Don't fund lifestyle needs with debt; limit your total EMI outgo

Limit the sum total of all your EMIs to 50 per cent of take-home salary

Twenty seven-year-old Yash Srivastava, an IT professional with a passion for photography, took a loan of Rs 1 lakh from a non-banking financial company (NBFC) at 15 per cent interest to fund the purchase of a high-end DSLR camera and accessories. Since his salary was only Rs 30,000 then, he found himself in a financial tight spot for months thereafter. Srivastava regrets his rather impulsive decision to fund, what was essentially a lifestyle expense, with a high-cost loan.  

Buy now, pay later culture 

Many millennials appear to have made “Spend more and bring home happiness” their life’s mantra. Online sales,