I started working while I was a student. My main goal was to work hard to give my family a good life. I spent my money on basic needs and it was always easy for me to buy stuff that would make my family happy. I was almost 30 already when I was able to start saving. My salary went to Miggy's tuition and my grad school tuition. Dining out on weekends with friends was our one indulgence.
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| Keeping the future family room warm. |
I could have adjusted our lifestyle, but I became more careful about spending when my doctor told me I was due for heart surgery. I wasn't sure whether insurance was going to pay for it. So I saved and saved and saved. I was scared something would happen and I didn't want to burden my family with liabilities.
Eventually my Kuya taught me a new perspective on managing my earnings. He said part of your earnings should be spent on upgrading yourself, investing and celebrating (breakdown is here). That really changed my outlook on life. For many years, I just saved and spent for basic needs. I wasn't rewarding myself for my hardwork.
For many months after that incident in ICU, my dream of living in our own home kept nagging me. Looking at properties made me happy. I'd look at houses and imagine how we'd live in it. Then one day I saw the house again. There was something about it that drew me to it. The location was within walking distance to my Mom's home and it looked like a smaller version of her home too. It felt right.
So through prayer and a lot of family discussions, the boys agreed to the biggest indulgence of my life. Sometimes I still ask myself if the decision is an over-indulgence, but when I look at how pretty my kitchen is I just smile and tell myself, "You live only once."
#Home39 #NewG207 #Xmas13 #StayHome #BeKind
*PE - pulmonary embolism
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