Bengaluru man earning Rs 2 lakh monthly ends up in debt trap, Reddit spots the issue

A Bengaluru man asked Reddit how to recover after wedding and renovation costs drained his finances. Users said his debt was still manageable if he curbed credit-card spending and prioritised repayments.Bengaluru man earning Rs 2 lakh monthly ends up in debt trap, Reddit spots the issue (Photo: Representational Image from Pexels)A Bengaluru-based man’s post about trying to recover from a financial mess after spending heavily on his wedding and house renovation led to a detailed discussion online, with many users telling him that his situation is still manageable if he changes his spending habits.The 29-year-old man, who is married and lives in Bengaluru, shared his financial situation in a Reddit post on r/personalfinanceIndia titled, “My finances are messed up. Guide me how to bounce back.”He said he and his wife have a combined monthly income of Rs 2.5 lakh after taxes, but two major expenses had wiped out most of his savings, his wedding and a house renovation.He explained that his parents had pushed him to add another floor to their house so that it could be rented out. The renovation cost around Rs 35 lakh, of which he paid Rs 15 lakh from his savings and borrowed another Rs 20 lakh. His wedding expenses crossed Rs 30 lakh, which he largely funded by selling stocks. When he fell short of money towards the end of the wedding expenses, he said he had to take a Rs 5 lakh personal loan at 9.1% interest.He already had a car loan with around Rs 3 lakh outstanding and said his credit card expenses had also become difficult to bring down. He added that his parents are financially dependent on him and use his credit card for groceries and other household expenses. Despite the mounting liabilities, he said he did not party regularly and rarely ate out. He was also considering switching jobs to improve his monthly cash flow.At present, he said he has around Rs 3 lakh in stocks, Rs 1 lakh in an FD and 50 sovereigns of gold, although he does not want to use the gold.He then shared his monthly expenses, including a Rs 35,000 house EMI, Rs 16,000 personal-loan payment, Rs 15,000 car-loan payment and Rs 37,000 in Bengaluru rent and bills.His average credit-card spending stood at around Rs 70,000 a month, while groceries cost Rs 15,000.Take a look at the post here:The post prompted several users to tell him that, despite his concerns, he had not yet reached an unmanageable debt trap. Some pointed out that his Rs 2.5 lakh monthly income gave him enough cash flow to gradually get his finances back on track, provided he stopped adding new debt.A major piece of advice was to stop using credit cards for expenses that cannot be cleared in full the following month. One user suggested temporarily pausing SIP investments while he tackled outstanding credit-card debt, arguing that paying down expensive debt should take priority over investing more money.Others advised him to direct every additional rupee towards his credit-card debt first, before moving on to the personal loan once the card balance was cleared. Cutting down on eating out and leisure spending was also suggested as an immediate way to free up some cash.Some users recommended treating his PF savings, if available, as a last-resort option for clearing high-interest debt rather than allowing such liabilities to continue accumulating.Overall, Reddit users appeared to view the situation as difficult but recoverable, rather than financially hopeless, with most advice centred on stopping fresh credit-card spending, prioritising high-cost debt, temporarily reducing discretionary expenses and building an emergency fund.- EndsPublished By: Yashna TalwarPublished On: Aug 25, 2026 13:53 IST