A Life Where Bills Are Not A Problem

July 26, 2022

Have you ever wished that everything is free, where you can live like as if you are not worrying about the monthly bills of electricity, water and other expenses? Of course everyone wants that.

If someone gave you an opportunity to live where you do not have to worry about bills and all you have to worry is your food then of course no one will reject that opportunity.

If you think that it is just immaginary / dream to have like this, then I am already telling you that you are wrong.

I grew up in a place where almost everything is free. Yes, not everything is free and I guess there is no place where you can live without expenses.

I grew up in a place where my parents do not have to worry about our electricity bills, water bills, bills in buying rice, tuition fees, gas for cooking, house rent and many more. All they have to worry about is on our daily expenses when it comes to food. Yes, you've read it correctly that when it comes to food, then that is the only time that they will spend money, except of course for the other things that the family needs and wants but basically when it comes to the usual bills that everyone has to worry, as mentioned above, it is all free.

How did this happen?

Story Time:

My father is lucky enough to be employed in a company where it offers a free housing, free consumption of electricity and water. The gas for cooking is on sale, it depends on what is your position in the company, if you're a manager, well I guess that's free, if you are a supervisor then you only have to pay 30% of the price and the other employees pay only 50%. How great it is right to live in a place like this?

The company also gives employees one cavan of rice for every 45 days, so the only thing to worry about is your viand. Not bad, because a cavan of rice is pricey and not buying a rice gives the family a chance to spend the money on other things.

If the employee has it's own family, the family of the employee can also enjoy the benefit of staying in that community without any fee. Every part of the family also enjoys the benefits of the company wherein if the child of the employee is now studying, his / her tuition fees is already free, the company will be the one to pay for it. What the employee will need to pay is the other fees like miscelaneous etc. (Elementary to high school only because the community only have an elementary and high school) And the school is not just an ordinary because it is private and at the same time a Catholic school. So, basically when the student will study in college, he / she needs to go out in the community for him / her to study. Almost all of the students chooses to study in Baguio City because it is the nearest city. Baguio from there is a one hour drive only. And yeah, if you are asking if where I went in college?, it's Baguio City and I also miss Baguio City.

Bonuses is always given on the month of May(half) and during December(half). The company do not only give 13th month pay, but they also give employees 14th, 15th month pay if the company is doing well. The company is not "madamot" with its employees. The salary is more than the minimum wage.

Living in that place / community is something to be thankful for. Not every company gives that kind of benefit and my father's work there is not even difficult.

The employees also enjoy the free shuttle bus going to work and going home. There are shuttle buses since the housing and the working place is far from each other.

But then there come a time wherein the company offered a 200% backpay to employees who are nearly to resign, who wants to have a voluntary exit on the company, my father volunteered and there are also a lot of employees who volunteered most especially those employees who will retire soon. That offer is really great that everyone who will resign soon got that opportunity. Everyone who volunteered got their pay with not only a six-digit pay but a seven digit pay. Yes, were talking about million here and that's a huge money. The company is really generous to its employees.

Of course, subject to that, those employees who volunteered will automatically leave the company. We left that place last 2015, and we are now in the province for about 7 years. I grew up there and I am 21 years old when we left the company / community.

When we are already here in the province, the reality of the world hit us, expenses of electricity, water and so on. Our life in the community is really different, there our tv is almost turned on even if there is no one watching, our lights were turned on 24/ 7 even when we're asleep, and here in the province we always see to it that when no one is watching, we should turn off the television and when it is already sleeping time we need to turn off the lights.

In times like this where everything is now pricey, I can not help but miss the place I once called home. If I have the opportunity to live there again, I will 💯.

Ps: I won't tell you where the exact place is but it is found in Benguet :)