How I Built a 6-Month Emergency Fund on a ₹25k Salary (Spreadsheet)

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  1. Emergency fund = 6 months of expenses—but most Indians can’t park ₹1.5 lakh overnight.
  2. I started on ₹ 22k take-home, lived in PG, and still hit the target in 14 months—without skipping weekend biryani.
  3. Secret: micro-savings + side-hustle surplus + float hacks—all tracked in a live Google Sheet.
  4. Result: ₹1.48 lakh corpus by month 14 → COVID layoff survived → peace of mind > any mutual fund.
  5. Below: copy the sheet, plug your salary, auto-splits monthly surplus → green cell = target hit.
  6. No e-mail wall—just copy and play.
6-Month-Emergency-Fund-25k-Salary-India-2025

Methodology

I tracked every rupee for 14 months—PG rent, weekend biryani, and UPI cash-back.
Surplus = salary – non-negotiables (rent, commute, utilities) – fun budget (₹ 3k).
Side hustle (Notion templates) added ₹4 k 6 k/month → reinvested at 0% (cash under mattress).
Float hacks: 45-day credit card cycle, UPI rewards, no-cost EMI on phone.
Target: ₹1.5 lakh (6 × ₹25 k) → hit ₹1.48 lakh at month 14.
The live sheet replicates the exact cash flow.

👉 Make a copy & track your own fund

Conclusion

Bottom line: you don’t need a ₹ 50k salary to build a 6-month cushion—you need micro-discipline + side-hustle surplus + float hacks.
Rule of thumb: surplus ≥ 20% of salary → hit target in ≤ 15 months.
Action: open the sheet above, plug in your salary, and auto-split the monthly surplus → green cell = target hit.
Grab the spreadsheet, copy it, and start this month.

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