Cost of Living in Mumbai in 2023!
Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan, zaraa hat ke, zaraa bach ke, yeh hai Bombay, meri jaan.
This evergreen song from the 1956 movie ‘CID’, beautifully captures the challenge of living in this city.
Since then, while the city’s name has changed from Bombay to Mumbai and a lot has changed, what has not changed is the amazing mix of challenges and opportunities that this city presents to its inhabitants.
For a long time, Mumbai has been known as the “city of dreams”, and not without reason. Every day, many people from all parts of the country come to Mumbai with a dream—a dream to make it big in their lives. And did someone say, “Dreams come at a price”.
While most people come to Mumbai to try their luck in Bollywood, many others come here to study or get better jobs. Whatever the reasons, the biggest challenge for all such people is to survive the initial days of struggle in Mumbai. And that’s where this question becomes pertinent: “What’s the cost of living in Mumbai”? This thought is the starting point of this blog.
What all things constitute the cost of living in any city? Well, most people believe it would be a total of expenses involving accommodation, daily groceries, transportation, utility bills, education, health, shopping, and entertainment, to name a few important ones. Going by the skyrocketing property prices in Mumbai, the cost of living is expected to be high. However, the good news is that Mumbai is a huge city and has plenty of options to live, eat out, and commute to suit every budget and lifestyle.
Mumbai is the financial capital of India and houses the head offices of some of the most prominent banks and corporate houses. Loved by the media, Mumbai has a life that outshines any other city in India in terms of pace and charisma.
- Accommodation: Needless to say, accommodation is the biggest cost in Mumbai. The property prices or even rentals in South Mumbai or even Western suburbs are too high.
So, if your pocket permits, you may go for accommodation in these areas. If you are looking for affordable accommodation, you may go to the central suburbs or the newly developed colonies a little away from the main city.
Whatever the locality, the accommodation expenses vary for families, couples, students, and bachelors. While families and couples go for flats, students and bachelors have the option to go for shared living or even PGs, which are much cheaper options.
- Daily Groceries: The next expense is groceries and other household items. This depends on the number of family members and your lifestyle. For ordering groceries, Mumbai has all sorts of options, from neighbourhood kirana stores to retail chains like Big Bazaar and D-Mart to online stores like Big Basket and Blinkit (earlier called Grofers). So, if you are not too extravagant, your monthly grocery bill would be around Rs. 6,000. Making your food on your own is the best option. However, if you can’t manage that, hiring a maid-cum-cook would cost around Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 9,000.
- Transportation: Mumbai has a very strong public transport system that comprises BEST buses, local trains, and even monorail. So, if you are budget-conscious, you may opt for these options. Like most people in Mumbai, you too may use local trains. You can easily get a monthly pass to travel in the first class of local trains for Rs. 1,200. However, if you value convenience more than cost, you have the options of autos, cabs, and radio taxis. If you use your private vehicle, then depending upon the distance between your home and office, the petrol cost may be anything between Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 per month.
- Utilities: This includes various expenses like electricity, internet, DTH, cooking gas, and mobile, among others. Depending upon the utilities used, family size, and number of rooms, this amount may vary between Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 8,000. Due to its closeness to the sea, Mumbai is very humid, and hence you may want to use AC, especially during peak summers. This may shoot up your electricity bill a bit.
- Health and Education: For these two human needs, Mumbai has several hospitals, clinics, and schools and colleges, catering to different sections of society. When it comes to healthcare, Mumbai has several government and charitable hospitals, as well as some of the best private hospitals. Joining a gym or health club would involve a monthly cost of anything between Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 8,000, depending upon the facilities, locality, and the most important factor—the gentry.
For education, the cost depends on the child’s age, locality, and the type of school chosen. The cost of a Play Group may vary from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 16,000, depending on the locality and school. Similarly, the annual cost of a CBSE school may range from Rs. 50K to Rs. 1 lakh. For international schools, the average cost is Rs. 3.5 lakh. Any private tuition will be an additional expense.
- Eating out and Entertainment: Now, this is one area that totally depends on your lifestyle. Mumbai has a plethora of options for all kinds of people. If you are too strict on your budget and/or not outgoing, you may spend a very small amount here. If you want a cheaper option, you may take a walk on Juhu Beach or Marine Drive and enjoy the street food. But, in case you like eating out and partying in style, you have several upscale hotels, restaurants, pubs, and discotheques. But in this case, you need to spend a good amount of your income.
Given below is a summary of the various expenses of living a ‘good’ life in Mumbai.
Conclusion: Going back to where we started with the song, living in Mumbai may be quite challenging. One needs to look into his/her budget and plan the expenses accordingly. So, if you want to balance your income and expenses, send some money back home, or even plan for future expenses, financial planning is a must.
As mentioned above, the biggest ticket expense in Mumbai is accommodation, and that’s where propertypistol.com can help you. So, whether you are looking to rent or buy a property, whatever your budget or location preference, our team of real estate experts at propertypistol.com can help you get the property that fits perfectly into your scheme of things.
Source: No Broker, Jupiter Money
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are for informational purposes only based on industry reports and related news stories. PropertyPistol does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information and shall not be held responsible for any action taken based on the published information.
