Modern Day Compact Living

Today we’re gonna talk about Modern Day Compact Living.

In today’s world, there are so many condominiums that have recently sprouted out. And I’ve been hearing some questions from some of our clients, and viewers, and friends if it’s possible to actually live a truly compact life because most of the sizes of the condominiums. Unlike in the olden days, we used to have larger cuts. Before, some of the first launches of condominiums were on the sizes of roughly around 200 to 300 square meters.

Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to find condominiums that has a size of 75 square meters, 100 sqm, 150sqm, 200sqm…. So, generally, in a way, most of the condominiums and even lot spaces have also been shrunk down.

For lots, some of the older offerings were around one-thousand square meters, one-thousand five-hundred, seven-hundred square meters. Nowadays, you’ll find some lots being offered at the size of 100 square meters, 120sqm… Even some town homes are being offered at 75 square meters of lot area!

So, it could be quite difficult sometimes because the offering, most especially in the city, are getting quite smaller and smaller.

So, how can we truly live a compact life? Is it possible? Is it a deprivation? Is it difficult?

Today, we’re gonna settle all these concerns.

The first practical reason why living a compact life could be possible nowadays is because:

Number one, almost everything is going digital.

Gone are the old days where when we wanted to hear the music, we need to buy records and collect them in such a way that they take up so much space. Gone are the days that when you wanted to store movies, you have to buy beta max, VHS tapes.

I still believe in books, but the thing is… Nowadays, you also have e-books. Before, you used to have large, large libraries, even just the simple textbooks would occupy a lot of space. Most especially, year after year after year, when your kids move forward as they go along with their school.

As far as we see nowadays, most of these things that you think you need or you actually need are digital. For example, entertainment, music, movies, books… Most of these things are already stored in your phone. The phones is basically a very, very high tech version of all of these things, even your laptop.

Most of these movies, music, everything could be found on your laptop. Even some of these movies and TV shows that you really want to watch are even on the Cloud. You can even watch them at any time that you like.

So, the need for storing all of these stuff has become less and less because accessibility is the only reason why you’re buying these things right? And now that it’s accessible from the Cloud, from anywhere from YouTube, from Facebook, from your computer, digital files, it becomes easier to store more, to actually get more and you know, not take up so much space.

So, that’s one of the main reasons why I think living compact could work.

Number two, local has been global.

Remember the good old days when your relatives from abroad try to send you something, probably something that they brought from “Target” or “Costco”, that’s not being offered here in the Philippines and then, you’re so happy about these things. And then, you try to collect these things. There are probably some toys, some gadgets, that was bought there that’s not available here, it could be something that you feel is worthy of value.

But nowadays, in the modern-day and age, most of these things that you actually find abroad… If you go to the, say for example, you go to Makati, you go to Global City, you go to Nuvali, you to S&R, most of these things that you find abroad are also here locally. Goods, groceries, gadgets, most of these things are just right outside, right over there.

So, basically, what I’m saying is there’s no need to store them on a long-term basis or no need to really collect this. If you really want something, let’s say a gadget or anything, you can even order it online. So, it’s so accessible nowadays, you can do it via Amazon, Google, or probably even other ad portals or Lazada even, you can even buy clothes there.

So, what I’m saying is there’s no actual need to store so much stuff because everything is accessible. You can buy them, it’s just there. It’s not exactly there’s a want of these things that you need everywhere. So, it could be very easy to find nowadays.

The third reason why living in compact could be advantageous to you is that it keeps you to your essentials.

Sometimes in our life, we have the tendency to, you know, buy, buy stuff that eventually becomes clutter as we go along. And as you collect these things in your daily life, it’s just there in the house.

Basically, your room is becoming more of like a storage space for stuff that sometimes you don’t even use. How many shirts can you actually really use? How many suits? How many shoes? How many watches? How many bags? How many stuff? You only need so much.

So, this is not exactly a deprivation but it’s keeping you to the essentials. You don’t necessarily have to deprive yourself of luxuries or the things that you want, more than the needs but it keeps your focus on the things that are more important.

Number four is that it also saves you money.

Since you don’t have much space to put things into even if you can afford to buy stuff. For example, you want to buy a new treadmill, even if you’re able to afford it, if there’s no space for you to put it, it could be difficult. And sometimes, in the course of life, working, going home, entertain yourself, going to the movies and stuff. You don’t really actually use it after a while.

So, it ends up in the storage and you’re not using it and it’s just there. Choose whatever items, you know, it sometimes ends up just not being used. Another example is a new couch, unless the one you use is broken, that’s the time that you’re gonna have another space.

But sometimes, you’ll just find something that’s really, really nice and you just want to put it in your pad but if you don’t have a space, you’ll think twice.

So, it really forces you to think about the essentials. It’s not that you’re depriving yourself of the other luxuries but you can actually really choose the luxury that you want or the things that you really want, it’s just that you can’t have too much of the things that you don’t really need which is good because it saves you also money.

As the last point we’d like to share to you, one myth that we’d like to actually debunk today.

It’s a myth that most modernliving in smaller spaces or in modern homes are actually quite more impersonal and there’s no sense of community – Not true. This of course entirely depends on people living in the area.

However, having a smaller space has no correlation with having a community. In fact, a community Is born out of communal activities. So, if you have some church activities, you have some movie dates with the kids or probably your kids have playdates with their playmates, you know?

There are some activities that the family and other kids could probably do, it could still work. So, living in smaller places is not exactly a deprivation, it’s more of the way you actually handle it.

Well, these are our tips. I hope today’s article was able to give you a better idea how to live a fuller life even if you’re living in a relatively smaller space.