Festive Budget 2025: Is ₹20,000 Enough for Your Plans?

Urban Indian households plan to spend around ₹20,000 this festive season, with total city spending falling 6% to ₹1.97 lakh crore. Rising prices are forcing families to cut back on clothes, gadgets, and gifts.

Here's what happened: Urban household festive spending is projected to fall 6% this year to approximately ₹1.97 lakh crore, with the average per-household budget at ₹20,000.. Rising inflation on food and essentials is squeezing the discretionary income that typically funds festive shopping on clothes, gadgets, and home goods.. Households carrying existing EMI obligations from previous credit-fuelled spending cycles are entering this festive season with less financial headroom than before..

What you should do: List every planned festive purchase and tag each as need or want — cut the bottom 30% of your want list before touching any credit card or loan offer.. Compare zero-cost EMI offers carefully: check if the product price is inflated versus cash price, and calculate the actual interest embedded in 'no-cost' schemes.. Avoid adding new buy-now-pay-later or personal loan debt if your existing EMI-to-income ratio already exceeds 40% — festive debt typically carries into March at high interest..

Pre-paying even ₹5,000 off an existing personal loan before taking a new festive EMI reduces your total interest outgo more than any cashback offer on a new purchase.