I mentioned a few times here on my blog how we are living in a tiny pad down the mountains in Northern Mindanao. I first mentioned it here (THE BIG MOVE PART 1) when we left my big townhouse in Alabang, Muntinlupa to try our agricultural luck in the land of martial law down south of the Philippines. Then I mentioned it again in one of my most recent posts (#MYGREENCDO – IN SUPPORT OF CDO BLOGGERS 2019 SOCIAL MEDIA ADVOCACY).

Living in a tiny pad has its pros and cons. And sometimes, when my hormones are in haywire and pictures of my beautiful home in Alabang show up on Facebook Memories, I develop a negative state of mind which I really do my best to avoid or get over with because for the most part, we are living in abundance even if we are not rich – yet. After all, real wealth is not all about how much money or material things you have or how big your house is… wealth, in its truest sense of the word, is having a happy state of mind. Like what Rhonda Byrnes wrote on the sand at the end of the movie, The Secret, —> FEEL GOOD.

So, when I’m in that state of mind (which I really do my best to have every minute of every day), and having fully digested what it means, the drawbacks of living in a tiny pad become next to nothing as compared to the amazing advantages of what living in a tiny pad gives us. I will list these advantages down below lest I forget. So when it’s that time of the month once again and my patience is getting thinner by the minute, and the small space is irritating me, I can go back to this list to help me get into a positive state of mind once again. If you are on the same boat,  or if you’re struggling about something, listing down the advantages really help you focus your energy on only the good things.

 

Okay, let’s talk about those advantages:

1. TINY PAD MAKES US SAVE SO MUCH MONEY

This tiny pad costs us P5,500 a month in rent plus P400 in water. So that’s P5,900 which is just roughly $120. This is by far the most affordable we have seen in Cagayan de Oro City with this quality of a bedroom suite unit. Yup, it is originally a bedroom suite so it’s quite big for a normal bedroom with its own kitchen and spacious bathroom. But when we turned it into a house complete with a home office, a bedroom, a dining room, a living room… that’s when it became so tiny. We are always on the lookout for other affordable units but even the pricier ones are not half as good as this. The dimensions, quality, and building materials of our tiny pad look very modern and sturdy and is not just a simple square-shaped room. If we do decide to terminate our rental contract here, it will be because we will already be buying a house of our own. Paying more money for something bigger shouldn’t go to rent anymore, but to a house mortgage that we can someday own like what I did with my townhouse in Alabang.

2. SAVINGS WE GET FROM OUR TINY PAD LIVING WE SPEND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR FARM

Because of the affordable rental fee of our tiny pad, we always have extra budget for the development of our farm. We’ve already spent less than half a million pesos for our mushroom growing house and all its needed amenities. We pay two regular farm workers every month. If more jobs are needed to get done, we pay for extra help. Budget is set aside for the farmhouse redecoration and repair, little by little, slowly but surely. Hopefully, one day, we get to build a cozy cottage at the farm complete with modern amenities. That’s one of our dreams we are working on, all thanks mostly to the sacrifice we are doing right now of living in a tiny but cozy pad in the city.

3. TINY PAD LIVING MAKES US CLOSER AS A FAMILY, FIGURATIVELY AND LITERALLY

Our three-year-old son is just a peek away. Wherever he is in the tiny pad, whatever he is doing, whenever he needs us, we can always reach out to him in seconds (including while making love, he also comes to us and wrestles with us… goodbye orgasm! Lol! Good thing I always come way ahead of time. Ha! TMI!)

4. AWESOME SECURITY AT OUR TINY PAD

This tiny pad is part of an apartment building with several units. It has a big gate and a garage good for 6 cars plus caretakers 24/7 with security cameras all around so we know we are safe. Our car has a parking space at no additional cost. The caretakers open and close the gate for us every time and we can ask them to assist us in whatever domestic help we may need like changing a lightbulb, getting mails for us when we are not around, waking us up if delivery comes in, etc. It’s like having a general butler at no additional cost, it’s awesome!

5. OUR TINY PAD IS LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE OF NATURE

The area where the entire apartment is located is somewhere down a big mountain in the outskirts of the city so when we go out, it still feels like we are somewhere on the farm. Air is still fresh, no loud sound except for the neighbors’ dogs and roosters and the croaks of frogs and crickets at night. Then when you go out the main highway, right across it is the beach! We don’t frequent it much (because personally, I don’t like brown sand beaches) but it’s a nice thought that the beach is just a stone’s throw away.

6. OUR TINY PAD IS COMPLETE WITH MODERN APPLIANCES

All the important appliances we need are here — a 45-inch Sony LED TV I brought from Alabang, Canon color printer, HP inkjet printer, Panasonic air conditioner, Whirlpool washing machine, Condura refrigerator, Electrolux microwave/griller, coffee maker, gas stove, & hot & cold water dispenser. Making them all fit here is a huge convenience for us. When we are not at the farm or when we are not traveling, we just stay at home for several days at a time. As long as our fridge is full and our grocery pantry is stocked, we can stay inside the house forever, lol! It’s like having a staycation at a modestly-priced hotel room, complete with all the amenities guests would need, IMHO.

7. CLEANING TIME IS 10 MINUTES TOPS!

Compared to my house in Alabang which takes half a day to finish cleaning, our tiny pad does not take up too much time at all. This means, more time to do more important and productive things and more time for my family! No need to get a helper too. I am a super all-around Momtraneur after all. Hehehe. (We also need to pat ourselves on the back from time to time, right mommies?)

8. OUR TINY PAD IS NEAR CIVILIZATION

When we do want to go downtown to shop, or eat out, or do our walks at the Pelaez Sports Center, it’s just 30 minutes away at the most, traffic included.

Let me now show you photos I took of our tiny pad…

MY TAKEAWAY

Keeping these things in mind greatly helps me feel good about myself, my family and our life in general despite our tiny living space. And when you do feel great, that’s when more blessings come in and things seem effortless. You become a vortex of good things so to speak. That’s the truth!

How about you? I hope this blog post inspired you in some way to feel great about your own life, no matter how big or small you are living.

See you again tomorrow!