Since 2020, @adultingbytheringgit has been sharing his financial journey — from living paycheck to paycheck and getting scammed, to rebuilding from –RM100K in debt.
Today, he manages money as a husband, father, and DIY investor. He shares real numbers, honest reflections, and the ups and downs of managing finances as life evolves.
In this interview, we talk about how his mindset has changed, what he’s learned about investing, and how becoming a parent reshaped the way he budgets.
Q: Hi! For those who don’t know you yet, could you briefly introduce yourself and what sparked your interest in managing money better?
It’s been awhile since I last introduced myself for anything but here goes.
I am a 33-year-old Sabahan man who is now based in Penang, working in the Public Sector.
I started my online persona as an unmarried man in 2020, and have now become a married man with 1 son.
So my content has progressed from a SINK (single income no kids) to DI1K (dual income 1 kid) POV.
The goal was to have a place to express my creativity, share my joys and struggles with like minded individuals and to hopefully guide more people away from the mistakes I made throughout my journey.
What sparked the interest was when I was left with just RM5 in my wallet with almost nothing in my bank account as I was awaiting my salary at the end of the month when I was in my 1st year of working.
I basically said “enough is enough!” and eventually found my base in Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps.
Q: In 2018, you shared that you were living paycheck to paycheck with negative net worth. What was the first thing you did to start turning things around?
The first thing I did was look in the mirror and accept how far I let myself go. Then, visualised the future I wanted to build for myself.
A fitter life, more stabilised income, no suffering while waiting for the next paycheck, and to stop blaming others for my struggles.
I knew I had to take ownership of my shortcomings and began building my way up. Because, I have already reached the bottom.
It’s my responsibility to bring myself up.
No one else, not my parents, not my employer, not my government.
Q: You’ve openly talked about financial scams, shifting mindsets, and moving away from Dave Ramsey’s philosophy. How would you describe your current money or investing approach today?
I wanted to share that I am also human and can fall prey to scams.
Initially, I was one of those people who just wanted to get rich quick. So I was basically a lamb that was willingly brought to the financial scam slaughterhouse.
I had to share that even from a crisis, we can build ourselves up again.
I found my base in Dave Ramsey’s philosophy. In fact, I still carry a lot of the same mindset. However, I could never truly accept the fact that I shouldn’t invest as I pay my debts and also the fact that he paints a devilish picture regarding credit cards.
As someone who is more of a mathematical mind, I knew the value of compound interest, and that investing early is best.
Also, as I’ve made it abundantly clear through the years, I LOVE credit cards. In fact, I’m almost able to afford a free round trip ticket for 3 people overseas as we speak, by maximising the credit card perks I have.
I love chess, and in chess, gaining tempo is important. It can make or break your game. Credit cards, when managed well give exactly that – Tempo.
Eventually, as my knowledge in personal finance increased, I graduated from Dave’s philosophy and began customising my framework to be more suited to me and my family’s lifestyle.
Q: What were some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned while going from –RM100k to a positive six-figure net worth? Any mistakes that turned out to be valuable?
It’s okay to be slow, learn to prioritise things. Sometimes, debt reduction isn’t the most pressing issue.
Cashflow management is more important IMO as well as building an emergency fund. I don’t know how many times we as a family have been saved simply because we religiously practice these.
When investing, take RISKS according to your tolerance. Being young means we can afford the losses but only if it’s with money we are willing to lose. The value of money decreases over time, so just keeping it in FDs is foolish.
A lot of my biggest winners were the ones I invested in during crashes, because I felt the risk to reward ratio was worth it. Time has proven me right many times over.
In fact, my wife and baby’s hospital bills were paid by my humongous bitcoin profits. Imagine if I didn’t take the plunge earlier? I would have struggled even more.
Mistakes that were valuable – getting scammed in crypto and losing close to 90% in value in crypto at one point. It was painful. But, it led to me increasing my financial knowledge and levelled up my risk tolerance to a Godly level.
Haha – jkjk. But you get what I mean I hope.
Q: What made you take the leap into sharing your journey online, and how did you come up with your Instagram content style and monthly updates?
Part boredom and part natural tendency to share.
Prior to starting this journey I was one of those people who shared everything with my actual profile. Eventually I learned the value of privacy and keeping a low profile until I stopped sharing a lot on my actual FB and Instagram accounts. But the habits were still there.
At the same time, I realised my love for personal finance and all things adulting (healthy lifestyle, continuous improvement, chores, etc) was growing.
While searching online for content to feed my curiosity, I found it frustrating that content from a local Malaysian perspective was hardly available. Most were just people peddling get rich quick schemes like forex trading or trying to sell things e.g. insurance or real estate.
