Living on Rp 7.1 Million with Rp 480M Debt — My Real Monthly Budget

 

I used to avoid looking at my own numbers.

Not because I didn’t care — but because every time I did, the weight of it all would settle back on my chest. A bank loan. Credit card debt. A cooperative loan. A new loan taken out just to survive after being scammed. The numbers weren’t just numbers. They were proof of everything that had gone wrong.

But here’s what I’ve learned: looking away doesn’t make the debt smaller. It only makes the fear bigger.

So today, I’m putting my real numbers on the table — not to shock you, not to ask for sympathy — but because I know there are people out there living inside the same silence I used to live in. And they deserve to see that someone is still standing.

First, let me tell you how I got here

I took a bank loan of Rp 350 million and invested it in a palm oil plantation. It wasn’t a reckless decision — the plantation generates income that covers the bank installments and pays for my daughter’s education. That part of my plan worked.

What I didn’t plan for was what came after.

I was targeted by a scam syndicate — the kind that operates professionally, patiently, and knows exactly how to find people who are trying to build a better life. I lost money. I reported it. And then, while I was still recovering, someone from the same group approached me again. I was deceived a second time.

Then came the dropshipping scam — $2,000 USD gone.

To cover the damage, I took out a new loan. New credit card debt followed. A new cooperative loan. The debt I was already managing became heavier, and I was still standing in the same spot, trying to find solid ground.

I want to say this clearly: being scammed is not stupidity. It is crime. The people who did this to me are criminals. I was their target, not their fool.

My real monthly budget — every number, no filter

My monthly salary from the bank where I work: Rp 7,100,000

The palm oil plantation handles the Rp 350 million bank installment and my daughter’s school fees separately. My salary is purely for running our household and managing the remaining debt.

Fixed monthly outflows from my salary:

• Household expenses (electricity, wifi, daily needs): Rp 2,500,000

• Credit card minimum payment (5%): Rp 1,000,000 — total remaining balance: Rp 18,000,000

• Cooperative loan installment: Rp 300,000

• New bank loan installment (to cover scam losses): Rp 950,000

Total monthly debt payments + household: Rp 4,750,000

What remains for all personal and daily needs: Rp 2,350,000 — roughly Rp 78,000 per day.

Rp 78,000 a day for food, transport, personal care, and any unexpected expense that life decides to throw in.

If any of this feels familiar — follow along on Threads @ciobella27. You don't have to carry the numbers alone.

I’m not writing this to make you feel sorry for me. I’m writing it because I want you to see what ‘tight’ actually looks like in real numbers — and that it’s possible to live inside those numbers with dignity, intention, and even a little bit of peace.

What keeps me going

The plantation is my anchor. Knowing that it’s working — generating income, covering the big loan, keeping my daughter in school — that gives me a foundation I can build from. Most people carrying this much debt don’t have that. I know how fortunate I am to have made that investment when I did.

My credit card debt is down to Rp 18 million. That number felt impossible not long ago. Now it has an end.

I’ve learned ikhlas — a kind of acceptance that doesn’t mean giving up, but means releasing the grip of what I’ve lost so I can use both hands for what’s ahead. Some days the grief still comes. That’s allowed. But I don’t let it stay.

What I want you to take from this

If you’re reading this and your own numbers feel impossible — write them down anyway. Not to punish yourself. To see them clearly. Because you cannot make a plan for a number you won’t look at.

Your debt does not define your character. How it was built might tell a story of hard times, bad luck, or someone else’s crime. But how you face it — that’s yours.

I’m a single mother. A bank employee. A palm oil plantation owner. A scam survivor. A debt carrier. And I’m still here, still building, still writing.

That’s the story I choose to tell.

Next: I'm figuring out how to pay off Rp 18 million in credit card debt. I don't have all the answers yet — but I'll share every step, honestly, as I go.

Follow along on Threads @ciobella27 | My Happy Finds Corner Blog