Renting Isn’t a Curse
but rather another example of how the people you choose define you.
My family wasn’t wealthy and couldn’t afford to buy an apartment, even in the small town where we lived.
We spent our lives in company housing.
A slight interest in IT allowed me to find remote work from my small town and I saved every penny for a move.
Two years later, we moved to a major city.
A new place, twice the salary, a third of which went on rent.
It wasn’t a luxurious place, just a clean and tidy apartment. (The photo was taken right after a large package of household items arrived from the old city)
I still remember the moment I first met my “landlord.”
- Married, a casual young guy, dressed carelessly, slightly older than me, with unkempt hair.
I handed him the payment for the first month, I was stunned.
He opened his wallet, and in it were more large bills than I had ever seen before.
I began to suspect something.
The landlord taught people how to sell their digital products.
At that time, I was very new to all this, just arrived from my village.
Simultaneously, he had managed to buy several apartments, creating a good financial cushion.
No one from my family or surroundings had ever done this.
I felt as if I had read an incredible book.
I saw WHAT exactly was possible in this world.
And I had a small hint of HOW exactly it happened.
Three years later, after changing two jobs, my salary had increased fourfold.
We decided to move again, to something bigger, more solid.
A new apartment.
New landlords.
This time, there were no bags of money.
We made a card transfer, signed the contract, and parted ways.
By then, we had learned to actively use social media.
That same evening, we decided to Google the surnames of the landlords written in the contract.
The result surprised me again.
- He — the owner of a luxury real estate firm. Weekly deals of at least 1.5 million dollars and above. Not in the USA — that would be unreasonably expensive.
- She — a private stylist and designer, who had decorated the apartment we rented. All in brands and plastic surgery. It’s definitely too much, but that’s a side effect of a good life for many.
They had no children together; he had a boy from a previous marriage, and she had two daughters.
A new Porsche was a typical birthday gift in their family.
By this point, money no longer surprised me.
However, new opportunities always sparked interest.
I had long stopped envying people.
There’s no point in it.
I saw it as motivation.
An extra reason to ask myself a question.
Not this one: “How can I do the same?”
It won’t be the same.
Human life is an equation with millions of variables.
With unique constants for each of us.
- You can’t solve the equation by plugging in variables from someone else’s. Because they are not equal.
The right question:
“What can I change in my situation to approximate the desired outcome?”
What outcome? Something similar to what you’ve already seen.
Yes, perhaps in another form. That suits me.
- Excuses no longer work.
Because you know — here’s the person you can call who made it.
How are you any worse?
Unfortunately, a year later, we had to leave that housing due to geopolitical changes.
And the funny thing is that we’ve already changed two landlords in the new country, but…
We still jokingly call that same Porsche family our “true landlords.”
They are a still a motivation.
Moreover a useful contact remains.
Let’s see, it might come in handy.
Thank you for reading!
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