On the 5th of every month, Vi Hoang Tung's account (29 years old), a sales staff at a business in Thai Nguyen, usually has more than 10 million VND.
But by the 15th, he had started counting how many days left until the payday.
Tung has a fixed salary of about 10 million VND per month. Income sometimes increases thanks to commissions, but this amount is unstable. He once thought he ran out of money early because his salary was not high, until he checked the transaction history.
There is no exorbitant expense. Money gradually leaves the account through a few delicious meals after the day of receiving salary, a pair of shoes, two drinking sessions, technology rides when getting up late and a series of small orders on the shopping app.
Each time it's only a few tens of thousands or a few hundred thousand VND, so I don't find it significant. By the middle of the month, when I add up, I realize I've spent too much," Tung recounted.
What makes it difficult for Tung to control spending is that rent, living expenses, savings and entertainment are all in one account. Looking at the balance of more than 10 million VND, he feels like he still has a lot of money.
In fact, most of this money has its own "task". When not setting boundaries, Tung unintentionally used both house money and the amount for the end of the month to spend in the early days.
The following month, as soon as he received his salary, he tried to divide 10 million VND into four compartments.
4 million VND for rent and fixed expenses; 3 million VND for food and travel; 1 million VND for entertainment and shopping; 1 million VND transferred to the reserve fund. The remaining one million VND is kept as a buffer zone for arising expenses or other purposes.
For 3 million VND for living expenses alone, Tung divides about 700,000 VND per week, the rest is for the last days of the month. The contingency fund is transferred to a separate account as soon as there is salary, instead of waiting for the end of the month to save how much.
He also set a principle of not withdrawing money from the reserve fund to compensate for an overbooked meal or an unplanned item.
Throughout the time after that, he still met friends, occasionally booked technology cars and bought things he liked. The biggest difference is that before each payment, he knows exactly which amount of money can be used.
When the entertainment budget was almost used up, Tung actively refused a drinking party or postponed shopping to the next month. Rent and contingency funds were therefore no longer affected.
He added: "My salary distribution method is not a fixed formula for everyone. The ratio of each compartment needs to be adjusted according to income, housing, family responsibilities and debts.
People who already have a stable reserve fund can also set aside an additional portion for long-term goals or investments after researching carefully. Don't manage money with account balances. Manage with the money you are allowed to spend.
