Housewives in Ho Chi Minh City have a headache with spending problems

On the weekend morning, Mrs. Thu went to Vuon Chuoi market (District 3), hesitated for a while in front of the vegetable stall, then decided to buy a bunch of water spinach and a bunch of amaranth. The 68-year-old woman said that she still has some dried shrimp at home, so she only buys vegetables to cook soup.

“My children are unemployed, and my grandchildren are in school, so meals must be saved as much as possible to have money to spend on other things,” Ms. Thu shared.

Use a wood stove instead of a gas stove

The customer parked the car in front of Mrs. Thu’s shop, then said: “Grandma got me a set of offerings”. Putting down the bundle of vegetables, Mrs. Thu slowly went to get the paper to sell to the customer. Thu’s small shop selling votive papers is the main source of income for her family of five.

Thu’s son and daughter-in-law lost their jobs before the Lunar New Year, and the family has two young children of school age. Because of that, the burden of spending is on Ms. Thu’s shoulders. The meager amount from the wholesale must be carefully calculated to cover the basic living expenses in the family.

Ms. Thu bought 2 bundles of vegetables for 15,000 VND. She said she would cook a lot of water for her family to eat 2 meals. Photo: Nguyen Toan.

From the beginning of March, when the price of gasoline suddenly increased to a record high, the prices of other items also increased, Ms. Thu said shopping was also tightened.

“Normally, I go to the market every day for about 100,000 VND to cook for the whole family. Now cut to 50,000 VND. Depending on the day, I will consider what to buy, mostly vegetables, then cook a lot of water to eat all day,” said Ms. Thu.

This woman’s family also switched to using wood stoves instead of gas stoves to reduce fuel costs. Ms. Thu said the price of gas cylinders has increased to nearly 500,000 VND/can, which is quite expensive in the context that the family does not have a stable source of income.

Not only housewives struggle with spending, Mr. Tran Quoc Bao (60 years old) said he also has to consider a lot while shopping for his family. Photo: Nguyen Toan.

Facing the difficult problem of spending, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung (38 years old, Binh Thanh district) said that recently her family has limited eating at restaurants. Instead of having breakfast, or partying at restaurants, Ms. Dung advocates cooking at home.

“It takes time, but it helps a lot. In the morning, I usually re-fried rice, or cook instant noodles for family members. A little hard work, but saved a lot of money, “said Mrs. Dung.

Make a spending plan

The cost of children’s education also becomes a big burden for workers in Ho Chi Minh City. Ms. Thu Tuyet (42 years old), a small trader at Vuon Chuoi market (District 3) said that the cost of school and tutoring for her two children is about 7 million VND, not including the costs of books, clothes, transportation. to pick up…

Expenditures increased at the same time, but the business was sluggish, making small businesses like Ms. Tuyet struggle in spending problems.

Ms. Thu Tuyet faced difficulties when her income decreased because of the Covid-19 epidemic, but family expenses were increasing day by day. Photo: Nguyen Toan.

The 42-year-old woman said that every month she has to pay cash, taxes totaling about 3 million VND. Since the price of gasoline increased, every week she spends more than 100,000 VND to fill up. However, the Covid-19 epidemic has affected many social aspects, making business difficult.

“There were days when I was too lazy, I had to cut down on the family’s meal to make up for it,” Ms. Tuyet said. In order to balance the income and expenditure in difficult times, this small business always carefully records the money so as not to fall into debt.

Similar to Ms. Tuyet, Ms. Thu Thuy (28 years old, Phu Nhuan district), said that she has a notebook to record all monthly expenses from money to buy food, gas, accommodation, etc. In each category. All of them have an estimated amount, if at the end of the month, they exceed the spending limit, she will rebalance next month.

“For example, if the gas bill increases, then the phone bill must be reduced. Gas bills increase, they have to reduce money to buy food. It must be carefully balanced so that there is no shortage,” said Ms. Thuy.

Mrs. Dung goes to the market by bicycle to reduce travel costs. Photo: Nguyen Toan.

According to Ms. Thuy, in addition to calculating the details of revenues and expenditures, she also spends time finding out the prices of goods before buying, giving priority to choosing places with good prices or promotions.

After a long period of social distancing, Ms. Thuy believes that every family should have a savings to use in case of emergency. At the same time, the spending must also have a clear plan to avoid falling into a shortage.

“Experiencing the epidemic last year, I learned from experience that there must be a reserve money for force majeure cases. If before, I was willing to buy a million-dollar dress, or pay installments to buy a luxury phone. Now, I give priority to buying necessary items and taking care of my health, “said Ms. Thuy.

According to zingnews.vn