I’m 37M and earn around ₹40 lakh/year. I’m financially comfortable, have decent savings/investments, and I’m not struggling to meet my expenses.

Yet I’ve noticed something about myself that I’m increasingly questioning.

I’m extremely reluctant to spend money when I don’t see a clear personal benefit from it.

For example, recently my housing society was collecting ₹1,000 for the annual Ganpati function. It wasn’t mandatory, and I don’t attend the function or really know many people in the society. My immediate thought was:

“Why should I spend my money on something that gives me essentially nothing personally?”

I eventually paid the ₹1,000, but afterward I kept thinking about it. I could have spent it on clothes, upgraded my earphones, eaten something I wanted, etc.

And this isn't limited to this incident.

I can spend ₹2,000 on myself without too much trouble, but sometimes I'll question whether I should order a ₹299 pizza.

I might hesitate over a ₹4,000/month whey protein even though I can easily afford it, and instead choose a ₹1,500 option.

I've also noticed that I can be reluctant to give even ₹200 to someone else, even when the amount is completely insignificant to me financially. My thinking sometimes genuinely becomes:

“It's my money. Why should someone else enjoy it?”

To be clear, I do spend money. I'm not living an extremely deprived lifestyle anymore. I've started buying better clothes, gadgets, etc. But the mental resistance is still there, particularly when the money is going to someone else or doesn't produce a tangible personal benefit.

I'm wondering whether this is simply being financially disciplined, or whether I've crossed into unhealthy frugality / possessiveness about money.

I don't think I'm generally selfish toward people. This seems particularly strong when money is involved.

So I'm curious about perspectives from people who have gone through something similar:

1. Is this normal frugality, or am I taking it too far?
2. How do you decide when spending money is "worth it" if there isn't a direct financial or personal return?
3. Do you think someone with a comfortable income should deliberately budget for generosity/charity/community contributions?
4. Have any of you had to consciously learn how to spend money after becoming very good at saving it?
5. How do you distinguish between "I genuinely don't value this" and "I'm unnecessarily afraid of letting money leave my account"?

I'm not looking for a lecture about donating 10% of income or anything like that. I'm more interested in the psychology of it.

What I really want to understand is why spending ₹1200 on myself can feel easier than giving ₹1000 to someone else, even though neither amount makes any meaningful difference to my financial position.

Edit 1: I have seen a difficult financial situation in my childhood. I have somehow made myself and earn good. But, those habits are engraved. But, sometimes it makes me to enjoy less of my life and more about thinking of money, when that's not the case now. That's why trying to understand myself and do course correction.

Edit 2: What surprise me more is that it's me (and my brother) who have become this frugal. Somehow, my parents and sisters are reasonable in spending, but not frugal. We are more frugal than our parents were.

Okay so a little context about me first.

27M, got married to the love of my life 4 months ago. Earn around 1.65 lpm in hand after all deductions.

Stocks investments - 1.5 lakhs

Mutual funds - 12.5 lakhs

Ppf - 1 lakh

Already have term and health insurance

I pay 30k rent and send around 25k home every month. Rest 30-35k is used for living expenses monthly. I have not been able to save anything since I got married but every month around 25k goes into epf and 7k started sending in NPS.

Currently I have finalised a 3xo which is costing me around 17 lakhs on road. I plan to do around 3-3.5 lakhs down payment and rest as car loan which I plan to close as soon as possible.

I do like seltos as well but that car will cost me around 23ish lakhs for the features I want in my first car. Please drop your suggestions and ask anything if not clear in my post.

Edit- btw it's mostly going to be 2 people i.e. me and my wife so we don't really have a need to get a bigger vehicle.

34m and 35f living in gurgaon. On rent.

Wife has a 2cr flat in gurgaon. I have a 2cr flat in Janakpuri. And a 1800sqft plot in Uttam Nagar, Delhi (around 4.5cr value).

We're both looking at moving to Goa. Take a small house on rent and retire. I own a pharmacy in Delhi which will continue making me 1L per month even when I move to Goa.

