Strota Research

Saving ₹25,000 a month for wedding gold? Keeping cash never bought the most in 142 weddings

By Strota Newsroom · 2026-11-06 · How Strota reports

goldwedding jewellerygold ETFpost office RD22K goldgold savings

We tested four ways to turn ₹25,000 a month into wedding jewellery over five years. Buying a little gold every month got the most gold most often, and waiting with cash never came first.

A family saving ₹25,000 a month for five years before a wedding usually got the most jewellery by buying a little gold every month. We checked 142 weddings between January 2015 and October 2026. Monthly buying came out on top in 86 of them, a post office RD won the other 56, and keeping the money as cash until the wedding never won once. The gap is large, because the same ₹15 lakh bought very different amounts of gold on each route.

To compare the routes we use the median wedding, so line up all 142 results from fewest grams to most, and take the one in the middle. In that median wedding, monthly buying got 433.4 grams of 22K jewellery, while cash kept aside and spent at the wedding got only 297.2 grams. The figures assume 22K gold, which is 91.6% pure, with a 12% making charge and 3% GST. Making charges differ between shops and designs, so 12% is only an example.

Why waiting with cash lost so much gold

Gold kept getting dearer through these years: 100 grams of 22K wedding jewellery cost ₹2,87,162 in January 2015, with making charge and GST. On 4 November 2026 the same 100 grams cost ₹14,99,369. Cash stayed in rupees while that price climbed, so at the wedding it bought far fewer grams. Monthly buying turns each month's money into gold at that month's price. A later jump in price cannot shrink what is already in the locker.

The fewest grams cash ever bought was 84.7, against a fewest of 201.5 from monthly buying. Each plan ran for 60 months, and a new plan started every month from January 2010 to October 2021, with the wedding in the month after the last payment. These 142 weddings share most of their months, though, so they are not 142 separate tests.

Post office RD or buying gold every month?

A post office RD, or recurring deposit, is a five-year savings plan where you pay in a fixed sum every month and earn interest at the rate set when it opens. It did best when gold prices went nowhere, and for a January 2016 wedding the RD, at 7.5%, bought 654.1 grams against 509.8 grams from monthly buying.

When gold ran up, the RD fell far behind. A January 2026 wedding got 119.8 grams from an RD earning 5.8%, while monthly buying got 231.3 grams. Overall, the RD ranged from 57.6% fewer grams than monthly buying to 28.3% more, and in the median wedding it got 12.3% fewer. That swing is hard on a wedding budget, which cannot absorb a big shortfall when gold rallies. The study taxed RD interest at a 20% slab, so families in other slabs would get a different figure.

Gold ETF vs jewellery: what the fee and tax cost

A gold ETF is a fund traded on the stock exchange whose units follow the price of gold. A family can buy units each month in its demat account, then swap them for jewellery at the wedding. This route came second in the median wedding, with 402.1 grams, but it got less than monthly jewellery buying in all 142 weddings. The study charged 0.1% each time units were bought or sold.

Making charges and GST did not cause the gap, because both are a share of the price, so they take the same slice of gold whenever they are paid. Without the fund's fee and the tax, the ETF route would have matched monthly buying gram for gram. In the median wedding it bought 94.8% as many grams. The fund's 0.81% yearly fee and dealing costs took about 2.4 percentage points, and tax on the profit at sale took about 2.8 more.

Real families rarely buy a small piece every month, since they buy a few larger pieces, and designs picked years early may need remaking. Jeweller gold-saving schemes, which waive part of the making charge, were not part of this comparison. The gap between saving in rupees and owning gold was wide at the very end of the period: for an October 2026 wedding, the RD bought 108.4 grams, while monthly jewellery buying got 201.5 grams.

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to buy wedding gold in advance or at the time of the wedding?

Across 142 weddings from 2015 to 2026, buying a piece every month got the most gold in 86 of them. Saving cash to buy everything at the end never did. This looks back at past gold prices and is not a forecast.

Is a gold ETF cheaper than buying jewellery for a wedding?

In the median wedding, the ETF route got 94.8% as many grams as buying jewellery monthly. The fund's 0.81% yearly fee, dealing costs and tax on the gain made up the difference.

Does a post office RD beat gold for wedding savings?

Only when gold prices stayed flat: for a January 2016 wedding the RD bought 654.1 grams against 509.8 grams by monthly buying. Before a January 2026 wedding, when gold ran up, it bought 119.8 grams against 231.3 grams.

Sources and method

This note is based on Strota's own backtest research. Historical results are not forecasts or investment advice; see the editorial standards for methodology and limitations.