When asked, he confirmed that he had just quit his job due to streamlining. It is not because he is weak that he wants to try his hand at business, try his abilities in another environment.
On a day when there were no customers, we sat and talked and the topics surrounding it were about spending and money.
He said: "Before, when I was a civil servant, I spent very comfortably. Not too much of a swerving move, but not too much of a concern. At that time, my income was stable, I didn't have much to worry about, but the money came on time, all expenses just passed like a flowing water - not waving".
Then when I went out to work separately, there was a silent change in my mind, he said.
There are no longer sticky numbers like 10,000 VND or 50,000 VND". Every time he plans to buy an item - whether it is a new shirt, a dinner, or just a glass of beer with friends - he begins to think: "This is equivalent to how many cups of coffee do I have to sell?".
And when I started asking that question, my options also changed. A 500,000 VND shirt? It was nearly 20 cups of coffee, not including raw materials, rent, electricity and water, and craftsmen. A 200,000 VND meal? Sometimes the amount of money is equal to the whole morning of standing there mixed together. The feeling of " spending money" gradually becomes a feeling of "effort".
The more you operate something that belongs to you - a coffee shop, a small store, or simply an investment - the more you are forced to see all expenses as part of the structure, no longer a game of entertainment. Each penny spent is a broken chain. Each item I buy is an exchange option.
It's not for nothing that you're getting goosebumps. And because you are starting to understand that spending is not an individual act. It is in a system. An incorrect link can lead to a domino effect, causing the entire financial rotation to deviate.
And from then on, he started reviewing his personal finances. It's not for lack of money. And because it was the first time, he clearly saw the relationship between "competent spending" and "creating value". Seeing the weight of every small decision - which was previously thought harmless.
From that perspective, spending money is also a type of investment. There are spending to fuel energy. There are spending to shorten the time. There are spending that are only to temporarily soothe emotions. When there are no longer fixed and safe salaries, we start to distinguish those three things more clearly than ever.
Financial freedom does not start with how much you earn, but from the moment you know how to view money as part of the system. And that only happens when you start paying the price with your own efforts.
I will no longer blame anyone for being wonky or stiff. Thinking in a positive way, those are adults, who understand spending, understand the weight of small daily decisions.
