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How to spend carefully
By Xu Wenwen |
January 11, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TOUGHER economic times don't have to mean a total curb on spending. Xu Wenwen meets some savvy online consumers who know exactly where to look for the best bargains and how to reduce their daily costs.
As living costs keep rising while salaries remain unchanged, saving money has become a common concern among many Chinese people recently. However, saving money no longer means not spending at all as was the method used by older generations. Today, saving money involves using shrewd tricks and awareness of how to get the best buying deals - most of which can be found on the Internet.
The term "money-saving doyen" has emerged from this practice and refers to those who minimize spending by using all kinds of means, such as online group purchases, online coupons, online shopping and seasonal discounts.
Hangzhou, where Taobao.com (the country's largest online shopping website) and Koubei.com (China's leading online coupon website) are both headquartered, is seeing an increase in these money-saving doyens.
Ding Zhu is a 27-year-old Hangzhou woman who made a conscious effort to save money last summer. Her key tip for saving money is to keep up to date with offers and information about discounts on the Internet.
Every day, Ding's first task when she turns on her computer is to check group purchase or coupon websites to see if there are any new offers she might be interested in.
"As a saleswoman, I have to socialize," Ding says. "Since I couldn't reduce the amount of time I spent socializing, I needed to reduce the amount of money it was costing me.
"The frequency of my entertainment in the second half of last year was higher than that in the first half, but the actual costs were nearly half," said Ding. "The secret lies in that I have participated in group purchasing, which only cost one third of the original price - or even less."
Group purchasing, which brings buyers together to obtain commodities at the lowest prices, has become a popular trend among the younger generation of Hangzhou, and has spread to almost all facets of daily life, including dining, karaoke, makeup, short journeys and outdoor sports.
While Ding uses group purchasing and other Internet methods to save money on entertainment, Bao Wewei is more interested in getting favorable discounts on travel. Last autumn, his post about his trip to Thailand on Hangzhou's leading forum 19lou.com became very popular because on it he explained how he only paid 3,000 yuan (US$452) for a one-week trip in Thailand.
"I booked the plane ticket on the Internet four months in advance, so I got a 70 percent discount; I took buses more than taxis when I was there after checking all transport information online; and I booked a cheap youth hostel online," said Bao.
"There are many ways to save money in such a developed age, you just need to find out what they are," he added.
"For example, the lowest discount I've bought is a four-day travel package to Hong Kong and Macau, which covers the cost of two people's accommodation, meals and tickets to scenic spots, but it only cost me 138 yuan," Bao said proudly.
While some focus on buying bargains, others turn to closely monitoring their spending habits to avoid unnecessary expenditure.
Young mother Yang Hong looks at her account online everyday, but previously, she spent extravagantly and always ran behind with her expenses.
Yang realized she had to control her spending after giving birth to a baby daughter a couple of months ago. "Diapers and milk powder are now my two biggest burdens, and then there are kindergarten tuition fees in the forthcoming future," said Yang.
"I actually didn't know the reason why my money flowed so fast until a pie chart on my online account spelled that I'd spent half of my salary on fashion and one fourth on taxis.
"Now I check the account charts every day to remind me not to make any compulsive purchases, and I use more bicycles and buses," said Yang.
"Consumers are getting smarter and shrewder, and it is a trend," said Zhang Lei, a sociologist from Zhejiang University of Technology.
"One of the Internet's biggest advantages is to integrate resources, and sellers' opportunities rise," he added.
"However, it remains agame full of uncertainties between sellers and consumers, who both only want tobenefit themselves."
As living costs keep rising while salaries remain unchanged, saving money has become a common concern among many Chinese people recently. However, saving money no longer means not spending at all as was the method used by older generations. Today, saving money involves using shrewd tricks and awareness of how to get the best buying deals - most of which can be found on the Internet.
The term "money-saving doyen" has emerged from this practice and refers to those who minimize spending by using all kinds of means, such as online group purchases, online coupons, online shopping and seasonal discounts.
Hangzhou, where Taobao.com (the country's largest online shopping website) and Koubei.com (China's leading online coupon website) are both headquartered, is seeing an increase in these money-saving doyens.
Ding Zhu is a 27-year-old Hangzhou woman who made a conscious effort to save money last summer. Her key tip for saving money is to keep up to date with offers and information about discounts on the Internet.
Every day, Ding's first task when she turns on her computer is to check group purchase or coupon websites to see if there are any new offers she might be interested in.
"As a saleswoman, I have to socialize," Ding says. "Since I couldn't reduce the amount of time I spent socializing, I needed to reduce the amount of money it was costing me.
"The frequency of my entertainment in the second half of last year was higher than that in the first half, but the actual costs were nearly half," said Ding. "The secret lies in that I have participated in group purchasing, which only cost one third of the original price - or even less."
Group purchasing, which brings buyers together to obtain commodities at the lowest prices, has become a popular trend among the younger generation of Hangzhou, and has spread to almost all facets of daily life, including dining, karaoke, makeup, short journeys and outdoor sports.
While Ding uses group purchasing and other Internet methods to save money on entertainment, Bao Wewei is more interested in getting favorable discounts on travel. Last autumn, his post about his trip to Thailand on Hangzhou's leading forum 19lou.com became very popular because on it he explained how he only paid 3,000 yuan (US$452) for a one-week trip in Thailand.
"I booked the plane ticket on the Internet four months in advance, so I got a 70 percent discount; I took buses more than taxis when I was there after checking all transport information online; and I booked a cheap youth hostel online," said Bao.
"There are many ways to save money in such a developed age, you just need to find out what they are," he added.
"For example, the lowest discount I've bought is a four-day travel package to Hong Kong and Macau, which covers the cost of two people's accommodation, meals and tickets to scenic spots, but it only cost me 138 yuan," Bao said proudly.
While some focus on buying bargains, others turn to closely monitoring their spending habits to avoid unnecessary expenditure.
Young mother Yang Hong looks at her account online everyday, but previously, she spent extravagantly and always ran behind with her expenses.
Yang realized she had to control her spending after giving birth to a baby daughter a couple of months ago. "Diapers and milk powder are now my two biggest burdens, and then there are kindergarten tuition fees in the forthcoming future," said Yang.
"I actually didn't know the reason why my money flowed so fast until a pie chart on my online account spelled that I'd spent half of my salary on fashion and one fourth on taxis.
"Now I check the account charts every day to remind me not to make any compulsive purchases, and I use more bicycles and buses," said Yang.
"Consumers are getting smarter and shrewder, and it is a trend," said Zhang Lei, a sociologist from Zhejiang University of Technology.
"One of the Internet's biggest advantages is to integrate resources, and sellers' opportunities rise," he added.
"However, it remains agame full of uncertainties between sellers and consumers, who both only want tobenefit themselves."
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