I don’t remember what excuse I gave my younger sister when I asked to borrow RM500. Something about timing, probably, or unexpected expenses. But we both knew what I was really saying, I’d maxed out my credit card and payday was still a week away.

She transferred the money without hesitation, without questions, without judgement. And somehow that made it worse, knowing my younger sister, the one I used to slip spending money to, was now the one bailing me out.

At 29, I’d become the person who borrows money from their younger siblings to pay off credit card debt. That’s when I knew 2025 had completely broken something fundamental about who I thought I was.

How Ten Thousand Small Decisions Became Ten Thousand Ringgit

A year earlier, I’d felt like I had everything figured out because I had a real job with a real salary, and I’d always been responsible with the basics of paying bills first before spending on anything else. I wasn’t reckless and I thought I had a system that worked.

What I also had was a credit card and a story I kept telling myself: I’ll just pay it back next month.

The spending itself never felt dangerous in the moment. Dinner with friends, RM80 here, RM100 there. New work clothes, RM200 at Uniqlo. Taking my family out for meals, birthday gifts, coffee runs. None of it was extravagant, just life. Except the balance kept climbing even though I was paying more than the minimum each month.

Then life piled on. Car repairs, RM300 here, RM600 there. A throat infection that kept coming back, and when you’re seeing a doctor every few weeks for nearly a year at RM200 per visit, those appointments add up fast.

By year end of 2024, I was staring at RM10,000 in debt that ‘d accumulated through a thousand small choices that had seemed harmless at the time.

The number itself wasn’t what broke me. What broke me was my younger brother’s birthday, showing up empty-handed and saying words I never thought I’d say: “Sorry, I can’t get you anything this year.” And when my sister’s birthday came around, it was the same apology with the same empty hands.

The Turning Point

I almost ignored the call when someone from Alliance Bank reached out about debt consolidation in August 2025 because it felt like just another sales pitch. But something made me listen, maybe because I was desperate enough to consider anything that might help.

I started researching that night. One of my colleagues had written about debt consolidation, and I read that post three times before asking her questions. She explained how it worked: taking all that scattered debt and consolidating it into one fixed payment with a lower interest rate, one clear number instead of a mess of minimum payments, one deadline I could actually see.

In September 2025, I signed up for a 12-month plan at around RM900 a month that included a 3% flat interest rate. The payment was high but it was fixed and predictable, something I could actually plan around. And for the first time in months, I felt like I could breathe.

Where I Am Now

It’s January 2026, four months in. RM3,800 disappears from my account monthly for debt consolidation and family support. What’s left gets divided between my food, necessities, and RM200 into savings.

RM200 probably sounds laughable to people with sorted finances, but for me it’s proof I can set money aside instead of spending every ringgit.

Some days are hard. I’ve missed yum cha sessions, declined invitations, packed lunch while colleagues go out for nasi lemak. There have been moments when I’ve thought about charging something to the card, to feel normal for five minutes.

But then I remember the weight of that RM10,000, the shame of asking my sister for money, showing up to birthdays empty-handed. “Normal” is what got me here in the first place.

My credit card lives in a drawer now, buried under old papers with a balance of RM0. I only pull it out when my siblings need points, they hand me cash immediately, I swipe, and it goes right back into hiding.

I’m not debt-free and I’ve got months of payments ahead, but I’m not spiraling. I’m not waking up at 3am doing panicked mental maths. And when Christmas came last December, I was able to buy my siblings a gift with money I actually had. Walking in with a present instead of apologies felt like winning.

If You’re Reading This And Seeing Yourself

Maybe you’re sitting there with that familiar knot in your stomach, recognising your own story in my mess. Maybe your credit card balance has been climbing and you’ve been telling yourself you’ll deal with it next month.

“I’ll pay it back next month” is the most dangerous lie you can tell yourself. Small purchases add up in ways that don’t feel real until you’re staring at a statement wondering where RM10,000 went. And if you don’t have an emergency fund, everything becomes an emergency and your credit card becomes your emergency fund by default, which means you’re building debt instead of security.

Debt consolidation might be worth exploring, so talk to your bank whether it’s Maybank, CIMB, Public Bank, or whoever you’re with. Or reach out to AKPK (Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit), which I didn’t know existed but would absolutely try first now. They’re free, non-judgemental, and exist specifically to help people drowning in debt.

Cut up your credit card if you need to or hide it, whatever it takes to stop the bleeding. Start saving something, even RM50 a month, because having any amount of savings changes your relationship with emergencies.

2024 broke me open and showed me how quickly control can slip away. But 2025 has taught me something more important, breaking isn’t the same as being broken beyond repair. Sometimes the only way out is through one RM200 deposit at a time, one packed lunch at a time, one birthday gift purchased with actual money at a time.

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