Eating potatoes all month to pay bank interest on apartment purchase

Settling down is always the dream of many young people in urban areas - Illustration photo

Having a proper home to settle down has always been the dream of Mr. Trong Nghia and Ms. Thu Huong (living in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City). After more than 12 years of "traveling and staying" around the city, they have experienced the hardship and cramped living conditions.

Don't dare to have children, just want to be full day by day

12 years of renting, just closing your eyes and thinking about it, all the hardships appear. The determination of Mr. Nghia and his wife to end their life of renting became stronger and stronger.

The income from the job of an electrician that Mr. Nghia is pursuing is very unstable. The salary of a skilled hairdresser or nail technician like Ms. Huong is only 9 million VND/month at most.

After many years of saving, not daring to eat when hungry, the total assets they had was more than 350 million VND. Indeed, they bought a house, a cheap apartment, 49 square ^meters wide in Binh Chanh district. "Borrowing from the bank, paying in installments is very cool", Mr. Hoang laughed.

In February, the day they moved into their new home, the couple hugged each other and cried. Tears of happiness, when their dream of settling down came true.

But then, reality and the pressures and hardships of life brought them back to reality. Having to pay more than 14 million VND each month in principal and interest to the bank almost completely consumed both of their incomes. Not to mention that in the first three years, the fixed interest rate was only 6%. In the fourth year, the floating interest rate added even more pressure!

Having just turned 34, the pressure of having children weighed heavily on Ms. Huong’s chest, and it grew heavier every day. But what could she do when her first dream of buying a house was already there, but it was also very fragile. If she had another child, she feared that she would not have enough strength to fulfill that lifelong dream!

For many weeks, Mr. Nghia and his wife had to share each potato to pursue their dream of settling down in their own house - Photo: TRIEU VAN

To earn more income, Mr. Nghia took advantage of the opportunity to register to work as a motorbike taxi driver day and night without rest. In addition to working hours, she took on extra shoes to sew and cut.

He confided that only now did he understand the saying "eat a lot, sleep a little". Sometimes, after paying the bank bills, the couple did not have even 100,000 VND in their pockets to buy food. For many weeks, the couple encouraged each other and shared each potato for meals. "If we tried to drive, we could earn a little more, just enough to cover our expenses. However, in case we got sick, we often ate potatoes or noodles, just enough to fill our stomachs for meals", Mr. Nghia confided.

Since buying a house, Hai has not known about shopping - Illustration: TRIEU VAN

To settle down, one must work 19 hours a day.

More than 5 months after moving into his own house, Van Hai (29 years old, living in Hoc Mon district) said he still feels emotional when thinking about it. However, the pressure to pay off the debt is also terrible.

The salary of the assistant to the foreign director that Hai worked for was about 22 million/month. It was a decent income, but to pay for a house loan and to cover living expenses was very difficult.

From eating out frequently, Hai now cooks at home to save money. The money spent on coffee, drinking, watching movies, and meeting people is also cut down to the maximum.

But with a monthly payment of up to 19 million to the bank, that was still not enough. Hai started taking on extra work outside to do his job. After finishing his 8-hour shift at the company, Hai went to a foreign language center in District 6 to tutor Chinese.

Hai got home after 9pm, ate a quick bowl of noodles and continued to bury himself in his work translating and preparing documents for some partners. Hai also often took on other jobs outside of work such as translating, graphic design, film editing... "Working 19-20 hours a day is normal for me," Hai said.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/an-khoai-ca-thang-vi-tra-lai-ngan-hang-mua-chung-cu-20240509003852515.htm