‘I live in a small apartment on purpose, so I can buy extra designer stuff’

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Sanne lives tiny on purpose so that there is more money left over to buy expensive things for herself and her sons.

Sanne (32), divorced and mother of two sons aged 4 and 2:

“I like beautiful things. For as long as I can remember I have been tearing pictures of shoes, bags, clothes and furniture from glossy magazines. As a child I made collages of those tears. The walls of my room were covered with them. I dreamed of what it would be like to be able to buy all those cool stuff.

Big bonus

I studied public administration and immediately after that I started working for a large company. In addition to the normal periodic pay increases, I received a big promotion a few times. I still work in the company where I started as a little boy. My starting salary was 2000 euros and I managed to climb up to a business consultant in ten years. Now I earn 4875 euros net per month with a hefty bonus at the end of each year.

“Every new customer is a bonus, so you can count on me doing my best”

I dare say I’m worth it; i am good at my job. I like it when I can provide perfect advice to a company about, for example, an organizational change. My colleagues call me a biter, because my acquisition also runs smoothly and I often bring in companies as new customers. Every new customer means a bonus, so rest assured I’ll do my best.

On the cliffs

Relatively speaking, it is unfortunately less successful. I have two bloody sons, my males are four and two years old. My marriage ended just after the birth of the youngest. Problems that my ex and I had experienced before in our marriage grew bigger and finally insurmountable when the second was born.

Luckily my ex and I are okay with each other. He sees our sons for two days every week and contributes financially by means of 650 euros in alimony per month. We have contractually stipulated that we will have his alimony re-indexed every year and I have waived partner alimony. That didn’t feel right. Although I sometimes think about the extra designer stuff I could have bought with that amount.

Expensive, large furniture

That love for beautiful things is still there. I live on purpose in a small apartment for which I pay 725 euros per month in rent. It is outside the city center, the bus takes 20 minutes to get to the shops.

The boys share a bedroom and I have a tiny cubicle into which I’ve crammed a king-size bed. Sleeps wonderfully, such a luxurious wide box spring, and it is also cozy when my sons and I laze in that large bed during the weekends. But actually it’s not a face. I can’t even fit a cupboard or bedside table next to it, so I keep my clothes in the children’s bedroom and in an extra cupboard next to the shower.

“The living room has a cognac-colored Ligne Roset Togo sofa and the coffee table comes from Italy”

I filled the apartment with expensive, large furniture. In the living room slash kitchen is a cognac-colored Ligne Roset Togo sofa that cost me almost 5000 euros. I love it, it’s a well-known designer piece. The coffee table comes from Italy and I bought it for 1800 euros. Well, there are also lamps from Vitra and Moooi, also expensive, and we eat at a handmade round table with pink teddy fabric chairs. The kitchen is tiny, I can’t change it because it’s a rental apartment. I did have the cabinets wrapped with a matt gray coating and there are three mint green Smeg devices on the counter.

Also read – ‘A nice coat can really make me happy, so I’m willing to pay a thousand euros for that’ >

Deferred maintenance

Now that I’m summing it up, I think: bizarre perhaps, all those mega-expensive stuff in such a rental apartment. Because the building has overdue maintenance and a landlord who is in no hurry to tackle this. The stucco is damaged in many places. The window frames are rotten and should have been painted three years ago. The window in my bedroom doesn’t close properly, so it’s always cold. The worst thing is that the walls are thin so I can almost literally understand the neighbors when they are arguing. I am ashamed of the place where we live. The interior cost a fortune, but the boys and I are the only ones enjoying it. Because really not that I invite people here for dinner.

“The interior cost a fortune, but I dare not invite anyone here”

The idea alone; the successful business consultant who lives in such a dredging flat. That my guests have to go up in an elevator that stinks of pee and wet dog. Then onto the gallery, where almost all the neighbors have dumped rubbish they can’t get rid of inside next to the front door. It seems in this building that there is a continuous smell of takeaway curry and the district itself is not very nice either. On days off I don’t sit relaxed with the boys in a park. All the parks around here are ‘occupied’ by bums. With a bit of luck, my sons find empty beer bottles and drug syringes in the bushes.

It feels a bit fake to live on our own, without contact with others. But still, I now prefer to spend my money on things and clothes. It does gnaw during such an afternoon in the park. I know that, if only for the safety of my men, I need to think about my spending habits.

Buy nice stuff

Maybe I should buy less and invest more in a home. I’m putting it off until I’m ever in a relationship again, I find. Now buying beautiful things and booking luxury holidays is a reward for my busy existence as a single mother.

Last night I started shopping online after a long day at work. Gucci sneakers for 380 euros for myself, an Iro sweater for 490 euros and two more jackets for my boys. Made together: 1100 euros. I can easily afford it because I earn good money and I have consciously chosen to live small so that there is more left to spend. I don’t have a car – too expensive – and I get our groceries at Aldi.

“I’d rather buy something special every month than spend extra on a bigger house”

I’d rather buy something special every month, like a cashmere bedspread, than spend an extra $600 a month on a bigger house. The boys are too young to complain about having to share a room. I can’t imagine that changing as they get older. I enjoy it so much now that I can buy what I want.

Chic outing

During the May holidays we go to a chic hotel on Mallorca. I rented a red BMW to cruise the island and keep a list of hotspots to eat. But first we go to Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin. Our favorite hotel, it costs 335 euros per night for a suite with a sea view. It just feels great to walk to the spa in a bathrobe, then swim together and have dinner in the evening.

My sons and I have done it so many times that they behave quite well in such a chic place. This hotel trip will cost me, with all the hotel extras, at least 1000 euros. We do this four times a year. In those moments I feel really rich. Even though returning home to the smelly takeaway curry flat is always swallowing.”

This article can be found in Kek Mama 06-2022.

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