In the most expensive place in Vietnam, a father of 7 spends 140 million VND/month raising his children

The “huge” cost of raising a child each year used to be up to 1.6-1.7 billion VND

Mr. Do Trong Hieu (43 years old, in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi) is known by many people as “father of 7” because he has 7 children. Mr. Hieu’s children were born from 2017 to 2021 and are all his biological children.

Mr. Hieu shared that having 7 children was something he had never thought of before. However, looking back, he sees that his life is very fateful with the number 7.

“I love football very much, all my football shirts have the number 7. Many years ago, I owned the sim number 7 on the market. Recently, many people talk about numerology, I’m curious. I looked around and saw that my main number is 7. Right now, my most valuable assets are my family and 7 children,” Mr. Hieu said with a smile.

Every time he takes his children out to play or go to school, the 43-year-old father makes many people curious and ask “how is it to raise a family with so many children”, “how much does it cost to pay for meals and school fees each month?” “What is family spending like in Hanoi, the most expensive in the country”?…

Taking care of and raising 7 children with this father’s family is not easy, especially when his family lives in Hanoi – a place that has ranked first in the country for many years in terms of expensive consumption. education, health care and entertainment services…

Mr. Hieu works as a freelance businessman. Due to the impact of economic fluctuations, increased prices of many goods and services, and decreased family income, he had to change his residence and cut down on many family needs and expenses while raising children. My 7 children.

According to the 43-year-old father, before December 2023, Mr. Hieu’s family lived in a luxury apartment complex. At this time, the cost of raising 7 children is up to 140-150 million VND/month, of which the largest expenses are related to tuition, meals, and insurance.

“From 2023 onwards, the average cost of raising children for my family is about 1.6-1.7 billion VND/year,” Mr. Hieu said.

The costs of raising children are specifically listed by Mr. Hieu: Tuition for 7 children 65 million VND, yogurt – powdered milk 10 million VND, diapers 2 million VND, vitamin supplements 5 million VND, vaccinations 3 million VND, clothes 5 million VND, entertainment – eating on weekends and holidays 15 million VND, insurance for 7 children 17 million VND, toys 3 million VND, daily meals 15 million VND.

This expense does not include travel expenses or hiring help. At that time, there were trips where Mr. Hieu spent 100 million VND for the whole family to go out together.

In early 2024, to ensure a long-term future and balance expenses, Mr. Hieu moved to a 4-story house to live.

He said: “I no longer live in a luxury apartment complex but moved to a ground-level house. Thanks to that, I can cut expensive service fees, and every time I go shopping for food and drinks, it’s also cheaper.

I also changed schools for my children, so tuition was significantly reduced, from 65 million VND to 25 million VND per month. I cut down a little on every expense from eating, drinking, and shopping, so the total cost of raising a child is only about 70-80 million VND/month.”

Mr. Hieu’s family currently has 10 people including 7 children, his wife and 1 maid. If including the food costs for 3 adults and the rental of a maid (10 million VND), his family spends about 100 million VND/month.

Many people were shocked when they learned about Mr. Hieu’s family’s spending. However, he believes that because the family has many children and the children are growing up, there are many essential expenses that cannot be cut.

“Whether it was 140-150 million VND in the past or 70-80 million VND now, I think those expenses are essential for the children and suitable for the family’s conditions in each stage,” Mr. Hieu said. .

Every family needs flexibility

Living in Hanoi – the most expensive locality in the country, Mr. Hieu believes that every family needs to have flexibility in spending.

Previously, every weekend he often took his children to shopping centers and restaurants, each time spending 3-4 million VND. However, later, he limited entertainment and eating out expenses to 3 million VND for the whole month.

He also often takes his children to public entertainment areas such as walking streets, monuments, and museums in Hanoi so that they can visit, admire the scenery, and change the atmosphere every weekend without spending too much. money.

Mr. Hieu often makes videos sharing about caring for and raising 7 children and posts them on social networks. Many people think that spending 17 million VND/month on insurance is too much. However, according to Mr. Hieu, this is the amount of money he always prioritizes to pay for his children.

“Children cannot avoid getting sick, sneezing and having runny noses. Many times, two or three children have a fever at the same time, then they spread the illness to each other, creating a cycle, which is very difficult to take care of. Therefore, I buy insurance. so that the children can enjoy the best care and treatment conditions, so that the parents also have less hardship,” Mr. Hieu said.

In addition to insurance money, Mr. Hieu prioritizes money for his children’s education and meals. These two expenses also fluctuate around 40 million VND.

Watching Mr. Hieu’s process of caring for and raising his children, many young couples could not help but be surprised because for many people, raising a child or two is already hard work, with many things to worry about.

Sharing his secret to taking care of his children, Mr. Hieu said that he always teaches his children to be independent and live on time. He himself also trained himself to be patient and listen.

“Since my children were young, I have taught them to eat and sleep on time. I also spend time learning methods of raising and caring for children, fully vaccinating them, and raising them in a good environment. so that children can grow active, healthy, loving and tolerant.

I often give my children a few principles such as cleaning up their toys, drinking milk, going out… Therefore, taking care of 7 children is not as difficult as many people think,” Mr. Do Trong Hieu confided.