Hearth and Home

In the early morning of Thursday, I headed out of my rental to get breakfast. I met a German tourist coming out of the unit across from me. His noiseless presence made sense when I found out that he was in Guelph visiting friends. The puzzle was the babbling of a toddler in the 2 bedroom-suite on the first floor. Although I hear some people coming and leaving, the baby stayed inside at all hours. Who rents an airBnB with a tiny child (that doesn't go anywhere)? While waiting for my breakfast wrap ($7.75) at Uncle Sid's, I noticed that they have expanded their menu. I don't know if business is good or bad with posters advertised $5 ham sandwich, the same price for an assorted pie slices, as well as dinner options including turkey and beef brisket.

Around noon, I decided to do some Christmas shopping along College St like previous years. A while back I told my cousins that I was only getting gifts for their kids as they themselves were full-grown. But I still buy for them even though the knick-knacks often come from a single location. Still, there was some thought behind the gifts as opposed to the Tim Horton's mug or an Indigo gift card I usually receive. I found chili oil ($13) and sweet olive oil ($38) from Pasta Forever on Dundas. The stretch of shops near Pho Linh only yielded peanut butter treats ($11.99) and beef sticks ($9.99) at Critter Pet Outpost. Archi Element seemed like a nice tea shop (complete with green tea ceremony) that also carried hand-made pottery wares from various artists. But a tiny cup started at $60 and things only got pricier. Finally, near the Ossington intersection, I got a leather wallet ($40) from After Hours, a small indigenous-own shop, educational toys ($89.95) from Jill and The Beanstalk, and small goods ($65.15) from Ziggy's At Home.

I didn't carry my Christmas haul back to the rental though, but hopped on a bus heading north. I was meeting an acquaintance I last ran into around 2019 as I was on my way to my yoga training. We knew each other from the early 2010s when we practiced together at a boutique studio on St. Clair. It wasn't just to confab, but to also check out her sublet.

Her parents moved to Toronto a long time ago and as such, owned a few small buildings typically with a store on the ground and apartments on the 2nd floor. But this sublet unit spent most of its life as a garage or storage unit (according to Google Photos). Unlike her family members who have all moved to fancier neighbourhoods, she stayed and turned it into a Japanese-like tiny home complete with Murphy bed and Tatami mats. Since she now lived with her partner, it was available for a short-term stay.

Although further North, it was still in my old neighbourhood and a 10-minute walk to busy Bloor St. There were a few stores nearby that could become regular haunts even if local businesses like the cobbler of her youth were long-gone. The unit was rebuilt with nice features: heated floor, magnetically-latched cabinets, and the aforementioned Tatami mats. I was iffy about the secondary loft since it was only 4 feet from the ceiling. With no room to even stand, you'd have to scootch on your butt to get into the double bed. But if I wanted room to practice on the mats, I'd have to push in that Murphy bed and use the loft.

The sticking point was the $2100/month rental price. I know this was the typical going rate in Toronto nowadays and cheaper alternatives had their minuses. Still, when you factor in other daily costs, this was approaching $3000-3500 extra on top of the Ottawa living expenses that I share with my Mom. But I decided to take the unit for several reasons.

First, since we sort-of knew each other, she wasn't going to require that I provide pay stubs, credit reports, and so on. I have always found this "invasion of privacy" irksome. My previous rentals in Toronto (spanning several decades) were agreed upon with a firm handshake. Second, I did receive a small windfall this year and should do more than just hoard money. Finally, I will treat the $10-12K price tag (for the next 3-4 months) as an extended vacation. After all, I have claimed that I'd rather be in Toronto than travelling to anywhere else. But I'm still going to track the sh*t out of my expenses because who doesn't love spreadsheets?