One of the biggest traps I see middle class set themselves for is signing-up for a brand new car loan the first chance they afford the monthly. And honestly, I get it, the moment we reach a salary that provides more that what we need, the first thing we think of is where to spend it on or how to show the world that we are in this level.

But buying a car in this heavily saturated roads of greater Manila and Central Luzon, just doesn’t make sense. Throwing away cash on car loan interest just to join and contribute to even more traffic 3 hours a day, burning gas and stressing over a scratched side mirror is counter-intuitive. Kung maluwag ang gastusin mo, keep it that way. Wag nang isip ng isip ng gagastusan at hindi sigurado ang bukas.

Let’s look at the numbers. Did you know that compounding, the 7th wonder of the world, works better when you start as soon as possible? Paying yourself 20,000 monthly for 36 straight months would have been 1.2m in 10 years when invested in Pag-ibig MP2 at 7% annual interest.

You could have been a millionaire with a paid off car in cash if you delayed the illusion of joy and “success” that having a financed car brings.

Now I know you are thinking, paano kapag ma-ulan o paano kung may pamilya na? Well… three kids and groceries for said kids weekly would justify a car, but as an average solo daily commuter, a car is just an unnecessary luxury disguised as a need.

Because, Manila is just far too small for cars! A Yamaha Mio for example is only Php75,000… 10% of a car’s cash price and cuts your travel time up to 75% than when in 4-wheels. Even in transport services the argument remains, booking an Angkas or a MoveIt has similar pros than when hailing a taxi.

That’s why I support normalizing motorcycling in Manila! Let this be the era of motorbikes… mala-roads of Ho Chi Min in Vietnam! Let’s make sinking into bad debt for a car, baduy. Transportation was always meant to be a simple way of getting from point A to point B, wag nating gawing pangarap na nakamit or a tell of your social status.

The ultimate flex isn’t sitting inside a car stuck in EDSA for hours… the real flex is having millions in the bank, peace of mind, and getting home in 20 minutes.