Acquiring furniture with no credit card is a slow, sometimes tedious process. And it’s a tricky thing to explain to people because, well, having a credit card is just a normal part of life. Except when you’re a “foreigner” and thus subject to all kinds of banking laws natives don’t know about, and thus fail to comprehend how challenging it is to operate within the confines of your debit card. And your debit card has limits so you don’t drain your checking account. And your checking account only grows with each paycheck.
So when you start from $0, it takes awhile for the checking account to accumulate funds faster than the funds can be depleted. Good lesson in budgeting and financial management as you are literally forced to live within your means. I’m not a big spender as it is, but I haven’t started from $0 since I was a kid.
And don’t get my started on foreign transaction fees.
Needless to say, my apartment has been rather sparse. An air mattress. Two camping chairs. A little later, a bed. A little later, a bed frame. A little later a TV and PlayStation (yay for sales and bundles!). And then yesterday, a couch!
Granted I was excited. Though the camping chairs are rather comfortable, there’s no way to lounge in them. I can slump and put my feet on the table, but that’s about it. There’s also a transient sense with the camping chairs, like I’m just here for the time being. And that could certainly be true. Having suffered a lay off and been on the job market, I’m not naive and think this job is going to be my last job.
Truth be told, there’s no way to know what the future holds until it becomes the present. I do know that I like my job. I do know that I am comfortable with it. I do know that it is serving a purpose. And that is the extent of a future I didn’t know at this time last year now being present.
The arrival of the couch yesterday, and its easy assembly (it is an IKEA couch, after all so some assembly is always required), that transient sense dissipated. Its replacement: a sense of home. The space itself felt transformed, as did a part of myself. A sense of joy coupled with a sense of comfort. This is OK. Affirmation I made the right choice taking this chance and leaving everything I know behind.
And it was really nice coming home to a couch last night after a double header softball game. I literally flopped down, turned on Netflix, stretched out and fell asleep watching Flashpoint. How’s that for being content?