Meet Ayush Thakur a 27-year-old software/ML engineer at Walmart in Bangalore. I don't know his exact in-hand salary, but this is how much he says he spends (including investments) every month: 1. Rent: 18,000 2. House help: ₹3,000 3. WiFi + subscriptions + electricity: ₹1,000 4. Groceries, food & protein: 12,000 5. SIPs / investments: ₹30,000 6. Misc (shopping + random 2 AM Amazon orders): ₹10,000 Total: ~₹74,000 Commute and office meals: 0- company provides cabs and food. He said, "This is the reason I romanticise my 9-to-5." He also joked that he puts 30k into SIPs because "I can't be trusted with idle money in my account." Meanwhile, many TCS freshers take home around 22,000-₹25,000 a month. His rent alone is close to that entire salary, and he still invests more than some people earn. Same Bangalore. One 27-year-old at Walmart spends almost nothing on commute or office food, invests ₹30,000 every month, and still calls adulting "one long bill." Another person in the same city is stretching 22,000 across everything. The city is the same. The perks and the paycheck are not. What's your monthly burn rate in Bangalore? And how much of it is actually invested?