VietNamNet Bridge – “Storm price” has become a hot topic in small talks of women and even men on online forums.

“I have to spend several hundreds of thousands dong whenever I go to the market. My husband is getting skinny from stress because of business concerns. I’m scared now and I don’t dare to spend freely,” said Linh, who has a shopping maniac.

Linh’s husband is manager of a private mechanic company. She is a PR officer for an education investment firm in Hanoi and earns a high salary. Linh used to spend freely for good food, clothes, etc. but she has had to change her shopping habits because of the “price storm”.

“I take food from home to the office for lunch, I haven’t bought any new clothes in a week and am talking about how to save gas, and electricity at home, my colleagues were very surprised. They said that the price storm is so strong that even Linh has to tighten her belt,” Linh said.

Toan is a construction engineer and owns a private company, his wife works for a bank and they have an apartment in Hanoi. This family is considered as middle class but in the price storm, the family has had to change their spending plans.

“I planed to buy a car this year but I have to cancel it,” Toan said.

According to Toan, he is capable of buying a car but it is very costly to maintain a car now. “The price for petrol has increased. The parking fee has also risen. If the car is malfunctioning or needs service, maintenance fees are very high. I’ve just opened my own company and I should save some money for business. So I’ve decided to cancel purchasing a car,” he explained.

Toan also canceled his plan to send his 3-year-old son to a foreign-invested kindergarten. He has decided to choose another kindergarten which offers reasonable school fees.

Mrs. Bich’s family, Hanoi, earns VND16-17 million ($800-850) a month, which used to be enough to cover the family’s spending and save several million dong a month ($100-200). But so far this year, the couple has not saved any penny.

“I’m very worried. I used to spend VND150,000 ($7.5) for food a day but it is not enough at present. I cannot save money for food because my family has elderly people and a baby. School fees for my child also have risen but our salary hasn’t increase,” Bich said.

She said that she is seeking an extra job. “I’m very tired with my full-time job but I have to seek an extra job to save some money. Perhaps I will cancel my plan to have a second child,” she added.

The price storm has become a hot topic in chats between women and also over  drinks between men. On online forums, topics entitled “how to survive in a price storm?”, “how I can spend money in price storm”, “100 ways to save at home”, attract large numbers of visitors.

Forum members suggest many measures for women to practice thrift, including bringing food from home to the office for lunch, avoiding shopping and noshing, finding shops offering sales on goods, etc. Men are suggested to have meals at home instead of seeing their friends at drinking establishments after leaving the office.

Prof. Dang Dinh Dao, Director of the Institute for Economic Research and Development, said that the rise in the prices for petrol and electricity resulted in the increase of prices of other goods. Many people are hit by this, especially state employees and poor people in  rural regions.

The middle class is not severely affected by the price storm but they are worried and are beginning to adjust their spending habits.

Prof. Dao said that he earns nearly VND10 million ($500) a month and doesn’t have small children but he is affected by the price storm. His family is now very careful in daily spending.

“My family planned to hire a car to go to my hometown in Quang Binh province to attend the death anniversary of a relative. But when everything went up in price, we had to change the plan. Only one member in my family took a train to Quang Binh,” he said as an example.

“In this difficult situation, people will have to be self-motivated. Before the state had policies to stabilize the price, each family has to deal with their own spending problem,” Prof. Dao said.

PV