Someone once told me (I may have misremembered the exact wording) that the only way a person could really increase their net worth was by building equity through home ownership. Whether or not that’s true, I’ll probably die without a single penny invested in a house. If life was so certain that I knew I could pass all this equity onto my children, then I’d make a concerted effort. But my life isn’t like that.

Most Swedish towns (most likely all) have a waiting list for apartments. That means you register with the municipality, then accrue a point every day that you are on the list. If an apartment becomes available through the municipality’s webpage, you register your interest. In my city, the person in eighth place in line usually has several hundred points, like 500 – 600 points. That means they’ve been on the list for 500 – 600 days. At the time of this writing, I have 73 points.

So how the heck do you get an apartment in this town? There are several private real estate firms that you can register with. For them, it’s essentially first come, first serve. They don’t send notices that they have an apartment up for grabs, and you have to be quick if they post something on their websites. There’s a housing shortage, and new apartment complexes that are being built inside the city are luxury apartments. Obviously out of my budget. If I am expected to wait for a two-bedroom apartment in an affordable price range, I could be waiting on the list for years before one is offered to me.

However! I was lucky, and I registered for a 49 m² (~527 square feet) studio apartment. After a viewing where many people showed up, I wrote an email explaining my situation, and luckily a few more people called the management to plead my case. I got the apartment!

Right now, my children are small and want to be with me wherever I go, so a studio apartment is not a problem. I will eventually need a place with room enough for everyone to sleep.  If I have enough money to buy an apartment or house, then that’s just a bonus, but it’s not a goal. My goals have recently become limited to my immediate future’s success such as having enough money to feed myself and finding a place to live.

The location of this apartment is relatively close to the house we live in now. Gasoline is not cheap. Shuttling my girls to their school is going to take some extra fuel. It takes about a $100 to fill the tank on my little Citroën.

“But it’s Europe!” I hear you say. “Doesn’t everyone ride bicycles?”

When it’s -27 degrees Celsius outside, I’m going to drive a car.