Working as a design staff in Hanoi, Mr. Tran Quang Huy (25 years old) has an income of about 16 million VND/month. The rent alone is 6 million VND, not including electricity, water and service fees.
Each month, he spends about 4 million VND on food and nearly 1.5 million VND on travel expenses. Coffee, online shopping, and movie watching also cost more than 1.5 million VND.
I don't buy anything too expensive, but at the end of the month, I still almost run out of money. When I reviewed the statements, I realized that my income was eroded by many small expenses," Mr. Huy said.
Regarding this issue, financial expert Nguyen Thuc Khoa - Founder and Chairman of ERIC Capital - said that if you have to choose one item that creates the greatest pressure on the income of young people today, it is still housing costs.
A fully furnished two-bedroom apartment in Hanoi has a rent of about 10-14 million VND/month, while the affordable segment also ranges from 8.5-10 million VND. Meanwhile, the average income of urban workers is about 11.1 million VND/month.
With this premise, a young person who wants to rent a private house in the city may have to spend more than 30% of their income, even half of their income, to pay for the house. They are forced to choose between living together, renting a house far from their workplace, or accepting not having much money to save.
After housing, eating is also a noteworthy item but is often difficult to recognize. A lunch price of 60,000-70,000 VND, plus coffee, snacks and delivery fees, does not create a feeling of immediate expense. However, if eating out regularly, the total cost at the end of the month can be up to several million VND," the expert analyzed.
According to Mr. Nguyen Thuc Khoa, in addition to housing expenses, young people also face pressure from travel expenses, especially when they have to rent houses far from their workplace to reduce rent.
Experts also noted spending groups associated with modern lifestyles such as Netflix, Spotify, iCloud, paid apps, gyms, work cafes, online shopping or short trips.
Each service usually costs only a few hundred thousand VND, so users easily overlook it. However, when simultaneously maintaining 7-10 items, the total amount can be up to several million VND per month.
In fact, some people have a fairly good income but still have difficulty accumulating. It was not until they reviewed their accounts that they discovered that they were maintaining more than ten automatic payments, including services that they no longer remember clearly or use little.
According to experts, young people should periodically check statements, statistics of automatic payments and assess the necessity of each service. Controlling small but frequently repeated expenses can help improve accumulation capacity without having to cut too much essential needs.
