When a Small Repair Becomes Ruin

Imagine this for a moment. You’re on your way to work. The morning is already

rushed. You’re checking the time, thinking about the meeting you’re about

to walk into, and then it happens. A small orange light flickers on your dashboard.

The check engine light. Your stomach tightens instantly. You already know

what it probably means. Not something catastrophic. Not yet. Maybe a sensor.

Maybe a minor repair. Three hundred dollars if you catch it early. You know this logically.

But then reality steps in. You open your banking app and stare at the number sitting

there like a quiet insult. Forty-two dollars. That’s all you have until Friday.