Kaushik, who often advises people on budgeting, planning and taxes, says it’s not how much you earn, but how you spend that makes a difference. His response to the client, \u201cYou\u2019ve made it. A Rs 54L\/year income. Good job title. Decent car. Branded everything.” He then went on to explore the reasons behind \u2018why people are not satisfied despite earning well\u2019.<\/p>\n
He broke it down with some quick maths. A monthly income of Rs 4.5 lakh amounts to Rs 54 lakh a year. After paying roughly Rs 12 lakh in taxes, that leaves Rs 42 lakh. According to Kaushik, average urban expenses eat up nearly all of it. He says Rs 18 lakh goes toward rent and household costs, Rs 6 lakh on children\u2019s education, Rs 4.5 lakh on groceries, fuel and domestic help, Rs 3 lakh on dining and events, Rs 4-5 lakh on travel and Rs 3 lakh on insurance and maintenance.<\/p>\n
After all these expenses, even a high-salaried individual is left with only Rs 2-3 lakh for savings. That\u2019s the real problem. According to Kaushik, it is not income, but expectations and comparisons. \u201cEveryone around you is posting Europe trips, buying Rs 3 crore homes, flaunting designer brands. And you? Just trying to breathe between EMIs.\u201d<\/p>\n
He warns of lifestyle inflation, which is the tendency for spending going up as income increases. \u201cFrom Uber to driver, from Goa to Greece. The hunger to \u2018upgrade\u2019 never ends. And now we call it standard living instead of luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n
High earnings, he adds, do not guarantee high satisfaction. Instead, happiness comes from \u201cnot comparing constantly, having control over your time, and knowing you\u2019re progressing \u2014 not just consuming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaushik urges people to be clear on their priorities. \u201cFinancial independence or social validation? Freedom or fixed EMIs? Purpose or possessions?\u201d<\/p>\n
The world, he says, sells the lie that happiness is just one purchase away. \u201cPeace doesn\u2019t come from income. It comes from intentional choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
His solution is simple. \u201cCap lifestyle inflation, avoid liabilities that trap future income; build wealth, not lifestyle, and redefine success: It\u2019s not the car, it\u2019s the calm.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, he adds that earning Rs 4.5 lakh is worthwhile only if you have the freedom to live on your own terms. The CA suggests, \u201cDon\u2019t fall for curated lives on Instagram. Most of them are as broke as the filters are fake.\u201d Ultimately, he says, true success lies in \u201chaving money and not needing to prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kaushik, who often advises people on budgeting, planning and taxes, says it’s not how much you earn, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,474,11233,2499,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-349367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-money-management","11":"tag-personal-finance","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115038963921581990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}