April 17th, 2021 | How to treat money

I'm looking for houses at the moment. My goal was to live on a budget here and have a super low burn rate.

However, I'm noticing that a little bit of money can skyrocket my quality of life. Let me explain.

Right now I'm torn in between three places.

Option number 1: Live in the city of Palermo, paying €400/month, in an area I don't like at all. No access to the sea or the beach. But saving a substantial amount of money.

Option number 2: Live in a tiny little studio, paying €550/month, very close to the sea. However, the house feels like a hotel room, not a proper home. And I'm planning to stay here for at least a full year.

Option number 3: Live in a proper aparment, paying €650/month, on the beach. The apartment is perfect. Even if I made $1M/year, I'd still pick this house.

Notice the pattern? Well, you get what you pay for, up to a certain point. But how much should you pay?

The final option, which is the most expensive one, is still at the same price I used to pay for a single room in Milan with 4 flat mates. That's insane.

But, that means that I moved all the way down here only increase my quality of life. Not lower my expenses. I'm still going to expand my runway, since I'll be paying less taxes.

The first two options will save me a lot of money. But at what cost? Is severely downgrading my lifestyle for $100-$250 per month worth it? That's three monthly customers. Or $2k for a whole year. Will an extra $2k save me from ruin? I honestly don't think so. Having $48k in the bank instead of $50k won't change anything.

Plus, one could argue that if I feel inspired in that apartment, I'll make up for that money very soon. Or maybe I'm just working backwards, trying to justify my bad and emotional decision.

I have no idea what to do. Maybe I have to call my relatives and ask for their advice.

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