Experienced this nung bago palang ako sa Manila and started working sa first job ko almost 6 years ago. 100-120/day agad ako sa parking depends anong oras ako aalis. That's the daily expense palang. Wala pa yung weekly na gas. Then longer time frame -- yung maintenance. Problema rin parking sa office tapos yung traffic to and from nun. Tapos compared sa 2 bus + 1 jeep rides ko na parang 50 pesos lang for 1 way.
Pero narealize ko na it's a trade-off talaga ng convenience and time. Depends nalang anong mas mahalaga sayo. Like back then need ko sumakay sa terminal ng Megamall pa-fairview pauwi. Grabe yung haba ng pila. Madalas standing pa. Pagpapasok naman, siksikan sa lahat ng bus from fairview to mega. Sardinas kung sardinas talaga. You also run the risk of getting pick pocketed.
Pero for me, having/using a car talaga is the way to go -- specially in our car-centric country. Naaalala ko nung gitna ng pandemic, kinailangan namin umuwi ng province. Yun pa yung time na walang maayos na structure for public transpo -- let alone yung papuntang province. Laking convenience na may kotse ka. Assured ka rin sa safety kasi kasama mo sa bahay yung mga kasama mo sa car.
More recently too, nasira kotse ko and couldn't use it for almost two months. I had a 2 PM - 11 PM shift pa that time. You'd think na mas maluwag na mag commute nang 11 PM. Realized na it wasn't. Sardinas pa rin yung bus pauwi samin. Mototaxi tuloy every night.
I think unless sobrang maayos na yung public transpo natin and safety is vastly improved, using/owning a car is the way to go talaga. Tiis nalang sa gastos for the convenience
