaluru couple’s ₹38 lakh a year expenses are more than a passing video; it is a modern urban lifestyle case study. The lifestyles they lead illustrate the expensive price of home in a larger urban market, but also the need for disciplined financial management. With a massive infusion of cash while holding out the budget, Kritagya and Ruchi prove that luxury living can be sustainable as long as you invest smartly. Their story has opened up discussions across India as people learn that financial education, transparency and planning are just as important as a little income. At bottom it is not just a question of how much they spend, they can manage their money when the urban cost of living continues to increase.
