6 years ago, it was my dream to have my own car, but I wasn’t even close to buying one.
Back then, I was able to use my parents 15+ year old 1997 Mazda Van.
You could say I was already comfortable traveling to and from school.
Until that van gave me a lot of headaches.
Sometimes, the engine would stop in the middle of traffic and would not start.
Or when trying to look for parking spaces in a mall, the engine would suddenly stop and it would take around 10 minutes for it to start again.
Imagine the horns and uni-brows you get from impatient people.
Then later on, the aircon would just not work.
If you don’t know where the engine of a van is located, it’s right under the driver’s and passenger’s seat in the front.
So it’s like you sitting on an oven if your aircon isn’t turned on.
I was literally in a “hot seat”.
At times like that, I would always remember my parents say “Kapag maiksi ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot”
I hope my parents would have told me what to do with a “15 year old van, an engine the keeps failing and a broken aircon”
But I couldn’t easily replace that van because of the fact that I had no money to even buy a replacement car.
I really had no choice.
So I just had to get it fixed from time to time.
For several years, that’s how it was for me until I got married and had a wife and daughter.
I just couldn’t bear to have them be in the “hot seat” with me.
Kung ako lang mag-isa, kaya kong tiisin.
Then a couple of years later, my father went home from the US and decided to take the van to have it fix so he has something to use while he’s here in the Philippines.
If you must know, my father is already around 65 years old, retired and with chronic renal failure who was already advised by his doctor to undergo hemodialysis.
So, I can’t refuse to give him the van.
And for those of you who don’t know my story yet, my mother already passed away from Leukemia before my 1st year in Medical School.
So, I had to really find a way to stand up on my own ever since.
That wasn't difficult for me to do that since I have been a son of OFW parents. Throughout my childhood, I learned how to be independent.
And I also have sisters who helped me along the way, but there’s only so much they can give since they have their own families to support.
Anyway, so my father took the van and we’re left with commuting.
I wanted my daughter to at least experience what it’s like to ride a jeep and see the black clouds we call smog.
Shockingly, my daughter enjoys riding jeepneys and so do the other commuters riding with us because my daughter would sing along the way.
So that was 3 years ago and for health and safety reasons, I just wanted to have our own car again.
Just any car, a simple car that we can use.
Something compact and fuel efficient.
Of course, it should be within our budget.
Setting aside our pride, my wife and I decided to purchase a 2nd hand car just to be practical.
We didn’t want to spend all our savings just to buy a new car and have the burden of having an additional monthly expense from an auto loan.
You know, financial education first right?
So, that’s what we did.
We got our emergency fund first.
Then, healthcare and several life insurances for my daughter, my wife and me.
To cut this story short...
Because of this Digital Business, my wife and I are able to become financially stable, not rich, but comfortable enough to be worry-free of our finances.
As a result, we can hone our daughter’s talents in dance and music while she's still young.
Aside from regular school, she goes to piano and ballet lessons.
These are the things that actually matter.
And…
As some of you may have seen from my FB Profile Post the other day, we just got our brand new car that we’ve always wanted.
As a husband and father, seeing my wife’s and daughter’s eyes after buying our new Isuzu mu-X was worth…
Every sleepless night I had to work on my business
Every revision of my eBook (I lost count how many times I’ve re-written it)
Every high-paid course I bought
Every technical jargon I had to learn to build a website
Every earplug I had to imaginatively wear to block out the comments made by people close to me
Every bit of advice I read from people here and in other FB Groups
Everything was worth it.
And how can I forget the 15+ year old van.
So guys, stay motivated, keep going despite the struggles.
As always, focus on your biggest & deepest why's.
Why do you want to earn?
It's not just about the money, it's something deeper than that.
Cherish the journey because it makes the view at the top of the mountain worth even more.
Lastly, always offer a helping hand to those people struggling along the way.
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