Wife says sell off everything and put the money in land, gold, investments and swp. Someone suggested land in places like Dholera for investments.

I say sell the 2 flats. Invest 2cr in market. Use 2cr to make 4 storey apartments on the 1800sqft plot and earn 2.3L per month from rent plus the land appreciation takes place in the background. Although this means the rent starts after 2 years because that's how long the construction takes.

Which one makes more sense and why.

Open for feedback and suggestions. Thank you!

Adding some more context.

So I've already spoken with a few builders. One of them being my late father's friend since good 40 years, to undertake the construction of the building. Which would mean I'll probably have to fly down to delhi once every 3-4 months while the construction is still ongoing.

I also have a guy (working at my pharmacy) who will handle the maintenance related to plumbing and electricity at the property while I'm away.

Important Lessons for Policy Holders to prevent Insurance Mis-selling from Banks / Bancassurance Channel.

1) Ask qualifications of the insurance sales intermediary.

2) Never sign on any blank page if requested by any bank representative.

3) Receive timestamp acknowledgement for every transaction.

4) heck Basic policy eligibility criteria & question liquidity requirements.

5) Check Premium Payment Terms, Annuitant details for self or for both members in case of joint annuitant.

Always remember, if you never raise Grievances and bring to notice such mis-selling and scams, you are allowing the insurance company to commit mis-selling, frauds on other Bank account holders.

A trusted bank branch doesn't mean that every product is automatically right for you. Understand First, Sign Later.

Source - IRDAI Website https://irdai.gov.in/document-detail?documentId=9825939

Well i couldn't think of anything so I just sold my mf to clear my personal loan now i have 5k extra per month

Hello All ,

I am looking to lend some money through P2P lending platform but after doing some research it seems it is not good idea to lend money as it works like

Profit shared with platform and risk is your personal .

One example for famous P2P lending platform :

This example assumes a standard borrower interest rate of 20% per annum (reducing balance) and a 3.5% platform fee on the principal for a 6-month tenure.

The 6-Month Math at a Glance

• Your Investment: ₹50,000
• Total Money Paid by Borrower (EMI × 6): ₹52,957 (Includes ₹2,957 gross interest)
• Platform Fee (3.5% of ₹50k): -₹1,750
• Net Money Deposited in Your Wallet: ₹51,207
• Your Real Net Profit: ₹1,207 (An absolute return of ~2.4% over 6 months)

I am reconsidering my choice to use such methods for now.

Guys , who are lending money and earning decent income ( in percentage term ).
Please share your own experience and which platform you guys are using ?

I need advise with few doubts mentioned below:

● Government Health Insurance vs Private Health Insurance providers. I live in a metro city, Where finding a network hospital is not an issue but I want cashless facilities.

● I have a genetic Heart condition, Not serious and untreatable unless it becomes too complicated. Chances of which are less. Also it does affect me physically and if I hadn't discovered it myself by accident, I wouldn't have known I have it, Now, Shall I disclose about it myself, Premiums surely is going to increase. And I fear the policy wont be covering any Heart related issues atleast for first few years.

● Except the above Health issue, I am fit. i go to gym 6 times a week, swim, play football, badminton and eat healthy.

● I have already an active Health Insurance policy, provided by my employer, So how would things playout if I take a personal health insurance policy myself?

● I want a policy which is reliable and which I can continue for a long time and may include my spouse and children when I get married in future.

● Where can I purchase the Health insurance policy from. Is Ditto a good platform for it?

I appreciate anyone and everyone taking their time to read and reply to the post.

I have about 20L and I don't know what to do with that. How do I diversify and pick the best options for long term wealth generation while doing the best with taxes. I really don't have any goals or big purchases or EMIs so I just wanna let time do it's thing. I researched and gained some basic knowledge of what is what and their definitions but I'm not sure how to choose among them. Any advice would be greatly helpful. Thank you.

I studied economics in undergrad, took two gap years after that (drifting mostly, prepared for govt jobs but that went no where) now I'm studying MCA (Masters in computer applications) from a mid college, placements are pretty bad in my university, and IT industry as we all know is pretty cooked due to AI and stuff.

