For millions of salaried people working away from their hometowns, Diwali means the journey home. It’s the best part of the year, and often the most expensive week too. The ticket is just the start: a box of sweets for every relative, new clothes for parents, something for the kids in the family, helping with the house, the dinner everyone expects you to pay for because you “work in the city”.
This is day 4 of our Diwali 2026 series. We’ve covered the 18-day festive budget, using a Diwali bonus and the real cost of no-cost EMI. Today is about the trip home, and paying for it without a loan app.
The real cost of going home: a trip budget
An illustrative profile, not a real customer: Sneha, her husband and their daughter travel from Bengaluru to her parents’ home for five days. Their plan, line by line:
| Line | What it covers | Sneha’s plan | Your number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tickets | Return train or flight for everyone | ₹12,000 | ₹______ |
| Local travel | Cabs to the station, autos, visiting relatives | ₹1,500 | ₹______ |
| Gifts for family | Parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, elders | ₹6,000 | ₹______ |
| Household & puja share | Sweets, puja, lights, groceries for the house | ₹5,000 | ₹______ |
| Outings & meals | Family dinner, shopping trip, movie | ₹3,000 | ₹______ |
| Buffer (about 10%) | Missed train, extra guests, a forgotten gift | ₹2,500 | ₹______ |
| Total | ₹30,000 | ₹______ |
Illustrative figures. Fares in particular vary widely by route, class and how early you book.
Sneha’s family takes home ₹1.1 lakh a month. ₹30,000 is a lot, but it’s a known number she can plan for over two salary cycles instead of discovering it on a credit card statement in December.
Six ways to cut the cost without cutting the joy
Book the moment dates are fixed
Festive fares and berths go fast. Every week you wait usually means a higher fare or a worse option. If dates are flexible, travelling a day or two before the peak days can help.
Agree the shared costs before you leave
A two-minute call with siblings about who pays for what (puja, the family dinner, parents’ gifts) avoids awkward moments and double-buying. Splitting evenly is fairer than whoever reaches for the wallet first.
Buy gifts once, not twice
Carrying gifts from the city adds luggage and sometimes costs more. Buying some at home, or pooling with siblings for one bigger gift for parents, often works out better.
Give yourself a daily spending cap
Five days of “small” outings add up. Divide the outings line by the number of days and use UPI so you can see it.
Say a warm, clear no
“We’ve already planned our budget for this trip” is kind and honest. Requests can be handled after Diwali, in the next month’s budget.
Keep the buffer untouched until day four
If it survives, it becomes the start of next year’s travel fund.
If there’s a gap: what each option really costs
Sometimes the numbers just don’t meet. Before you open a loan app at the station, compare the cost of covering a ₹10,000 shortfall for one month.
Cost of covering a ₹10,000 gap for about a month
Illustrative. Card revolving assumes 3.5% a month on the unpaid balance. Loan app assumes a 10% fee plus 1% a day for 30 days per cycle; after two cycles you have paid about ₹8,000 and still owe ₹10,000. Some employers offer salary advances free; check your HR policy.
The order of preference is clear: festive savings, an employer salary advance, a credit card you’ll pay in full on the next statement. A loan app should be the last resort, not the first tap. If a payday-style loan is unavoidable, borrow only from an RBI-regulated lender, read the Key Fact Statement, and repay it in one go. Our guide to what a payday loan really costs explains why rolling it over is the real danger.
The trip home should cost you a few weeks of planning, not months of rollover fees.
Before you lock the door: a money checklist
- EMIs and bills on auto-pay, with enough balance in the account for early-November debits.
- Rent and utilities paid so nothing is overdue while you’re away.
- A small emergency amount you can reach from your phone, separate from the trip budget.
- OTP discipline: nobody genuine (bank, lender, courier, railway) asks for your OTP or PIN. Scam calls and fake “Diwali loan” messages spike in the festive season. If cheated, call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in.
- Know your lender: if you must borrow, check the app in the RBI’s directory of digital lending apps first.
Coming back already juggling app loans?
Many people return from the festive break with two or three short-term app loans they took “just for the trip”. The worst move is a fourth loan to repay the first. Stop the rotation, list every loan with its due date and fee, and consider replacing them with one EMI. Omozing SmartSwitch does exactly that for salaried borrowers: the money goes to your own account, you close each app loan within about seven days and share the NOCs, and you’re left with a single EMI that actually ends. Your exact terms are in the Key Fact Statement before you sign.
Came back with more than one app loan?
See what your app loans cost each month, and what one EMI could look like instead.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I budget for going home for Diwali?
Add up six lines: tickets, local travel, gifts, your share of household and puja costs, outings and a buffer of about 10%. For many families the non-ticket costs are larger than the fare itself.
How can I save on festive travel?
Book as soon as dates are fixed, consider travelling a day or two before peak days, agree shared costs with siblings in advance and avoid buying gifts twice.
Should I take an instant loan for Diwali travel?
Only as a last resort. Savings, an employer salary advance or a credit card paid in full cost far less. If you must use a short-term loan, borrow from an RBI-regulated lender and repay it in one go without rolling it over.
Is a salary advance better than a loan app?
Usually yes. Many employers offer advances at little or no cost, recovered from your next salary. Check your company’s HR policy.
What should I do about EMIs while I’m travelling?
Keep enough balance in the account linked to your auto-debits for early-November EMIs and bills. A bounced EMI can mean charges and a late-payment mark on your credit report.
I took several app loans for the trip. What now?
Don’t take a new loan to repay an old one. List every loan, then consider consolidating them into one EMI with a regulated lender, such as Omozing’s SmartSwitch for salaried borrowers.
This article is general information, not financial advice. Omozing is the digital lending brand of Aparampaar Finance Private Limited, an RBI-registered non-deposit-taking NBFC. See our regulatory disclosures and grievance redressal process.