tiny

Have you ever imagined how you want your future home to be like? I’m sure the answer is yes. It’s funny how my idea of a comfortable home changed over the years. And I’m happy with what I want now and I don’t think it will change in the coming years.

As a teenager, I’ve always dreamed of a mansion. With my family members owning a room of their own (big rooms with bathrooms and all the fancy stuff), swimming pool, basketball court, vast space for my garden and a special room filled with ice cream. The inspiration? The video that I watched on Youtube. I think it was around 2011 when I saw Trish Stratus’ house being featured and I immediately wished I can have that kind of house too. Trish was a wrestler in WWE, a hall of famer and the one who got me hooked in wrestling.

Trish Stratus – You can click on this to see the video that was referring to. The quality sucks though.

When I was in college, I wanted a house around Antipolo. I heard that there are lots, affordable lots compared to the prices in Metro Manila, which we can buy and build a huge house. Celebrities such as Pokwang and Coco Martin (not 100% sure with Coco) had their homes built in Antipolo and I think dreaming about owning one like what they have is more realistic than the one I saw on Youtube.

Before I started working, I had a clear goal. My mom bought a lot and my brother will help me build the fund that we need to make our mom’s dream a reality. We never had a house growing up. We are living in a good house owned by my relatives and we’re really grateful for it. No rent to pay for years is a good save already. But since we do not own the place, we know that we can be asked to leave anytime. I felt that time is coming near because I’m the youngest in our family and after my graduation, all of us are now earning. So, after my graduation rites in June of 2016, I went on to have a job around July. I was earning aroung 18K per month and I remember giving 14K to my mom so we can save up for the house that we want to build. I had 4K left for my allowance. Guess what? I had no savings at that time. And then I went on to Shell around November. I got a higher pay. Around 22K? I gave 18K a month so my allowance was still the same. Not until the new tax rates were implemented, I was able to consistently give 20K monthly.

Fast forward to the second half of 2019. We were almost done saving up and we are seeing the fruits of our sacrifices. We were supposed to leave this April 2020 but lockdown happened. And now we’re still here in Quezon City.

Interestingly, even if we are yet to see the home that we worked hard for, I just know that I wanted to live in a different setting. As much as I will be happy seeing my mom in a state of joy when the time comes that we can finally live in her dream house, I can’t erase the thought that I want to live in a condo. Preferrably around Makati or Mandaluyong. Makati because it’s near where I go to work. Madaluyong because I think I can get cheaper prices and it’s a good location – they say it’s like the center of north and south.

Rigor, you now own a house. Why do you want to live in a condo which will cost you more? I honestly do not want to discuss this yet with my mom because she’ll definitely won’t agree. And I understand. What’s the use of owning your dream house without your kids? But living without family members feels good to me. I wanted to feel the independence. I wanted to figure things out on my own. I want to do a lot of things for myself. I know it comes with a number of cons as well but not relating to fun stories and experiences of people because your mom will always ask why you’re not home yet makes me sad. I feel like I’m missing a lot.

It all boils down to my longing for complete independence. I am not spoiled, I can make decisions on my own, I am not controlled by my family – but as a form of love, they will always have a say in all of my decisions. Not to override my choices but they will all tend to choose the path where I won’t get hurt. It’s normal. But I need to make mistakes. I need to learn. I need to experience life. And though my dream home is now a small condo unit, far from the mansion in Canada and the huge house in Antipolo, it can give me the experiences that I want to have.

Waking up to prepare my own food, taking long showers, going to the gym anytime I feel like sweating out, eating at 7/11 at odd hours of the day, ordering from McDonalds at midnight while watching Netflix, inviting people anytime I want to and making more stories in my blog while I’m lying down on the floor on a lazy Saturday – all of these sound fun when I have my own tiny space.