We bought a property in our first year together, and it wasn’t easy.
That was unplanned. An opportunity to buy a huge lot at a lower price just came along.
We loved the idea of owning a property at the earliest possible time. So we bought land just within the first year of being married—way ahead of many other big decisions. It was a foreclosed lot in a really good location back home. A big part of our income went to pay for it. Forty-two thousand pesos (Php42,000) go to it every month – FOR TWO YEARS – not to mention the additional monthly expenses on top of that. Oh boy! That was tough!
We had to live a stiffed controlled lifestyle. We did not buy a car, travel on holidays, or rent a much better place in Dubai. We stayed in Sharjah. We didn’t have too many dining-outs. The mall food court was the bbest placewe could go for those few date nights. Those were the trade-offs of investing the money in a property that we originally planned to just keep in the bank.
While we’re at it, I lost my job. That was seven months of being unemployed. So my wife had to shoulder it all. There was one month we were really short and thought we would incur a hefty penalty for not being able to pay. But thank God my mother-in-law volunteered to pay for that month using almost all her savings.
In exactly two years, we completed the full payment. We did not decide to build a house right after, as we have no plans of coming home yet.
Seven years later, in 2015, Filinvest called us. They wanted to buy a very small part of the lot because of a deep well. At that time, the cost per square meter had doubled up to more than 100% of the price when we bought it. So we got more than double what we paid for it years ago.
We didn’t keep all the money. We put some in mutual funds and bought two pre-sold apartments in Manila. One of which was that we shared the payment with my sister—a gift to our parents when they retired.
Then we put the remaining in our emergency fund.
We took it personally
You see, we didn’t really have formal financial education back then. It was just about understanding the meaning of “PARA SA KINABUKASAN” – which is the battle cry of many OFWs. We took ‘Para sa kinabukasan’ personally. We paid ourselves first. We delay gratification while also making sure we enjoy life. No regrets at all.
Had we not made that investment, there’s a big chance that we would have spent the money on something else. I might find myself asking a lot of “what ifs.”
This story reminds me of how faithful God is to His promises. In the Parable of the Talents, He rewards those who invest. True enough in so many areas of our lives, He wants us to grow in whatever He provides us. It’s not about having more or less, it’s about becoming good stewards of what God entrusts us.
Photo from Elevation Map Finder
