Loan After Loan: Here’s Why I Keep Borrowing

If someone looked at my financial records, they’d probably think I borrow too much.

Sometimes I joke that I’m a walking loan.

And honestly…

They’re not completely wrong.

Last year, I started paying a 20-year PAG-IBIG housing loan of around ₱1.4 million for the two row house units I won through a foreclosed property bidding.

A few months later, around October, I borrowed ₱140,000 from the cooperative where I’m a member. The loan is payable over 24 months, and I used every peso to renovate those two row house units.

Around the same time, I asked my sister to take out another cooperative loan under her name - ₱160,000, payable over 12 months. I make the monthly payments, and we used the money to replace the roof of our house, which is now rented out.

This year, I also took on another long-term commitment - a ₱3.6 million mortgage under a Contract to Sell with a Conditional Deed of Sale for a house and a 400-square-meter lot.

Before this year ends, I’ll probably take another loan using one of my residential lots as collateral. The money will be used as additional operating capital for a business we’re building. It’s still in its early days, so I’ll share more about it when it’s ready.

So yes…

Loan after loan.

When I say it out loud, even I laugh.

If you’ve been taught that all debt is bad, you’re probably wondering why I keep doing this.

That’s a fair question.

The simple answer is this:

I’m not borrowing to buy things that lose value.

I’m borrowing to build assets.

That doesn’t mean the loans don’t scare me.

They do.

Every month, I have payments to make.

Every loan is a responsibility.

Every signature comes with a commitment that could last for years.

There are days when I look at everything I’m paying and quietly ask myself,

“Can I really keep this up?”

I think that’s a normal question.

Especially when you’re a solo mom raising a child on your own.

But then I remind myself why I borrowed in the first place.

One of my row house units is now rented out, and the rental income covers its monthly amortization.

The other unit isn’t earning rental income yet because we’re using it as the office of our small family business. While it isn’t generating rent today, it’s helping us build something we hope will grow over time.

The house where we replaced the roof is also rented out.

Little by little, the assets are beginning to help carry their own weight.

Not all at once.

Not perfectly.

But enough to remind me that there was a purpose behind every loan.

Please don’t misunderstand me.

I’m not saying everyone should borrow.

A loan is still a loan.

It can help build your future, but it can also become a heavy burden if you borrow for the wrong reasons or beyond your means.

This is simply the path I’ve chosen after doing the numbers, understanding the risks, and accepting the responsibility that comes with it.

Before I sign any loan documents, I always ask myself one question:

Will this loan help me build an asset, or is it only helping me buy something I want today?

That one question has stopped me from making many expensive mistakes.

I still have a long way to go.

I’m still making monthly payments.

I’m still carrying long-term financial commitments.

And yes, there are nights when I wonder if I’m taking on too much.

But when I look beyond the loan balances, I see something else.

I see two row house units.

I see a rental house.

I see land.

I see a business that’s slowly taking shape.

Every loan I have today is tied to something I hope will outlive the loan itself.

Maybe one day, these assets will work harder than I do.

I’m not there yet.

For now, I simply keep making the payments - one month at a time - trusting that every payment is helping me build a little more stability for my son and a little more freedom for our future.