It got me thinking, surely an average 8-5 salaryman can achieve SOMETHING, right?
So, I just started.
Stylewise and content wise is all trial and error. I wanted to have organic content fed from my daily life experiences and readings from articles and books.
Unfortunately, I’m not a trend follower. I post for an audience of one = me.
Q: You’ve mentioned being a DIY investor with a pretty aggressive style. How do you decide what to invest in, and has your risk appetite changed over time?
I was initially very aggressive, but I have now adapted a portfolio allocation style?
I’m not sure what to call it, but basically I always make sure to have a mix of assets.
From crypto to cash equivalents. The ideal portfolio is one that has a bit of everything, the risky assets for a higher risk to reward ratio, and the “plain-vanilla” cash equivalents for stability.
I currently have a huge allocation base of “EPF + Cash + Cash Equivalents”, so that I have the cojones to YOLO in some of the riskiest assets available for a possible moonshot with a very small allocation, max 2%.
It doesn’t kill me, but it can make a difference in terms of confidence.
In fact, I was lucky to actually achieve some moonshots and had the 2% balloon into 5-7% of my portfolio before.
Of course, age and experience has taught me to take profits, and so I have.
One thing has I learned while I was experimenting with multiple investing strategies is this – Size Matters.
1% of RM100k is better than 100% of RM10.
Earning 1% is easy peasy.
Build size first, go crazy later.
Q: Now that you’re navigating both finances and new parenthood, how has that shifted the way you budget, save, or invest?
Totally shifted. It’s a totally different experience compared to shifting towards budgeting for just 2 adults.
Truthfully, I’m still figuring things out. The monthly budgets change every month.
As of now, I’m still trying to find the right proportions for a sustainable budget.
In terms of how I save, it is now more towards cash and cash equivalents (money market funds, high yield savings accounts).
Why? Because of the problem with the monthly budget.
That value is still unknown. Therefore, keeping our money liquid is the priority for the short term.
Investing wise, it is more subdued for the time being.
But once we solve the problem with the budget, I will ramp up the aggression again. Rationally, of course.
Q: You read and recommend a lot of great books. What’s one book that really changed your perspective on money or life?
James Clear’s Atomic Habits in terms of how I approach personal development
Bill Perkins’ Die with Zero in terms of succession planning and retirement.
Sorry I cheated. But these 2 books are equal in value to me.
Atomic Habits stresses the value of incremental gains and the role it plays towards habit building. Our brains need a lot of energy to really think of solutions, habits can reduce the load our brain needs to function.
Basically, habits enable us to automate our lives. That is very powerful.
Die With Zero taught me that I should rethink the idea of “only” giving away my possessions when I die. Because, the dead can give nothing, only the living can.
Besides that, it also forced me to rethink the reason why I invest and save.
Why must I wait until I am old and unfit to build memories and to enjoy my hard earned fortune? It’s not YOLO-ing, it’s about thinking about the big picture.
If anyone wishes to start reading about money and life, these 2 books should be the start. Not the overrated “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”
Q: How do you define financial freedom for yourself? And what does “enough” look like to you these days?
It’s already in the question you asked.
Financial Freedom is having enough for my needs. Not wants, NEEDs.
Can I feed my family? Can I house my family? Can I provide my children memories and education that can last a lifetime?
If the answer is yes to all – that is enough for me.
When I think about it like this, I realise, I am not that far.
Financial Freedom does not necessarily mean being a millionaire (But it sure helps haha)
Q: For Malaysians who feel like they’re starting from behind—maybe with debt or little savings—what’s one thing you’d want them to hear?
There’s plenty of people in the same position.
Find someone who shares your same problem and mindset.
Managing finances takes a very long time and the journey is constantly evolving.
Having a community or a partner can make a lot of difference.
Anyone can START, but it takes a lot of support to CONTINUE.
Final Thoughts
A huge thank you to @adultingbytheringgit for opening up and sharing his journey so candidly. His story shows that financial growth doesn’t come from having everything figured out; it comes from being willing to learn, adapt, and keep moving forward, even when things get hard.
Here are three takeaways we loved from this interview:
- You have to own your situation before you can change it. The turning point wasn’t financial; it was mental.
- Building wealth isn’t about speed. It’s about alignment, risk tolerance, and knowing your “why.”
- Portfolio size matters more than chasing massive returns. He focuses on growing his “base” first because 1% on RM100K is better than 100% on RM10.
Follow his journey on Instagram @adultingbytheringgit for more monthly updates, deep reflections, and lessons from the real side of adulting in Malaysia.
