For one of my friends’ girlfriend, 1 lakh per month in Bangalore wasn’t good enough, for another friend’s wife, 60K is more than sufficient, alas, for him, it is not. He thinks 60K is peanuts. (That’s how it goes, I guess).
For a very close friend 25K in Mumbai was good enough (she worked for an NGO), for another acquaintance, 50K in Meerut (a small town in UP) was nothing. The guy got a government job and was already figuring out ways to make some Upar Ki Kamaai or extra money.
For me personally, I’ve lived on a salary of more than 1 lakh per month in Bangalore and close to 25K per month in Ghaziabad (UP). And I found life to be much better in the latter case, because at that time I was living with my family in our home, was in a job that I loved and had a lot of other personal things absolutely sorted and in order.
When I was working in Bangalore as a Supply Chain Consultant, in the purchase unit of my client, there were many people who were making anywhere between 25–35K, and I am not talking about young people at the start of their career, I am talking about seasoned professionals with 10+ years of experience, and they were all living perfectly happy life, probably better than I was, even though I was a bachelor and had the whole of 1+ Lakhs for me while they were married people with kids. But almost all of them lived in their home with their family (including parents).
So, it’s a matter of personal preference and life style, I guess. Some people like to stay with family, some like to stay away. Some like to live in small towns and some metro cities. Some are content with a Realme phone and some find faults even in Apple. Don’t go by generic figures floating around in the market. See what your needs are, how many people depend on you for financial assistance and what your minimum expenditure is going to be. Calculate for yourself, a generic number will always create dissatisfaction in you.