Bengaluru: A 22-year-old corporate employee has triggered widespread online discussion after sharing a detailed breakdown of her monthly living expenses while staying in a rented flat with two friends. The cost summary, posted through a reel on Instagram, outlines rent, groceries, utilities, house help, and lifestyle spending, totalling around ₹31,000 per month per person.
Rent and utilities form biggest share
In the video, the woman, identified as Sanya Singh, introduces herself and her two flatmates as “22, new corporate girlies,” and gives viewers a tour-style look at their rented 3BHK apartment. She then explains how their shared monthly costs are divided.
According to her breakdown, the rent for the 3BHK apartment works out to ₹14,000 per person. In addition to rent, maintenance and water charges together total ₹5,100 per month, which comes to about ₹1,700 per head.
This takes the fixed housing and utility component alone to ₹15,700 per person every month, forming the largest portion of their essential expenses.
Groceries, house help and furniture costs
The trio spends about ₹4,500 per month on groceries, which is split equally at roughly ₹1,500 each. The grocery bill includes regular kitchen supplies and daily-use food items.
A notable component in the expense list is professional house help. The three flatmates together pay ₹9,000 per month for cooking, cleaning, and bathroom maintenance services — amounting to ₹3,000 per person. Such shared domestic help arrangements are increasingly common among young working professionals to manage long work hours.
They also incur an additional ₹3,000 monthly cost for rented furniture, which is divided as ₹1,000 per person. This typically covers items such as beds, sofas, and basic appliances obtained through rental services rather than upfront purchase.
Travel, lifestyle and personal spending
Apart from fixed and shared household costs, the woman also listed her individual variable expenses. She budgets around ₹2,000 per month for travel, including cab rides, auto fares, and public transport.
Lifestyle spending forms another sizeable portion of her budget. She allocates approximately ₹5,000 monthly for weekend outings, social activities, and entertainment. In addition, she keeps about ₹3,000 aside for shopping and miscellaneous personal expenses.
When all categories are added — rent, utilities, groceries, house help, furniture rental, travel, lifestyle, and shopping — her estimated monthly expenditure reaches around ₹31,000.
Online reactions divided on affordability
The video has drawn mixed reactions from viewers, with strong opinions on whether the spending level is high or reasonable for a young professional.
Some users commented that the amount appears excessive for a single person in India and suggested that a higher share should be directed towards savings and investments such as mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. A few compared the figure with average household budgets, noting that some small families operate within a similar monthly spend.
Others, however, defended the numbers, calling the breakdown realistic for an early-career professional sharing a quality apartment and urban lifestyle. Several commenters said comparable or higher figures are common among young employees living in major tech and corporate hubs.
Rising urban living costs in focus
The discussion reflects a broader trend of rising urban living costs for young workers relocating for corporate jobs. Shared accommodation, split utility bills, and pooled domestic services are increasingly used to manage expenses, but lifestyle choices — such as frequent outings and convenience services — significantly influence final budgets.
Financial planners often advise young earners to balance lifestyle comfort with disciplined saving, especially in the first few working years. Expense-tracking videos like this are becoming popular on social media, offering peer benchmarks but also fuelling debate over what counts as “normal” spending.
The viral response shows that transparency around personal finance — especially rent and lifestyle costs — remains a high-interest topic among young urban professionals.