look news india
It is often believed that a big job, a big six-figure salary and a glittering lifestyle in metro cities (Tier-1 Cities) are the guarantee of a successful life. But a post by a tech professional which is becoming increasingly viral on social media these days is completely challenging this thinking. A software engineer decided to leave his luxurious job of ₹1.2 lakh per month in an expensive city like Mumbai and return to his small hometown. The bitter experience he has shared on the internet has sparked a new debate on ‘Salary vs Mental Peace’ among the corporate world and the youth.
“On paper, the amount was fantastic…”- Shubh Jain opened the raw log of his huge salary
This post of a tech professional named Shubh Jain on social media platform X (Twitter) is gaining a lot of headlines. Shubh wrote in his post, “To be honest, earning ₹ 40,000 in my hometown makes me feel much better and richer than the huge salary of ₹ 1.2 lakh I get in Mumbai. I was working in a good position in Mumbai and used to get around ₹ 1.2 lakh in-hand every month. On paper, this amount seemed huge and wonderful, but by the last week of the month, it was hardly It felt like a six-figure salary.”
Rent for 1 BHK is ₹30,000 and food is ₹7,000; This is how money was wasted in the big city.
Shubh Jain has presented an accurate and eye-opening mathematics of the daily expenses of common working people living in metro cities. He said that a large part of the salary of ₹1.2 lakh was lost to Mumbai’s back-breaking inflation:
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House Rent: For a typical 1 BHK flat in Mumbai, he had to pay ₹30,000 per month.
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Household and other expenses: Around ₹60,000 was cleared in daily household expenses.
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Help and Utilities: ₹ 3,000 was spent on house help and laundry and ₹ 3,000 was spent on electricity and internet bills.
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Lifestyle and Travel: ₹7,000 was spent on online food delivery, ₹5,000 on office travel (travel) and around ₹8,000 on weekend outings after a busy week.
After these mandatory expenses, only a nominal amount was left in the bank account in the name of savings by the end of the month.
Facilities became a disaster: stuck in the maze of Blinkit, cab and order.
Shubh also mentioned about the illusion of big cities which secretly empties a person’s pocket. He wrote, “The modern facilities of Tier-1 cities sometimes become the biggest reason for your extra and wasteful expenses. For example, are you tired today and don’t want to cook? Then order food online immediately. If the grocery at home is out and the shop is far away? Then order it immediately from Blinkit. Is your body breaking after office work? Then book an expensive cab instead of the local train. The whole week was full of stress? So on weekends, go to expensive restaurants or Relieve yourself by going to the pub and spending your money.”
He further wrote that after some time in this whole process, I realized that I was earning a lot of money, but I was completely mentally broken and always felt tired.
Earned ₹40,000 in hometown, but got the real feeling of being ‘rich’
Leaving behind better career opportunities and the challenges of a busy lifestyle, Shubh finally returned to his small town (hometown). Upon returning home his monthly income dropped to just ₹40,000, but what happened next was shocking.
Shubh says that despite low earnings, there has been a tremendous positive change in his life. Now they are free from long journeys and traffic, due to which they are able to give time to their families. He wrote, “The strangest and most interesting thing is that despite earning less money here, I have actually started feeling richer and happier than in Mumbai, because here I have mental peace and real balance in life.”
Shubh Jain finally clarified that his intention is not to speak ill of Mumbai or any big city. Mumbai taught him to grow professionally and build a career, but his small town taught him to live life closely again. Giving a big message to the youth, he wrote, “After a time I understood the basic thing that earning good money and living a good happy life are two completely different things.”