WHY buy a car if you can't afford to pay for its upkeep and all that comes along with car ownership?

By that, I mean paying for ERP charges, parking charges at home and at work, on top of the regular servicing, tax, insurance and petrol matters.

If you can't afford to pay $90 a month for season parking at your HDB estate, then perhaps you should either take public transport.

In the private housing estate where I live with my parents, there are several of these parking squatters.

Most recently, a Toyota Camry appeared out of the blue and apparently took a fancy to parking just alongside my parents' home.

It's a brand new (SGT plate) model that's considered a large/luxury sedan.

And you can't afford season parking?

This may come across as sounding very uppity, and some may argue that it's a public road and anyone is free to park here.

But heck, you wouldn't be pleased either if you find yourself with nowhere to park, or having to 'pay it forward' by encroaching into another neighbour's space - just so that a stranger can penny-pinch.

It's like someone parking his bicycle along your HDB corridor, right next to your gate and under your flat's window.

Technically, it's public space. But who does that?

Try that, and neighbourly tensions are sure to arise.

The situation would be different if the car belonged to a resident in the estate. You know the person lives there.

The estate we live in is small, and this Camry owner doesn't live there.

He's been seen coming out of the car and walking down the road.

By the way, the nearest housing estate block is a good 10- to 15-minute walk away. And this is assuming he is law-abiding and takes the overhead bridge to the Pasir Ris flats.

The Camry costs about $96,000 for the 2-litre model ($103,000 for the 2.4 litre version).

Mr Camry-owner, how about buying a $60,000 car? Then you'd have $36,000 extra to spend on season parking.

That should cover you for 33 years' worth of season parking fees, and then some.