Despite public transport being the most practical option given his financial circumstances, a Malaysian man earning a nett salary of just RM1,600 a month decided to purchase a car.
Although his gross monthly salary is RM1,900, his take-home pay drops to RM1,600 after mandatory EPF deductions. When his peers initially thought he had finally saved up enough, perhaps with a little help from his family, they were shocked by his actual motivation for buying a new car on that income.
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The man’s primary reason for the purchase was to satisfy his girlfriend, who believed it was embarrassing for a man not to own a car.
“It’s not just the monthly instalment, but the unavoidable maintenance”
While the man had set a budget of RM500 for his monthly repayments, a figure that seemed manageable on paper, his peers calculated the additional “hidden” costs. These included petrol, tolls, road tax, and servicing, none of which accounted for emergencies like accidents or traffic fines.
Despite their warnings, the man remained eager to impress his partner, confident that he could juggle the expenses.
“I started reflecting on life and realised that my girlfriend is right,” he insisted, brushing aside his friends’ advice to delay the purchase.
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Seeking financial help from friends
The situation took a turn for the worse when the man began asking to borrow money, even hoping his friends would provide him with a long-term loan.
In a dilemma shared on the GOXUAN Facebook page, it was reported that the man sought financial assistance even before he signed the papers, admitting he was already on a “tight budget.”
During a dinner with friends, he baffled them further by casually announcing that he would likely need to borrow money from them frequently in the future to stay afloat.
That dinner ultimately ended the friendship. His peers were understandably unwilling to subsidise a lifestyle he couldn’t afford.
“If he had trouble with his instalments, road tax, maintenance, or accidents, we would be expected to pay, even though we don’t get to drive the car,” his friends remarked.
“It would be a car that we all paid for, but which belonged solely to him.”
In a final twist of irony, his friends later revealed that the woman ended the relationship anyway, for undisclosed reasons.
