VietNamNet
Bridge – A lot of “initiatives” have been applied by students in order to help
students cut down expenses in the price storm: preparing meals themselves
instead of going out to eat, going to school on bicycles instead of motorbikes.

Nguyen
Phuong Anh, a third year student of the Hanoi National University, got up very
early in the morning, when it was still dark, to go to the vegetable wholesale
market on Le Duc Tho street. Anh said that this is the wholesale market that
provides vegetables to retail markets in Cau Giay district, therefore, she can
buy vegetables at lower prices than in other retail markets.

“Before I
did not get up so early. However, I have no other choice now,” she said.

Meanwhile,
Hang, a second year student of the Hanoi
Trade University,
related that previously, she could buy enough cooking for two meals with 30,000
dong. However, with the same sum of money, Hang cannot buy enough food for one
meal.

Like Anh,
Hang also gets up early to go to the vegetable market, which allows her to save
100,000 dong a month.

A group of
students of the Trade
University have decided
to gather money to prepare meals together. “My parents can only give me 1.3
million dong a month. Therefore, I have to think of something to cut down
expenses. Sharing meals helps us save up money,” a student said.

“It is more
fun to have lunches and dinners together,” another student, from the Tourism College, said.

A lot of
changes have occurred with the breakfasts of students. Thu Hang, a student from
the Hanoi Law University
said previously, she always paid 3000 dong for steamed glutinous rice for
breakfast. However, the seller has raised her price to 5000 dong.

Nguyen Thi
Thuy, a student, who lives at Me Tri Dormitory, also complained that as
everything is getting more and more expensive, she dares not spend too much
money on breakfasts.

Nguyen The
Tan Truong from the Hanoi University of Technology, said that he still has to
go to rice shops. Truong does not have to pay more for the meals, but he knows
he has less food for meals. “I am not full up with just 15,000 dong. Therefore,
I always have to buy loafs of bread to eat at night,” he said.

Even the
students from well-off families also say they have to cut down expenses to
reserve money for studying. Duc Anh, a fourth year student of a private school
related that previously, he went to cafés three or four times a week, but he
has to give up the habit, and now he and his friends to go street tea shops on
the sidewalk.

Especially,
the students, who have girlfriends, complain that they have to try to cut down
“love fee”. “Every time, after going out with the girlfriend, I have to draw up
the plans to cut down expenses on other things,” said Nam, a fourth year student of the Journalism and
Communication Academy.

In this
difficult period, motorbikes have become redundant to many students, while
bicycles have become the favorite.

Manh Dung,
a student of the Hanoi Open University, said that last month he brought his
motorbike back home, because he has decided to go to school by bicycle. “It is
very costly to “feed” the motorbike. I have to pay 50,000 dong a week for
petrol, while the parking fee alone would cost 3000 dong each time,” Dung said.

His parents
give him two million dong a month, a considerably large sum of money for a
family in the countryside. However, the sum of money is not much in big cities,
where everything is very expensive.

Hai Ha, a
student of the Civil Engineering University, also said that traveling by
bicycle allows him to save 500,000 dong a month.

Tuyet Ngan