Before you believe the number
Sounds good.
Really?
Let's check. We run the maths behind life's consequential money decisions.
Is your no-cost EMI actually free?
Four numbers. Prefilled with a typical offer, so change whatever does not match yours. Nothing you type leaves this page.
more than paying cash, once the forgone discount and the fee are counted. That is 18.4% a year on the ₹41,116 you actually financed, so it is also the return you would need to beat by keeping the cash.
₹3,750 × 12 = ₹45,000, plus ₹884 of fee and tax, against ₹42,000 in cash.
Includes GST at 18% on the fee. Not checked: bundled protection, late payment charges, or any effect on your credit limit. See the full working.
On the list
- Prepay the loan, or invest the money?
- What is this policy actually returning?
- What are my ESOPs actually worth?
- Rent, or buy?
One check is live. These are the ones we are working through.
The principle
Every number has a point of view.
Sellers show you the number that helps you buy. Really? checks the same decision from your side of the table.
The method
From claim to clarity.
- 01
Claim
“It's 0% interest.” - 02
Check
Price. Fees. Tax. Time. - 03
Reveal
The cost that actually matters.
No black box. No product push. Every number here, you can rebuild yourself.
A worked example
The example
Is No-Cost EMI
actually free?
Compare the offer with the cash price. Add back the discount, fees, taxes, and time. Here is that check, run in full, on a typical offer.
“12 months.
No cost. (struck)0% interest. (queried)”Struck: the discount you give up is a cost. Queried: the rate is not the price.
| What you pay on EMI | |
|---|---|
| Instalments, 12 × 3,750 | 45,000 |
| Processing fee 749, plus GST† | 884 |
| Total on EMI | 45,884 |
| What the same phone costs in cash | |
| Cash price, after the instant discount* | 42,000 |
more than paying cash. That is an effective 18.4% a year‡ on the ₹41,116 you actually financed.
Not checked: protection or insurance bundled with the offer, late payment charges, and any effect on your credit limit.
The same check, other answers.
The maths has no mood. Run it on a different offer, or against a different alternative, and it lands somewhere else. Really? checks the claim; it does not decide how you should feel about it.
A second offer on the same phone, with no cash discount and no fee. Nothing forgone, nothing charged. This one is what it says it is.
If you would invest the ₹42,000 rather than spend it, that is the return you need to beat. Above it the EMI is the better use of your money. Below it, cash is.
Really?*
Check the maths. Then decide.
The first check is coming to really.run.
Bring a claim