26 year old girl saves money for 2 years to buy a car and a house: loves saving money since childhood
On July 24th, the topic of "26 year old Wuhan girl saves money for two years to buy a car and a house" went viral. According to reports, Ms. He @ Xiaozhaizhai and her boyfriend spend no more than 300 yuan per month on meals, including 30 yuan worth of vegetables and a bundle of noodles that cost a few yuan. They can eat for a week, and 20 pounds of rice bought for 40 yuan can last for a month. This kind of life has been going on for two years.
Ms. He's daily meal plan/provided by the interviewee
On that day, Jiupai News contacted Ms. He, who said that she comes from Suizhou, Hubei and has a habit of saving money since childhood. During her elementary school years, she had a pocket money of five yuan a week, and she spent 50 cents a day, leaving 2.5 yuan a week.
Later, Ms. He took the college entrance examination and went to Wuhan. During her university years, she fell in love with her boyfriend and they agreed to buy a car and a house in Wuhan before getting married.
In March of this year, Ms. He and her boyfriend paid the down payment together and bought a new house with a total price of 830000 yuan and 114 square meters. In December 2022, the two had purchased a vehicle with a landed price of around 200000 yuan.
At this point, Ms. He and her boyfriend have achieved their interim goals and are currently busy with engagement and marriage matters. She told reporters that her current goal for saving money is 120000 yuan for the renovation of their new house. After everything is settled, they want to travel to Hunan, which is something they have always wanted to do but haven't done before.
I won't be brainwashed by consumerism, I have my own ideas and goals. Compared to some of my previous colleagues, we are a bit strict with ourselves, but both my boyfriend and I come from rural areas, and it's not easy to establish ourselves in a big city like Wuhan, "Ms. He said.
The following is a conversation between Jiupai News and Ms. He.
【1】 Buying flowers and gifts on special holidays is too luxurious and wasteful
Jiupai News: Is the money spent on buying a house and a car all from the savings of the past two years?
Ms. He: For the down payment of buying a house and a car, our parents helped us with over 100000 and 50000 yuan respectively, and the rest of the money was our savings.
We met at school in 2017, and after falling in love, he often buys me gifts on holidays like "520". I feel that flowers worth over 70 yuan, necklaces worth over 100 yuan, and bags worth over 500 yuan are too luxurious and wasteful, so I want him to put the money with me and save it together to prevent him from spending it recklessly.
Jiupai News: Why choose to buy a car for 200000 yuan?
Ms. He: Buying a car is within the plan. We originally planned to buy a car worth over 100000 yuan, as long as it could be used for transportation, but our boyfriend was interested in cars worth around 200000 yuan, and his parents also suggested buying a better one. So we discussed and decided to buy a better car for our first life. After all, after buying a car this time, we plan to drive it for ten years.
After visiting many 4S stores, I finally decided on my favorite Red Flag car, which was priced at exactly 200000 yuan.
Jiupai News: Does love not care about the "ritual sense" of special holidays?
Ms. He: It's not wrong for everyone to want a sense of ceremony during special holidays. Everyone spends money in different ways.
In my opinion, giving flowers and gifts on special holidays is a waste of money. Previously, my boyfriend wanted to give me a gold necklace, but I thought it was not appropriate to give someone such a valuable gift as we were not married yet.
Compared to my peers, I do save a lot more. But I don't have any sense of difference, because buying a car and a house with the money I saved is equivalent to having fixed assets.
Jiupai News: Does he approve of your consumption philosophy?
Ms. He: My boyfriend often says, 'I'm too strict with myself and I want to buy whatever I need.' He's very generous to me.
But both of us are from rural areas, and we know that it's not easy to establish ourselves in a big city like Wuhan. Nowadays, it's also difficult to earn money and prices are not low, so we will try our best to save money. Our common goal is to get the RV ready before getting married.
【2】 I have loved saving money since I was young, but when I saw my parents working so hard, I couldn't bear to spend money
Jiupai News: Have you had any memorable moments during the two years of saving money?
Ms. He: Sometimes I also complain that I have a car loan in the past two years, and then I need to renovate. I feel uncomfortable thinking about rent and parking fees, which are all money given to others, but the most difficult time has already passed.
Looking back on when we first started working, we lived in a house that cost 650 yuan per month. A portion of our salary was inevitably spent on socializing with colleagues, and we had to save money every month, which made our lives quite tight.
My boyfriend also told me that everything will get better after these two years. Once the house is renovated, we can move in. People are always bitter before sweet. I also believe that we will get better and better.
Nine Faction News: When did the awareness of saving money form?
Ms. He: I have had the habit of saving money since I was young. I am not a big spender, and I spend money in a planned manner.
When I was in elementary school, I had a weekly pocket money of 5 yuan, but I only spent 50 cents a day, 2.5 yuan a week, and kept half of it for my parents to go home. When I was a child, my family had poor conditions. Seeing my parents working so hard, I couldn't bear to spend as much as I wanted. I always kept some money.
The money saved for college is the living expenses given by my parents, and I have some unused savings, about a few thousand yuan.
Ms. He said she has a habit of saving money since childhood. The picture is a RMB information picture
Jiupai News: Have your parents ever made any demands on you regarding saving money?
Ms. He: Never. Every time my parents give me money, they always give me more. Now they call and often advise me, 'Don't be reluctant to eat or spend money, eat more fruits.'.
But I am relatively frugal in terms of spending money myself. My family also has a sister. My parents are very kind to our sisters. When I was a child, we used to grow shiitake mushrooms at home. Now my father works with relatives and my mother has always been a homemaker.
【3】 Now the two of them spend less than 1000 yuan per month on food and clothing, and they want to travel to Hunan in the future
Jiupai News: What is the current savings situation?
Ms. He: I am currently unemployed. My boyfriend earns around 14000 yuan per month, and I can save six to seven thousand yuan per month. A mortgage of over 2000 yuan can be covered by the housing provident fund, a car loan of 3125 yuan, and a rent of 1800 yuan, which are the main expenses.
In terms of food, clothing, and expenses, our consumption is very low, with two people spending less than 1000 yuan, as long as we can eat enough and wear warm clothes. I usually buy clothes online and choose very cheap ones. I make my own meals.
Ms. He recorded a video at home and created a self media image/provided by the interviewee
Jiupai News: How is your mindset?
Ms. He: We both came from the countryside, and we're already doing well now. He is very hardworking and down-to-earth, and his leaders have high expectations of him; I don't expect to have what others have, I just compare myself to myself and not to others.
I am quite satisfied with my living situation now. Seeing my savings gradually increasing, I feel happy and secure. Currently, I am also working on self media, hoping to earn a little bit. Step by step, just achieve your goal.
Nine Faction News: What about planning for the future?
Ms. He: I can repay my car loan by the end of this year. I will continue to save money in the second half of the year and strive to complete the decoration of my new house next year.
We have compared the prices of many decoration companies horizontally and plan to control the decoration cost within 120000 yuan. The biggest headache now is the issue of new house decoration, after all, it is a large expenditure of over 100000 yuan, and there is also concern about the problem of "decoration pitfalls".
After all these things are done, the thing I most want to do is travel. After saying 'I want to go to Hunan' for several years, we stopped thinking about tolls, fuel costs, and hotel prices during holidays. I'm a bit stingy and reluctant to go.
The ideal state of life is to go to other places with the child before giving birth.
