Bread and buildings


That bread I prevent myself from eating to spare me a breakfast for tomorrow.
IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR lunch, but I haven't eaten yet. Thirty-one minutes past twelve and my colleagues are still in a meeting, my stomach growling. I reach for a slice of good bread but find only three left, so I change my mind. I seal the pack safely. Put it carefully in my pedestal. I must reserve these three for tomorrow, I realize. Because I’d normally gorge myself on three slices of bread loaf for breakfast. And bread like this, filled with raisins and made of fine grain, is not for ordinary occasions. In my case. Not the ones I’ll just eat anytime I feel like it. Because it's worth 69 bucks. You can get a cheaper pack, even bigger, for one-third that price. Only it’ll be the rough bread from an ordinary bakery. That one I usually buy to save money. So this fine bread is a rarity for me. A rarity. If only I didn’t decide on investing in a plush condo unit. In Makati Central Business District.

I could have chosen a condo deal a tad better than the one I signed up for. If my goal is only to own a property in the Metro. A deal that despite the monthly amortization rates will have me more money to spare. Which I can use to shop for some plush stuff. Or to save for something bigger and promising. Like a small business. To invest for my future. The smarter way maybe. A deal that won’t require me to pay more than a hundred thousand at once before the property’s turnover. Depleting any possible savings.

Somehow I find myself recently regretting my signing up. Because I need to sacrifice for it. And I know that’s too much ridicule of a reason. That instead of experiencing all the fine dining I wanted, staying in posh places I dreamed of, tasting the good food and getting the great stuff, I end up trying to save and prepare for a huge bill ahead. As best I can. Why I signed this—the only reason I can conjure up right now—is that I’m too ambitious: I’ve wanted to own a property in the rich and thriving district in Metro Manila’s probably one of the richest cities. If it’s really not the richest. And I don’t want the property to be just near the city. Not just in the city itself even. I want it within the central business district of that city. So I will wake up maybe thirty minutes before my shift and head out to the office by foot. Without any single ride or two. You know that young professional vision when one wants a single place where he lives, works, and plays? Looking out through his window at night, staring at the magnificence of glistening buildings, towering high into the air, exuding bright hues like a swarm of steady fireflies? Watching the glorious sunrays streaking from the sky at dusk in his bachelor’s pad? Well, I find myself brainwashed by that idea somehow.

Probably if I bought, instead, that property in RiverGreen City—it’s another condo habitat being constructed somewhere in Sta. Ana, Manila, the Metro’s capital city, in fact—I will have a lot of more money than what I need. More money to buy many loaves of fine bread. Only without living in a district of lofty buildings. But at least I’ll still live in a tall one that stands out among its neighbors. Their turnover will still be in 2016 so I will be paying the down in three years, divided into 36 small payments. And then the rest will be shouldered by a financing scheme with very affordable monthly rates… That shouldn’t be a long wait. Nor a heavy burden. The developer presented me a good offer. So good that recently I’ve been imagining myself selling my rights to the unit I first signed up for and just getting a unit from them. Their offer comes bouncing inside my skull over and over these past few days. Weird, because I first talked with their sales team before signing my contract to my actual developer; it’s their offer that I first heard about, first one to be explained to me. So I really don’t know why they hadn’t convinced me to get a unit from them in the first place! Or maybe I shouldn’t blame them because it was me who initiated that I’d canvass for other properties first before deciding to get a unit anywhere. Fortunately for the second developer I spoke with, I signed their contract after… maybe three nights? Forgetting the good deal RiverGreen City had to offer. Why and how it all happened, I think I’ve forgotten. Except maybe for one thing: my impulse.

My impulse has helped me make several decisions in my life. Big decisions. Most of them were for my own good. I’ve been enjoying the circumstances and all the benefits that my impulsive decisions have brought me. Really. I often find me this way. Convincing myself that those decisions I made by impulse are good ones. Only I find myself either hard to convince or not convincing. Why I hold on to them is another mysterious thing.

4 comments:

Marjorie said...

Well you and your impulse. Maybe this should serve a lesson to you, that anything that involves big money shouldn't be thrown to impulse.

Anyway you still have a choice, you can sell your rights to this condo or hold out til the end of the year, and hopefully by then you could move in. Maybe when you start living in a fully furnished condo, it'll be all worth it.

Unknown said...

I've also dreamed of having my own place because I would love to decorate my own home. But as Ghe said, eliminate debt then save for emergency fund of at least three times your monthly salary before investing -- whether in stocks or in property.

But I agree with Marge, maybe come December, you won't feel too bad. :)

Senyor Iskwater said...

Pwede bang mag-tagalog dito? Nakakahiya yata...

Eniweis, I feel you. Sad na kailangan ng ilan ang tipirin ang sarili nila dahil sa mga parating na bills. In your case, for your condo. Keri lang 'yan. Don't be sad. I'll help out to convince you na good decision 'yan. Ang sosyal kaya...

Kaka-nosebleed pero easy read naman.

Dennis said...

If you have decided to not get the condo unit, you will still have regrets anyway. It's alright to dream big. No one gets to achieve a big dream without sacrificing things, so cheer up! Sabi nga ni Marge and Diwa, you will feel better once you move in.

Instead of worrying if you have made the right decision or not, just do something na lang, perhaps a sideline or extra income. :)