"Time waits for no one."
That line from the movie, "The Girl who leapt through time", was etched in my soul since I saw it in college. I think that time is more important than anything else in the world. Time you have spent can never be bought back, unlike how we buy and sell stocks in the market. Hence, we needed to put good use of our limited time living in this cruel world to make it better. Being Financial Independent means one thing to me, and that is, buying more time.
I grew up poor. My family did not have a house nor the ability to rent one. My single Mom fled my Dad's home in Manila because of the usual married couple issue: in-laws. She was a stay-at-home Mom while my Dad was a seaman, but unfortunately, we were not his priority. With the help of her siblings, we flew to Cebu, where we started our new life. Life was hard for Mama. She was not exactly a skilled worker, and she has to support her two kids. She doesn't have money, so she left us to our Aunt to work as a domestic helper, an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), in Taiwan. Mama left because she didn't have a choice. So she traded her time to be away from her family, so her children could live and have a chance for a better life.
My Mama left when I was 6. I did not cry because, at a young age, I understood our situation. I understood she needed to do that for the three of us to survive. I worked hard in my studies because, like my Aunts and Uncles always tell me, it will be my ticket for a better life. Even though my relatives were really nice about it, all my life I felt like I've walked on eggshells. I knew it was not "our" home, and they never had an obligation to do this for my Mama. I'll be forever grateful to them for supporting us during her hard times. Without them, we probably ended on the streets. It was a painful situation for families and a reality for most Filipinos, all because it was the best choice we/they have.
At a young age, I tried to figure out how everything works. And it all boiled down to one thing: money. My Mama did not have money, so she had to be away from us for almost 2 years. We had to live with our relatives, because we don't have enough money to support our day-to-day activities. Life and death costs money, and that's the reality. At an early age, I started figuring out how to earn some money, like doing small errands from neighbors and selling scraps. It was fun back then because I also had my childhood friends to do these activities. Good times.
Fast-forward to college, I was able to buy my first cellphone and laptop using the money I earned from my first job, a call center agent. I needed the laptop to prepare for my fourth year thesis. I will never forget the feeling of getting your first salary....it was surreal. Finally, I'm making money! After that, I had different part-time jobs, such as tutoring students and working as a student assistant in my school. I was able to support my college projects because of all these side hustles. I learned a lot from the experience, but I wouldn't really normalize it. A teenager should be able to enjoy college and exploring how to navigate adulthood, and not to worry about things like how you're going to expense your thesis to graduate on time.
Looking back, I realized one thing-- I was trading my time for money. I never really owned my own time and never got to choose how I want to use it. I wanted to become a Chemist or a Chemical Engineer, but I know my Mom could not afford it. Not to toot my own horn, but it was my strongest subject, and I never liked Computer Science. When I was in third year college, I worked 10pm to 7am as a call center agent and my first class starts at 7:30am. It was brutal, and I was not able to sustain it. Instead of being able to enjoy the "college" life, my free time was spent on working in the Computer Science department, running errands. And now that I'm working, I spend 9 hours a day sitting in front of the computer figuring out the next big thing for the company I work for. People say poverty is not a hindrance to success, but I would really beg to disagree. I needed to trade more time to live comfortably. I expensed more time, so I can do the most basic things.
I could say I am in a much better place right now. However, I still feel chained up because I have a family to feed, I have traveling goals to achieve that needed…well, money. So much for adulting. Don't get me wrong, I love my profession, but it feels like there's a hole in me that I couldn't fill despite where I am right now. There are things I am really passionate about, I can't really jump in and just do it because of finances. I have to prepare for my daughter's education, make sure we're all covered for uncertainties… there's just so much to think about. And growing up poor, I don't want my family to ever experience what I've been through.
I want to be able to choose what I want to do with my time. Every penny I save is me buying more time. By buying more time, I'll get to choose what I want to do. Whether it is doing more volunteer work or traveling, I would get to choose how to best use of my time for things I really want to do in life. I'd like to have more time to spend on things I am really passionate about, just like writing more for this blog.
And the only path to do all that is to become financially independent. To become wealthy enough to choose and buy time. Time is the most precious currency in life, use and trade it wisely.
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