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I Bought My First Luxury Watch Thinking I Could Afford It, Only To End Up With Very Tight Cashflow

I started working as a content creator after quitting my job as a senior analyst. While I get the freedom to “be my own boss”, being fully in charge of my income leads to income fluctuations. There is good and bad to that. Here’s what I mean by that: I was in talks with another business to secure one of the biggest media contracts for my channel. I can’t spill the details, but it was around six figures. Because I don’t often receive these kinds of opportunities, I felt too excited and started thinking of all the things I could do with that large amount of money. Not to mention it was a huge milestone for my company. It was a whirlwind and after a few confirmation meetings I signed the large contract. To celebrate, I wanted to do something to commemorate this life-changing moment! Happily, I bought my first luxury watch for RM16,000 as a reminder of this incredible milestone. Little did I know that the moment was short-lived. Dashed hopes, and the realisation that I got ahead of myselfI was over the moon with the large contract and started planning the project and next steps, but little did I expect a plot twist. Devastating news hit me a few weeks later as the client informed me that their management had a restructuring exercise and decided to cut their marketing expenses. That meant all those months of contract discussion and finalising went up in flames – just like that. My contract was considered null, and my milestone disappeared in a flash. It took me awhile to recover from the shock of the cancelled contract. Thankfully, the void contract did not cripple my company financially, and we remain strong as a small team. However, the experience taught me a valuable lesson, as both a business owner and a consumer.“Never spend money that isn’t in your bank account. If it hasn’t shown up in your balance yet, it’s not yours to spend.”The luxury watch left a dent in my bank account, however, but I see it as an important lesson I won’t repeat.Personal finance, like life, is a journey. Hiccups may happen from time to time, but I don’t see them as negative.Even a bad experience can be a valuable learning one. This article is part of TSS Confessions, a weekly column where we delve into personal finance topics that are unscripted and genuine real accounts from people. Fong Wei Ziet, better known as Ziet Invests, is a content creator driven by the goal of boosting financial literacy among Malaysians. He aims to build a platform where people can open up about their money struggles, seek advice, and take practical steps to improve their financial situation so they can unlock their full potential and live better lives. You can follow him on his social media platforms: YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook here.