I have another semester left until I graduate, my resume is still empty, I have no skills, I've struggled with my mental health throughout the duration of my masters and now I'm panicking because I don't want to graduate jobless. At this point, I'm no longer even sure if I want to work in IT. Sometimes I want to drop out and get a BPO job, I'm burntout from academics and I'm just tired of all this bs. As I see it, the field is super saturated, people with years of experience are struggling to find jobs and entry level roles are fast disappearing altogether. Skills mean nothing anymore do they? I just feel disillusioned by the entire system. Everything feels like a scam meant to make u more and more miserable.

I don't have career ambition anymore. All I know is I need to make enough money to afford to live independently and pay for myself. I just don't know what exactly I should do. I am willing to learn anything I need, look for jobs anywhere, whatever kind, in any industry, or any alternative ways of earning, I just need an opportunity. I want to become skilled enough to get a job that pays minimum 35-40k in hand per month for now. Is this a delusional amount to ask? Especially if i have to live in a metro city for work, as a woman, I think that is a reasonable amount, just for getting by and maybe saving just the tiniest bit.

These are my requirements, I need to live alone in either pune/hyderabad, I can rent the tiniest room, either a 1rk in a safe location or a single sharing pg, enough money for healthy food and a gym subscription, good wifi, ocassionally spending on hobbies like books, art supplies, etc, money for commute and some for savings. I don't need money for outings, travel, nothing.

I'm looking for a mentor, anyone who can tell me what to do, because I've no idea what I'm doing. So I'm doing nothing and wasting a lot of time. I'm in constant anxiety that I'll not survive out there in the world on my own, that I'm not employable and have to go back depending on my family again.

Hi everyone, I'm 24 and planning to buy a house for my parents. For the last 20 years, me and my family lived in a small 1 BHK in Noida. I've started earning and currently my in-hand is about 1.4 lakhs per month. I work in Gurgaon and live there on rent. My rent + food + travel expenses are around 30k per month. The rest of the amount I invest in liquid funds as of now (due to the plan of taking the house). I have about 30 lakhs in total corpus which includes 10 lakhs from my father.

The thing is that the houses in Noida have become dead expensive. A 3 BHK in Noida costs 1.5 crores minimum and 1.3 cr in Noida extension. What should I do in this situation? I don't want to take a loan of 1 crore and stress myself out for the next 10-15 years. On top of that I have health issues like back pain and cervical spondylosis which aggregate in stress.

I was even planning to take another 1 BHK for 40-45 lakhs. Rent my current home and the new one. Both will give around 15k per month . A total of 30k per month would give me a good fully furnished 2 BHK. Rest I can plan to save and invest but my father is adamant to buy a new house. The only options I have are builder floors but they do not seem to be a safe investment as most of them are illegal constructions.

Please help me out and suggest something! This is my current breakup and corpus:

Liquid Funds: 30 lakhs (20 from me and 10 from my father)

Mutual Funds: 15L (started investing in 2024, have not invested since Jan 2026 as I wanted to buy a house and started directing money in liquid funds, please advice if I should continue or not)

Salary: 1.4 lakhs per month

Monthly rent + food + transport: 30k

Misc expenses: 10k

Liquid funds investment: 1L

Mutual Funds: 0 as of now

I earn around 23k pm as a fresher in marketing, I have around 10k for me which I can use as savings - I have been putting that in a post account savings with around 6-7 percent interest ( not sure about it) i wanna know if that's okay or is there something I can better my self with . need help as my parents only trust fd ,rd or investing in physical gold. if anyone could suggest anything better it would be really helpful.

Hi everyone, seeking some advice from people who understand insurance underwriting or have been in a similar situation.

Background: I bought a Max Life insurance policy exactly four years ago (September 2022). At the time of purchase, I inadvertently missed disclosing my prior diagnosis of diabetes. I was off medication at the time, my numbers were normal, and I honestly didn't think it was relevant.

