Many young people accept to live far from their workplace to save money - Photo: YEN TRINH
Living far away, they spend 1-2 hours every day going to work. Thanks to that, they have a little extra money each month to save.
Everyone wants to live near the center, near the workplace, comfortable, convenient for going out and working. However, the rent often takes up a large part of income, causing great pressure on living expenses. Therefore, choosing the right place to live is an important issue.
Accommodation 15km from the company
As Ho Chi Minh City is about to enter the rainy season, every afternoon Minh Tung (25 years old) anxiously checks the weather forecast on his phone. Every now and then, he goes to the window of the building where his company is headquartered to see if dark clouds are approaching from any direction.
Some colleagues teased: "I don't know what's out there, why do you stay in the same place forever, not wanting to move here to be closer?"
Tung works for a company near Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, District 7. His place of residence is Thu Duc City, in a room on the second floor of a shared house. The rent is 1.8 million VND per month, including electricity and water bills.
Holding his phone and opening the map application, Tung measured the distance from his rented house to his company. The distance displayed was more than 15km. Tung said: "Every day going to work and returning to my rented house is like a backpacking trip."
Every day, this guy wakes up at 5am. He eats breakfast, showers, and goes to work. "If we leave just 15 minutes late, we'll get stuck in a traffic jam," Tung explained.
But in return, he saves a decent amount of money every month, while his salary is also quite stable.
He said he has been staying here since he was a student. The landlord treats him like a family member. Therefore, the rent has not increased for several years.
"I went to look at a room near the company, but I didn't feel very secure about security and fire issues. Renting a room in an apartment building is expensive. The place I'm currently staying at is spacious, airy, and cheap," he shared.
Tung added: "My job sometimes requires me to work OT (overtime). If it's too late, I'll sleep at the company. So I think spending 6-7 million VND to rent a room in an apartment just to sleep is a waste."
He confided that he chose to live far away and tried to cut costs so that he could buy land later.
With such a long history of "backpacking", Tung is used to traveling long distances. He excitedly said: "Sometimes on the road, I also come up with ideas to quickly solve work."
Accept to stay far away to reduce the burden of living expenses
Renting a room in a boarding house is inconvenient but saves a lot of money every month - Photo: YEN TRINH
Thu Thao (27 years old, media employee) used to feel uncomfortable living with many people in the dormitory during her four years as a student. Therefore, the first thing she did after receiving her salary was to move out. "I rented a room for 3.5 million VND to live alone for fun."
Thinking back to the time when she first started working, Thao's salary was under 10 million VND, and she received 85% of her official salary during her two-month probationary period. Thao couldn't understand why she dared to spend so much on a place to stay.
The rent, which took up nearly half of her salary, was not enough to "wake her up" to save. Until her younger brother entered a university in Thu Duc City, Thao was entrusted by her mother to help pay for his education.
"After years of raising me and sending me to school, my parents were exhausted," she said.
After some consideration, she decided to rent a room in a boarding house. This place was close to the school so her younger brother could catch the bus to school.
She still goes to work for a company in Go Vap district every day. "Even if I change jobs, I still try to live far away. The cost of living is cheaper, and I have a little extra money every month for emergencies," Thao confided.
However, Thu Thao said she was very tired because she had to ride a motorbike to work far away 5 days a week. "It was both back-breaking and dangerous," she said.
Thao said she would try for another year so that her sister could arrange her time to study and work stably. When she had more living expenses, she and her sister would rent somewhere else. That way, they could balance the distance between school and work.
As for Minh Tung, who admits to living a "pragmatic" life, he always thinks: "I'm at the company all day, only going back to my room to sleep every night. So I don't need to spend too much money on accommodation."
Living far away to save money : Is it worth the trade-off?
Some young people think that there is no general answer to this question. Where to stay depends on many factors: financial ability, personal needs and travel conditions of each person.
If your budget is tight, staying far from the city center can be a good option to save money. Of course, you have to sacrifice many things like convenience, having to go to bed early and wake up early to go to work. Or having to brave the rain on a long journey home, even enduring traffic jams.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chap-nhan-o-tro-xa-cho-lam-ca-chuc-cay-so-tiet-kiem-mong-mua-nha-20240528112247744.htm
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