Adulting Syllabus
Money Basics

"I Deserve It" Is the Most Expensive Sentence You'll Ever Say

Treat yourself. You only live once. You deserve it. These feel like your own thoughts. They're marketing scripts — and they're quietly bankrupting an entire generation of young Malaysians.

In 2025, Malaysians ran up RM21.3 billion on “buy now, pay later” — 243 million transactions, a 78% jump from RM12 billion the year before. Meanwhile 877 young Malaysians under 34 were declared bankrupt in 2024 (up from 727), and cumulatively 4,704 people aged 34 and under have gone bankrupt since 2021. None of them set out to go broke. They just said “I deserve it” a few hundred times, in RM100 instalments.

The breakdown

How “I deserve it” actually drains you:

  • It’s not your voice. “Treat yourself,” “you only live once,” “you’ve earned this” — these are ad copy. You’ve heard them so often they feel like your own values. They’re not.
  • BNPL hides the price. Splitting RM400 into “4 × RM100” makes a real cost feel free. The pain is spread thin enough that your brain stops registering it.
  • The sneaky third category. Everyone knows needs vs wants. The trap is wants disguised as needs — the RM250 “work clothes,” the “productivity” gadget, the “I need it for content” purchase.

It got big enough that the government stepped in: BNPL is now regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 2025 (in force March 2026), with providers needing a licence from June 2026. That’s good — but regulation caps the worst abuses; it doesn’t stop you from talking yourself into the 12th instalment plan.

The reframe

You don’t deserve the thing. You deserve the freedom.

Every “I deserve it” bought on instalments is trading a piece of your future freedom for a hit of dopamine that’s gone in 48 hours. The actual flex at your age isn’t the bag, the phone, or the trip you financed. It’s being the one person in your group who isn’t quietly drowning in instalments — who could walk away from a job they hate because they have savings, not a payment schedule.

Broke is loud. Wealthy is quiet. The people genuinely building freedom aren’t the ones posting the haul.

Action step

The 48-hour rule: anything non-essential over RM100, wait 48 hours before buying. Most “I deserve it” urges die on their own in two days. And one hard line — never BNPL anything that loses value: clothes, gadgets, food, trips. If you can’t buy it outright today, you can’t afford it yet.

Want the cheat sheet?

📥 The free Adulting Money Starter Kit has a one-page “needs vs wants vs traps” filter. Get it here →

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