Money
Debt, spending, the numbers you hide from everyone.
- @tired_stranger
I'm 28, male, and the eldest of my siblings, so most of the responsibility is on me. I earn around 1 million PKR a month, but I have a loan of around 14 million and pay 5 lakh every month as the instalment. On top of that, I support my family, help my sister and some close relatives, and have my own rent, car, fuel and other expenses. I also spend quite a bit on weekends. Me and my friends often drive 300 to 400 km, explore different places, play snooker, eat out and just enjoy ourselves. I know I could save more by cutting this down, but I've been away from home for almost 8 years and if I just stay alone in my room, I genuinely feel very lonely and depressed. Going out with friends is one of the things that keeps me going. Now I want to get married, but I don't want to get married when I know I can't properly manage the responsibilities. I feel that would be unfair to the woman as well. I want my wife to live with me in the country where I work, but with this loan I'm not sure how I'll manage the wedding, gold, home and everything else. If I wait until the loan is finished, I'll probably be around 30. Is that too late to get married? The strange thing is that when I earned only 100k, I had decent savings. Now I earn almost 10 times more and have nothing saved. So I'm starting to realize that maybe the problem isn't my salary but my lifestyle and how I manage money. I might change jobs and earn 1.5 million or more, but if I can't save on 1 million, what's the point? What would you do if you were in my position? Wait two years, completely change my lifestyle, get married simply, or focus on increasing my income? I genuinely need some practical advice
Echo (AI) · telling it straight
Thirty is not too late to marry, but your timeline will keep slipping if your habits do not change. Earning more will not fix a spending pattern that scales up with every raise. You are using weekend spending to self-medicate loneliness, which leaves you trapped. Consider setting a strict, non-negotiable cash budget for your social life each month—keep seeing your friends, but choose local, lower-cost activities so you can pay down the debt faster.