{"id":16037,"date":"2015-05-18T17:19:08","date_gmt":"2015-05-18T09:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=16037"},"modified":"2018-09-25T10:14:28","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T02:14:28","slug":"7-things-i-did-to-get-out-of-my-rm60000-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/7-things-i-did-to-get-out-of-my-rm60000-debt","title":{"rendered":"7 Things I Did To Get Out Of My RM60,000 Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s painful being in (seemingly) insurmountable debt. It was a nightmare, and this is the story of how I survived.<\/p>\n

I grew up having to share things (if we had any) with my other six siblings. Fresh into the working world in 2010, I became a \u201chungry ghost\u201d seeking pleasure in material possessions.<\/b> Naively, I thought; a sporty car with sleek 16\u201d rims would make me happy. Coupled with my ferocious goal setting attributes, I set out to get everything that I wanted, compiling them in a sacred list called \u201cIIW\u201d \u2013 Items I Want (Cute, eh?). And I got all of them at the expense of being deep in debt.<\/p>\n

It was only when I needed to get married that I realised the terrible truth: Not only did I have no savings, my impulsive spending habits had set my net worth to be negative 60K!<\/p>\n

How did I get into a mountain of debt? Just like anyone else — years of living mindlessly, which not only took a toll on my soul, but also ruined my personal finances too. Here\u2019s the breakdown:<\/p>\n

Total debts<\/div>
<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. AEON Credit for Macbook: RM3,000<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Maybank Visa Credit Card: RM28,000<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Personal Loan (3 years): RM30,000<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/div><\/div>\n

    I knew that paying a little bit higher than the minimum payment for my credit cards wouldn\u2019t do it. And I would probably be doing that for the rest of my life (with credit cards interest at a high 17%). It would have cost me countless investment opportunities along the way too.<\/p>\n

    It took me 25 slow and painful months <\/b>to finally get out of debt. The sense of achievement I felt when I successfully paid off my RM60k debt was beyond me. It became the inspiration for the first post on my blog<\/a>, and with that, opened myself to opportunities I would have never imagined.<\/p>\n

    The short answer to how I did it? Scrape more money from my salary to pay the debts while reducing my expenses significantly.<\/b><\/p>\n

    The long answer? Here are 7 specific things that I did to get out of my financial living hell called, debt:<\/b><\/p>\n

    <\/span>1. Identify the WHY<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

    Knowing WHY is paramount in every endeavour. Being newlywed with a new addition to the family, the pressure to provide and having to feed another person made me realise that I needed to get my act together. I wanted to provide a stable home for my daughter because she deserved to grow up in a good environment.<\/p>\n

    Moreover, I knew I needed to start investing, be it properties or stocks to fund more experiences, as well as reduce money-related anxiety. But my gigantic debts effectively ruined my chance to get a housing loan, and affected my motivation to save my capital. How could I save, when my normal end-of-months were just survivor tales of barely making ends meet?<\/p>\n

    All these realisations led me to my why <\/i>(well-being of my daughter, more financial freedom), and they became my light at the end of the tunnel. My why<\/i> provided the pull factor and added edge to strengthen my resolve. If you\u2019re about to tackle a project as big as \u2018Slashing 60K Debt\u2019, then my first advice is to know your why<\/i>. The best why\u2019s<\/i> are emotional and preloaded with vivid visions of how things should unfold when you have it in the future. Write it in your journal and let it be the beacon of light and hope in your journey.<\/p>\n

    <\/span>2. Envelope budgeting<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

    The problem with budgeting, and why people don\u2019t bother to budget at all, is due to the often unrealistic budgets we set for ourselves in the beginning. I experienced it first-hand in the first few months.<\/p>\n

    I always broke the budget (especially in what I called pure impulse spending). There\u2019s always fancier shirts or skinny pants to buy!<\/p>\n

    To combat this, I called upon wisdom from the ancient financial technique, called envelope budgeting.<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s the simplified overview:<\/div>
    <\/p>\n