'Secrets' to a comfortable life

  (The following text is edited and expanded from my Facebook post on March 17. Some friends suggested I publish it here.)

A fellow patient waiting here at the doctor's clinic just asked me how I manage to "live comfortably," as if knowing for sure that I actually do (I'm curious why she'd think so).

"Comfortable" is relative, but it still got me thinking. I guess I do manage, to an extent, to live an objectively okay existence, with whatever anxieties I face having to do more with the battles I choose to fight, the dreams and passions I continually chase.

Though there is no secret formula, no steady and fast rule to leading a comfortable life, here are some top of mind personal practices that I consider contributory to it (applicable to me and never to be imposed on others, just so we're clear):

1) I've been driving the same old car since college (over 10 years now) and it doesn't bother me a bit that some of my relatives and friends have better, shinier, more updated carriages. As long as it runs and does its job, I will retain it as my mode of transport. 

2) Believe it or not, I somehow manage to live on a monthly diesel expense pegged between a little over $50 to $100 (in fact, I spend slightly more on telco bills, a necessity for a communicator like yours truly).

3) I have long since shunned credit cards and pay with cash all the time when in the country. I only request my bank to issue me a credit card when I need to travel abroad (for hotel and airport check-in purposes mainly, and for emergencies and other exigencies), and have it canceled soon after I return.

I've also made it a habit to personally fill out and file my own annual Income Tax Return. I believe ITR awareness helps in building fiscal discipline (it also gives you a lot of peace of mind which is just priceless, the ultimate comfort if you ask me).

4) I 'shop till I drop' only once or twice a year to replenish and update my wardrobe (and so I don't feel deprived at all), and avoid window-shopping the rest of the time.

5) I don't spend on any beauty product save for sunblock and perfume (and just the essential toiletries). I wash my face with soap once a day (when I take a bath before I leave the house), and wash it with warm water (no soap) and face towel in the evening before I retire.

6) In my life, I've only once bought a cellphone (in 2006, a secondhand hot pink Motorola flip phone I could not resist while I was at Greenhills looking for collectible toys for a friend). To get new ones, I patiently wait two years for my respective telcos' retention programs to mature. Don't you think it's an utter waste of money to buy new phones that become outdated less than a year after you've bought them?

7) I have no vices, except for occasional drinking with friends (and smoking, only when I need some assistance in going to the bathroom, *wink*).

8) I'm happy watching movies (which I watch for free - but accompanied by a set of responsibilities - because I used to sit in the board of the MTRCB), reading a book, watching my favorite US TV series and sitcoms, having a relaxing massage, and dining out with friends.

9) When I travel, I make sure I'm able to mix some business with pleasure, otherwise, I may not proceed with the trip if I don't get anything else out of it and make efficient use of my time away touching base with contacts, leads, or doing some errands, researching, or "planting seeds," so to speak.

10) Suffice it to say, to live truly comfortably is to live within one's means. Overall, my largest expense that's always well worth it: Good food accompanied by stimulating, insightful, engaging, even superficial conversation with friends.

***

Susana "Ching" Dumlao Vargas, Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration of the Office of the President during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, succumbed to cancer in the afternoon of March 29.  She is laid to rest today. 

The mother of congressman-actor Alfred Vargas, Ma'am Ching was one of the very few in government who I am most certain served honorably and sincerely.

More than two years into my term serving under President Arroyo, I wrote an exposé that urged the former president to look into the irregularities that plagued the National Youth Commission, asking her to, if needed, replace everyone in the Commission (including myself) so the NYC is given a clean slate.

On September 8, 2008, three months after my exposé came out, Ma'am Ching called me to warn me that some of the colleagues I exposed were lobbying for my removal, that the president was misinformed, and that if I didn't reach out to the president (or have some well-connected relatives and friends call her) and explain my side, the appointment papers of the one they've set to replace me was going to be transmitted, effectively easing me out of office. I thanked her for her concern and told her it was okay, that I was ready, especially because I have said repeatedly that I was advocating for change in the NYC, that heads needed to roll, even if it included mine. (Although it was ironic that at the time, it was only my head that rolled; still, I served at the pleasure of the president.) To lobby for my retention was to be inconsistent with my plea.

Through it all, Ma'am Ching believed in me and the young people we were fighting for. She provided strength, guidance, and support. She tried her best to represent the issues that the youth felt strongly for, those that I embraced fully and cost me my job. Despite her busy schedule, she took the time out to meet and hear out youth leaders and passionate officers of the SIP (SSEAYP International Philippines, the alumni association of the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program) like Frankie Ong Bata who were being bullied by some of the former officials of the Youth Commission.

Thank you for looking out for the youth, for me, Ma'am Ching, for serving the country well. We love you. You will be sorely missed. Rest in peace.