Mint Money Compass | Cleaner air, smarter gifts and holidays on a budget

This week's Mint Money stories examine the changing choices shaping household finances.

It's that time of year when air pollution grabs headlines, and AQI becomes dinner table conversation. The worry, however, is no longer confined to the capital. It extends to other cities, where vehicle exhaust, heavy industry, thermal power plants, and construction contribute to air pollution throughout the year.

Consequently, clean air is becoming a household budget item, with more families considering air purifiers to reduce indoor pollution. And since a purifier comes with ongoing costs, it pays to be smart about the purchase. Ananya Grover spoke to experts about what a purifier costs and what buyers should keep in mind. For instance, a suitable purifier for a room larger than 150 square feet can cost up to ₹18,000. If you're paying more than that, chances are you may be spending extra on aesthetics rather than functionality.

Then there are other things to consider, like whether the machine's clean air delivery rate (CADR) suits your room's size. In terms of expenses, you will also need to set aside a small annual budget for filter replacements, rather than relying on extended warranties, which usually do not cover them. The story is a good starting point for understanding the costs and features that can help make your purchase worthwhile.

Keeping with seasonal spending, there is another interesting story from the Mint Money stable that merits a mention: the rise of wedding registries. A popular concept in the West, a wedding registry is a list of gifts a couple would like to receive for their wedding. The list is shared with guests so that couples receive gifts they'll actually use, rather than boxes that are opened, repacked and passed on at the next wedding. In this story, Ann Jacob looks at how some couples are taking a more practical path and using registries to guide guests towards gifts they actually need.

Understandably, the concept is still in its infancy, but it is gaining some traction in larger cities, giving rise to startups that help modern couples set up their registries. You will, however, need to be mindful of a platform's fees, payout timelines and withdrawal rules. While it may still be difficult to get the entire guest list on board with the practical registry bandwagon, younger guests may find it useful to have a list rather than guessing what the couple might want.

In a follow-up to her story on changing travel plans amid rising airfares and global uncertainty, Shipra Singh spoke to people who have reworked their holidays instead of cancelling them. Interestingly, the decision to drive rather than fly has added more to the holiday for a group travelling from Delhi to Goa. They are now planning stopovers in Indore to enjoy the street food and Nashik to experience its popular vineyards.

Others are swapping flights for trains or choosing domestic destinations over international ones. The main takeaway is simple: a little flexibility with destinations and transport can help keep a holiday on the calendar, even when exorbitant airfares and uncertainties loom large.

In the investment space, Jash Kriplani takes a look at a growing category of mutual funds focused on real estate investment trusts, or Reits. Reits are like mutual funds that pool investors' money to own largely income-generating properties, giving investors exposure to commercial real estate. There are six Reits listed so far, and a Reit-oriented mutual fund makes it easier to invest across them through a mutual fund structure.

It also simplifies the tax treatment compared with direct Reit investments, where different types of payouts can be taxed differently. But you need to be mindful of a few things: most of these funds don't offer pure Reit exposure. Many track an index that currently allocates 60% to Reits and the rest to listed real estate companies. That mix could change as more Reits become available, but for now, the real estate stocks can add volatility.

For this reason, financial advisers do not view this category of mutual funds as a replacement for holding REITs directly and recommend at best a small or satellite exposure.

In this week's Money Guru, Ananya Grover spoke to Bhavesh Jain, managing director and chief executive of TransUnion CIBIL, who pointed out how common repeat borrowing is among gold loan customers and why borrowers need to assess their repayment capacity before taking on more debt. As a keeper of credit scores, he also spoke about habits to cultivate before borrowing to avoid a heavy debt burden.

That's all from the Mint Money team this week.