"You have a huge house yet you have no ref?"
"Why? What is the connection of the size of the house to having a ref?"
"You were able to afford building a house like this. Of course, you can also afford buying a ref!"
"Who says I cannot afford it?"
"Then buy one!"
"Why?"
"So that you have one."
"What will I need it for?"
She gave up and kept quiet.
That was my niece's comment when they once visited me at home. I laughed.
You may be wondering and asking, "Who does not have refrigerator in this digital era?" I! (With my two hands raised. 😄)
I bought a refrigerator in about the middle of my term working in Metro Manila. That was when I thought I would be able to take care of cooking my foods. It did not take long when I was not able to sustain my kitchen - going to the market and grocery store, preparing and cooking. It came to the point when the ref contains only water and fresh milk a which I bought by liter. It wasn't cost effective so I shut it down. If I wanted to, I just buy small pack of fresh milk and drink right after so there is no need for refrigeration. I got contented with room temperature of water. In the end, I sold the redrigerator. That was because of my busy schedule that I just enter a restaurant for meal.
Now that I am home in the province I still do not see the necessity of having a refrigerator. On the average, I go to the market twice a week to buy vegetables. This is to avoid stocking veggies that may spoil. We are not fan of liquid dairy products. We go with powder versions. If we want frozen foods or meat products, that is only when we buy and consume. No stocking thus no need for refrigerator.
"It's so boring here in your house."
"Why?"
"You don't have TV. I can't watch my favorite teleserye."
I again laughed at the complaint of not having TV at home. That was my elder sister's statement to me when I got home for weekend from Metro Manila. She is the mother of my niece who commented about me not having a refrigerator. There were times she came and sleep over as she took her turn to take care of our mother.
I once had a TV in Manila. When their TV here in the province got busted, I brought my TV home and did no longer buy a replacement. I use it very seldom any way. When that got busted, I did not it repaired and did not have any plan of buying a new one.
My elder brother bought a TV and installed it in his room. Still, I do not have any plan of buying one.
So why not have a TV? Everything is on the internet these days. All of us in the house are busy either on our phones or on the computers. If we want to watch together a movie or something, we play it on the common computer. Then what the TV will be for? Nothing but dust collector.
Not having refrigerator and TV at home actually makes me realize more benefits than having them.
- Lesser electricity consumption thus lower bill.
- Lower maintenance especially the refrigerator. Truth to be told, I don't want to add to my worries of things to cleanup.
- Discipline on food usage, and wastage which I told my housemates to be a no-no.
- Additional free space in the house.
It is a matter of assessing the need instead of keeping up with the trend.
Will you survive not having a refrigerator and a TV?