Shrey | I use this space as a means of catharsis and to avoid repeating myself.

If you’re a salaried individual who’s looking to rent a house, its cheaper to rent a furnished property rather than an unfurnished/semi-furnished property.

This is counter-intuitive advice because furnished properties turn out to be costlier on paper. What most people(including myself) miss out on, is that you can include extra expenses like furniture, home appliances, and maintenance within your house rent and claim HRA for the same.

Let’s break it down 👇🏼

Scenario 1: Unfurnished property

Cost breakdown of unfurnished property

Scenario 2: Furnished property

Ideally, you should negotiate with the property owner to include maintenance and other expenses within the house rent.

Cost breakdown of furnished property

Hence, you’re saving Rs. 3857 per month(Rs. 50714 - Rs. 46857), just on rent. Don’t even get me started on the hassle of buying furniture and house appliances.

Here’s a link to the spreadsheet if you want to run these numbers yourself.