What should be the monthly income for a family of 4 to survive

General
1

According to you what is the minimum monthly amount a family of 4 makes to survive?

Assumptions

  1. The family stays in a rented house/apartment
  2. The 2 kids are school going
  3. Husband and wife incomes are considered
  4. Family does not have any other income or assets or inheritance

The inflation print of 6.5% is not accurately painting the picture as each city in India has different level of expense.

Help us find out what’s the amount they require every month to cover all their expenses so that they are not pushed into poverty.

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2

Curious: Are you planning to support a family financially and hence searching for an appropriate amount?

Tried to think of it and failed for another family.

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3

This is a subjective question.

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4

Very subjective. Depends on a lot of factors.

5

Yes, I wanted to know how much should be contributed

6

Give a near approximation

7

I will try to provide a simplistic answer philosophically than mathematically.

If one could restrict oneself to only needs and removes every want, then I guess what a couple earn will be sufficient. The couple can spend a little money for their children, but they should not, live a minimalist lifestyle, for as long as required.

I know that to enjoy and experience a few things, we need money, but also there are a few things that don’t come with a price tag, we can embrace those things and enjoy life in a different way, and if this done correctly helps a lot in understanding the depth of life, the complete meaning of being born an as human.

Not to mention utilizing one’s full potential, both in climbing the ladder in professional life, getting promotions, bonuses, and with other things too.

So one can be philosophical which takes clarity and sacrifice, and one can be practical which takes effort and time. One can enjoy life both ways.

8

For people near poverty, philosophy won’t work. They would still need money.

Need a base case for each of the cities, just curious to find how many families are getting pushed to debt with the increasing expenses

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9

Couple who have income are not poor. Poor section is different, they don’t have jobs and income, they have work and wages.

So you are curious and this question is hypothetical?

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10

My parents had a total monthly income of Rs1500 in 1990s, they were able to build a house, send me and sister to post graduation and get us married.

What is that income value today is what I need to know

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11

It depends on many factors
Whether the family lives in a metro city or a small town/village
Whether they send their kids to an IB school or a Municipality school
Whether they eat out at roadside dhaba or a 5 star and how often
Whether they travel by Business class flight or an Ordinary state transport bus and how often
Etc Etc Etc

12

There is inflation that is reported and then there is disproportionate increase of cost in many things over the course of the past 35 years. So despite some mathematical base that we can have, it is very subjective, because of the changes happened both a personal level and societal level.

I can live on 15,000 per month in a small town, paying for food, rent and all the bills. Someone can live on 12,000 too, someone else cannot.

14

It would be approx 15,000 today. (1500 in 1990 as base)

check out this calculator. It might give you some insight. It is called inflation calculator.

Not sure if this correct but my guestimate is that it should be.

A daily laborer in Kerala get a minimum of 1,000 per day. This means approx 25,000 per month. Of course this cannot be a base for other states as daily wage is very high in Kerala.

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15

The husband and wife needs to have a monthly income of 35000 each to just live by in a metro?

I guess then 80 to 90% of our population will be thrown into poverty, debt and financial crisis in the next 3 to 5 years

18

You are able to manage with 56k per month without any debt?

Also income tax expense is also factored in the calculation?

19

Yeah… This includes post tax
We dont have any debt’s.
we have credit cards, will use it for emergency/ but will not take any EMI’s on it

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20

For a metro city like bangalore,

  • Min 70k is required in case of 2 kids studying in international standard schools
  • Min 50k in case of 2 kids studying in normal schools
  • Min 35k is case of no kids only 2 adults
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21

According to me, the average cost of living in Kerala(Trivandrum) for family is 30K.
Housing or Rent - (10500+1750(maintenance) 12250 Rs
School fees and Bus- (24000+10000 (yearly)) 2850 Rs
Food and Groceries - 3500Rs
Utility Bills, Cell Phone, Internet (gas 800rs, Electricity 450Rs,Cell phone recharge 130Rs,Internet-562Rs) -2000Rs
Clothing and Personal Upkeep- 1000Rs (Monthly average)
Entertainment - 2000Rs
Insurance - (Health- No insurance, Term insurance -1250rs Vehicle Insurance 6700Rs(yearly)) 1850Rs
Travel Expenses(Petrol and bus charges) 3000Rs

22

30k sounds really affordable for a family in trivandrum, this is almost the rentals of most apartments in mumbai

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24

There few things i am trying to derive from this research

  1. Govt. provides free ration for 80 crore population - read hereP

  2. Inflation in India is still under 7%, whereas its 8 to 10% for all advanced countries. The actual felt inflation might be multifold higher

  3. The cost of energy itself has doubled in the last 10 years in India

  4. Yes people are getting more salary, but the level of expense has gone up beyond the salary increment

  5. Cost of education/higher education is pretty difficult to afford esp without student loans

When the Govt. claims that its helping more people now than before, i wanted to know if its true or not.

Are people improving their lifestyles or getting pushed down into debt.

Only if the minimum level required to run a family is derived, we can know if the DBT, MGNREGA, PMJDY are actually beneficial or not.

Otherwise our Govt. also will borrow more to spend on pensions, DA and will pass on that burden on the income tax payers

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