Living in metropolitan cities often entails a significantly higher cost of living compared to smaller towns or cities. Managing a low salary in a metropolitan city can present a formidable challenge for individuals facing this financial constraint. Recently, a single mother shared her story on Reddit with her account name, Garima Soul, about how she supports her family on a salary of less than Rs 20,000 per month. She teaches at a small preschool and gives tuition to a few children, earning a total of Rs 18,500 per month. She lives in a 1BHK apartment in East Delhi and pays a rent of Rs 5,500.
Garima's son is 4 years old, has mild autism, and is nonverbal. She takes him to the school where she teaches and does not have to pay for him, but she cannot afford to put him in therapy. She sometimes sends him to an anganwadi to get free food and nutritious snacks, as they cannot afford to buy fruits every time.
Garima says that she is normally unable to save anything at the end of the month. She dreams of how much she could save if her income was higher, but she also knows that people with incomes of over Rs 1 lakh also struggle to save money.
Anyone in Delhi reddit who runs a family in less than 20k a month like me??
byu/GarimaSoul indelhi
"I can't put him in therapy because it's quite expensive. I sometimes send him to Aanganwadi to get free food or nutritious snacks, as sometimes even buying fruits becomes difficult. Still, I normally find myself unable to save anything until the end of the month. When I read posts here about people paying 30-35k for rent, I just dreamed how much I'd save if that was my income. Then I also read people with 1-1.5 lakh not being able to save, so I suppose the more you earn, demands keep increasing," she wrote on Reddit.
Some users found Garima's story heartbreaking, but they also felt that it was a testament to her strength and resilience.
After the post, several users offered to help Garima; some offered a work-from-home job to her with a better salary, which surprised her, and she edited her post to thank those people.
"I am totally surprised at how this has turned out. I bow down to everyone willing to help me and my kid. To be honest, I was expecting just 10-15 comments, but the amount of love and respect I got showered with is totally overwhelming," she wrote.
