10 years ago, I decided to never buy a house. A friend of mine had just bought one, and I went with him to take a look. The price shocked me. I thought I could never afford something like that in my lifetime. Then housing prices went up even more. After that, I didn’t even want to get close to showrooms anymore, in case I accidentally broke their model houses and had to pay for them. But honestly, renting is not that bad. You get most of the benefits of owning a house without worrying about mortgages, property taxes, and renovations.
5 years ago, I decided to never buy another car. I realized that owning a car in Singapore costs just as much as a small house. If you don’t believe me, look up the Certificate of Entitlement. Then there are still things like insurance, petrol, road tax, and random maintenance. It’s like keeping the most expensive pet you could get. So I sold my car and bought a pair of durable sneakers. But honestly, taking public transport is not that bad. It’s friendly to the environment. And there’s a saying that goes, a developed country is where the rich use public transportation. I’d like to think I live in a developed country.
3 years ago, I stopped traveling. I remember looking at the price of a flight to Japan plus a hotel. Do you know how many loaves of bread I could buy with that money? And for what, bragging rights on social media? If you think about cost-effectiveness, staying at home is not that bad. My house is cozy. I can watch TV while eating instant ramen. And we have some nice attractions downstairs too, like the grocery shop and the car park. Then I unfollowed everyone who posts about their trips on social media, so they could no longer tempt me.
2 years ago, I stopped eating out. Restaurants were getting more and more expensive. A bowl of noodles cost $20. An extra egg cost $2. You’d think the total is $22, but when you get to the counter, they tell you there’s a 10% service charge and a 9% goods and services tax on top of that. I did the math and realized that if I saved all that money, I could’ve bought an iPhone SE. And cooking for yourself is not that bad. You use less salt and less oil. It’s healthier and yummier.
A year ago, I stopped paying for water and electricity. For drinking water, I just get it from public drinking fountains. And if you don’t mind (I don’t), you can also get it from public toilets. Showering is trickier, but it’s doable in public toilets too. Just make sure no one is around, because you’d make a mess of the cubicle. The one small inconvenience is charging my phone, but if you develop the eye for it, you can easily spot available power outlets in any shopping mall. Then you just stand there, pretending you’re waiting for someone. And really, the lifestyle is not that bad. On hot days, you get free air-con too.
Then I moved out of the house and started living under a bridge. I don’t even have to worry about rent anymore. I lucked out and found a cardboard box from a refrigerator delivery. Just about the size of a bed. The scenery is probably better than your view from a flat too. And the best thing is there’s free Wi-Fi coming from who knows where. It’s intermittent, but it’s free. I watch so many short videos with it. Those movie plot explainer videos are tailor-made entertainment for people like me. It’s really not that bad. If I come across an iPhone unboxing video, I either swipe it away or put the phone on mute. That way, the sadness won’t get in.
You say I’m miserable. I say I’m a long-term thinker. You see, only assets appreciate. Humans are not assets. Houses are more expensive every year. SSDs are more expensive. Apple devices are also getting more expensive. I thought, why don’t I turn myself into an asset? So I put all my savings into the stock market. When other people are angry about their MacBooks getting thinner and pricier, I look at my brokerage app and feel happy. Their MacBooks become obsolete. My money only increases.
I did the calculations. If I earn 10% from stocks every year, then on my 80th birthday, I’ll be able to withdraw my money, walk into a McDonald’s, and say this to the face of the cashier:
“Hi, I’d like to have a Big Mac. Having here.”