When starting the plan to buy one "phan" of gold per month, Ms. Lo Thi Mai received a lot of sarcasm. Some people said that the accumulation was too small, not worth calculating or being proud of.
At that time, one ounce of gold was worth about 1.4 million VND. For Ms. Mai, this is not an easy amount to get.
Female teachers must monitor spending, limit unnecessary expenses and retain a portion of income immediately upon receiving salary.
One ounce of gold is very small, but when I started accumulating, I felt that the first gear had moved. The important thing is not how much it is, but that I have actually walked," she said.
According to Ms. Mai, low-income people are sometimes easily self-conscious about their achievements. When recording spending, selling homemade products or saving a small amount, they may be commented on "how many dong do you have to calculate".
Those words once made her feel sad but did not stop her plan.
After a period of saving, she spent about 30 million VND to build a chicken coop, creating additional income in addition to teaching work.
Livestock breeding was not favorable from the beginning. Due to lack of experience, she had a period of negative capital. Income from the chicken flock was still small and uneven, far from the stories of quick getting rich that often appear on social networks.
In return, she learned how to care for livestock, calculate costs, monitor market prices and find outlets. Each failure helps her gain more experience to adjust scale, choose a more suitable time to raise and sell.
Not yet rich, but the things I receive are more than money. That is knowledge, self-reliance and the feeling of no longer being self-conscious about my income," Ms. Mai shared.
From her own experience, Ms. Mai believes that people with low incomes should not be ashamed when they only save a small amount.
One ounce of gold, one million VND or a few hundred thousand VND are all meaningful if they are suitable for actual conditions and maintained regularly.
According to her, workers also need to appreciate the value of the products they make. A bunch of vegetables, a chicken or an egg is not only calculated by the price of raw materials but also contains the time, effort and risks of the producer.
For others, a ounce of gold may be insignificant. For Ms. Mai, it is the first brick of a 30 million VND chicken coop, a small source of income and a more stable feeling in life.
Wealth, according to the female teacher, does not only lie in high salaries or overwhelming numbers. Sometimes, it starts from cherishing one's own efforts, keeping a portion of income and persistently allowing a small amount of money to gradually multiply.