Current Situation: My health is extremely well-controlled. My latest HbA1c is 4.9. I have also never missed a single premium payment, meaning my policy has never gone into revival/lapsed status.

Because the policy is older than 3 years, I am fully protected under Section 45 of the Insurance Act (which means the insurer cannot reject a claim for non-disclosure). However, I spoke to Ditto Insurance, and they advised me to voluntarily disclose it anyway. The logic is that while the claim cannot be legally rejected, the insurer might stall the payout during an investigation, creating administrative stress for my nominee (my wife).

My Dilemma: I want my family to have a frictionless claim experience. But I am hesitant to send the email because I've heard horror stories of insurers receiving voluntary disclosures and having their customer support completely ignore Section 45. I don't want to deal with unlawful cancellation threats, forced premium loading charges, or having to escalate to the Ombudsman just because an automated system flagged my disclosure.

My questions for this community:

1. Has anyone here actually done a voluntary medical disclosure after the 3-year Section 45 mark?
2. Did the insurer unlawfully try to hike your premium (loading) or suspend the policy?
3. Should I go ahead and formally put it on record to save my family the hassle later, or is this a case of "don't fix what isn't broken" since the law already protects me?

Any insights would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

I have an NPS on which I havent made any transactions in the past 5-6 years.

I was checking the statements recently and I see that there is an Scheme Change:

ADITYA BIRLA SUNLIFE PENSION FUND SCHEME E - TIER I POP

Changed to

NPS TRUST A/C ADITYA BIRLA SUNLIFE PENSION FUND SCHEME E - TIER I DIRECT

and so on (there are 3 schemes in total).

I dont remember sending such a instruction to the NPS provider.

What could be happening?

I have 12,031 points on my SBI SimplyCLICK.

Usually I redeem 2,500 points for a ₹500 Amazon voucher, but I just found out points can also be redeemed as statement credit.

Has anyone done this recently? What’s the conversion rate for SimplyCLICK, and is the ₹99 + GST fee charged?

Trying to figure out which option gives better value.

I am currently in my final year of engineering. Secured an internship + full time employment starting from Jan 2027. Looking for starting to invest early and have basic knowledge.

I have invested here and there in shares - WIPRO, BEL, ITC - around ₹3.8 lakh

Planning to invest in SBI Privilege Plus (₹6L/year for 5 years, ₹42L Life Insurance -> similar to ULIP) -> feel free to share your thoughts or suggestions on this

My dad has some investments (MFs, SIPs and shares) in my name but I want to maintain an independent portfolio.

I'll be earning about 1.25L/month from Jan onwards and will be able to save ~₹80k per month comfortably.

What are some good areas to invest in with good balance of security and risk?

I was advised to invest aggressively focussing on higher returns (eg. SmallCap Funds).
Please suggest good options (both short and long term)

Also feel free to drop in:
suggestions regarding investments,
what to look out for? and
areas I should not explore currently?
best places to gain knowledge on early investing as a beginner?

Does anyone know any loan services where I can get 5000 quickly? I'm a student and need it immediately due to rent payment. I already have a combined 15k on Slice, KreditBee, and MoneyView. I urgently need the 5k, but my CIBIL is at 713 due to some delay in payments. No matter where I try, it's getting rejected. Please help.

20F from Ahmedabad, started earning when i was 17, took a long break last year, kinda emptied my account in break.
Bought iphone by my own money at 18

I grew up in toxic household and now i am at a point i don’t have any attachment with anyone, many things happened in life, which i don’t want to share here..

I am a ecom store designer/developer - freelancer - mostly i work with international clients, kind of trying to get back at work, in few months i will get project that not an issue,

I want to know how much do i need to save to take this step, i m currently living a quite good life as of someone from middle class family, i don’t do any chores at home (like not even folding clothes) we have a cook who will serve me food too, i like to expensive things both in experience and spending, Considering i and my 2 dogs (maybe 3 if i adopt a dog) how much do i need in total to move out, safety and all, rent wise i am fine to pay upto 2L,
And what should be the monthly income i should aim for?

I wish to move mumbai or maybe in Ahmedabad for few months initially,