We want to spend our life together…..we need a house…..but we want a nice house…..how do we balance that? Between a house that is functional and a house that is desirable

Anyways, if we buy a house in singapore, it will cost at least 200k SGD and that is a maximum of 700 square feet built up area. In comparrison, here is what I get if I stay in Johor for less.

View of the outside in the evening

It is 2340 square feet of built up area. Double Storey terrace house with clubhouse facilities. It is all fully furnished and air-conditioned and fully ready to move in condition.

No initital payment needed and no fees involved.

Living room with different furnishings

This is a picture of the living room not taken by a professional photographer

Dining Area

Master Bedroom

Look at the toilet....bathtub.....ooooooo...

Singapore the Cash above valuation is frightening now at 30k++SGD and that doesn’t include renovation and furnishing costs!!

So the Johor place is everything I want and need. The Singapore place is everything I need but don’t want. How do you decide?

These are not the only options we’ve been looking into and here I am LOST! How to decide? I can’t believe I have to make decisions such as these. It is time to grow up I guess. I have done all the maths. Done all the comparisons but how to decide?

Any advice?

While taking the MRT to Clementi for a meeting on Saturday and people watching on the way, a thought came to mind. The people on the MRT seemed to be rushing to work even on a Saturday. They seemed like they were striving to make a good living and have a good life. In comparison, I felt like my life was rather (or too) comfortable compared to theirs. Can I weather the seasons of life like they can?

In the afternoon, I visited Grandma. Every time I tell people that I’m going to Orchard Rd to visit Grandma, it will draw a ‘WAAAA….’ from them as if Grandma resided in some palace. I never thought about how Grandma ended up living there until I was asked the question on Saturday so I decided to ask her about it. I think I always assumed that she inherited the house after Grandpa passed away. To my surprise, the house was actually bought by Grandma herself, a widow raising 6 kids then!  I asked her about her rationale for making the purchase and she said she simply felt that having a house would bring stability to the family. Such wisdom and foresight! ‘Where did you get that kind of money?’ I asked. She said she was doing quite well in her own lingerie business selling her products to as far as East Malaysia! Talk about having a business mind! What’s more, she was self taught in this line. She basically took apart the product to figure out how to do it herself then adapted the cut and design and reproduced her own line of lingerie! I thought it was so brilliant! She said to me,’Clever right?’ I replied,’OF COURSE!’ I told her she could possibly be a computer wizard if she were born in this time cos computer wizards are also the type who put together computers by taking them apart. Ha!

I really enjoyed the chat. At the end of the day, I was rather inspired. I hope I inherited some of those genes! The tenacity to make life work! Perhaps more than just make life work and be able to weather the seasons but truly live life well, dependent on and bringing glory to the giver of life!