A REPORT ON COLLEGE

STUDENTS’ SPENDING
HABIT

Prepared by Nguyen Quynh Huong

A student from: K18B
Prepared for: ENG 1102 IVAA

AUGUST 31, 2021

 TABLES OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………… 2

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………….2

METHODS………………………………………………………………………………………3

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………4

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS………………………………………….…….10

BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………….…11

APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………………...…11

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 ABSTRACT

This report was to examine spending habits of college students in Viet Nam. The
investigation was done by Nguyen Quynh Huong BSBA TROY University student. The main
findings were that college students’ main source of income, spending habits, and the main factors
that influence their spending habits. It was concluded that most of college student are not yet
financially independent and still dependent on their parents, because they can not afford their
tution fees and living expenses. The recommendations are that students should set a specific
spending plan and record the expenses spent each month to make the spending habits most
effective.

INTRODUCTION

1. Purpose
College students are gradually becoming adults, this is a difficult period for every
student. Students need to spend a lot of time practicing and developing skills. As a student,
financial management skills need to be emphasized as they have to manage their expenses
through limited income. If they are not well versed in controlling their expenses, they will
surely face some problems like debt, health problems and not being able to attend college.
financial management skills are important to their studies and personal success. The purpose
of this report is investigating the spending habits of college students in Vietnam. Through
this survey, I will show what are the main influences in their spending habits and how to
improve their spending habits most effectively.
2. Scope

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 The report examines the spending habits among college students. In this process, it
does not examnie the method of saving moneys because in the survey, majority of student do
not have an independent economy.

METHODS

1. Research instruments
Questionaires
In order to find out the students’spending habits, the questionaire was used as an
instrument since the author belives that questionaire is the best choice because it can statistics
the answers of the respondents and is easy to use. The questionaire was conducted in the
online form by using Google Form. It includes eight multiple-choice questions and 1 open-
ended question. The questionaire is divided into 4 main parts: colledge students’ sources of
income, college students’ monthly spending habit, the factors that influence their spending
habit and suggestions to improve their financial management.

2. Participants
Questionaires were sent to 25 participants from August 24 th to August 28th . It took the
participants 5 minutes to finish the questionaire. Afterward, 25 questionaires were obtained
from college student.
Respondent Respond rate (%)
Total 25 100%

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 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Questionaires

The following figures are statistics from the questionaire for 25 college sttudents. First
part is the sourrce of income

Figure 1: Source of monthly income of college students

As can be seen in the Figure 1, the bar chart illustrates five sources of income for
students. The highest percentage of income sources is from parents at 80%. The lowest
percentage is crypto trader which in “Others” category accounted for 4%. On the other hand, the
amount of college students work part-time/full-time jobs has 56%. The number of college
students earn money from social media and schoolarship is only 20%. Through the bar chart, we
can see that the number of students who depend on their parents still accounts for the majority,
they have not been able to control their own financial resources. But there are also a large
number of students who already have stable jobs, and this is a good step towards starting
adulthood.

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 Figure 2: College students’ monthy income

4%

20%
0-3 miliion VND

3-5 miliion VND

5-10 million VND

Above 10 miliion VND

60%
16%

The pie chart below shows college students’ monthly income. The number of incomes
from 0-3 miliion VND take the largest percentage from respondents, accounted for 60%. The
percentage of incomes from 3-5 miliion VND is the second highets ratio, experienced one-fifth.
The third propotion is 3-5 miliion, accounted for 20%. The least propotion was income above 10
miliion VND, only 4% of incomes. In summary, the pie chart show that more than have of
student have small income (including 0-5 miliion VND). 5-10 million VND and above 10
miliion VND combined add up just over a one-fourth of the total income.

Figure 3: College students’ spending avtivities

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 The bar chart shows the percentage of college students’ spending habit in a month. The
largest percentage between these group was college students pay for enterteinment almost 17
responses. The second-highest is the propotion of students pay for shopping, share at 15
responses, lose 2 responses compared to entertainment. The lowest expense is food at only 1
response. In opened-question, many students answered that they spend the most money on
shopping, especially on luxury brands. Students believe that brand says a lot about their
personality and they also get influenced by their peer group and just purchase branded products.
(Birari & Patil, 2014).

Figure 4: Type of finance supported by parrents

The bar chart illustratred the type of finance which supported by parents in a month. As
can be seen in the chart, the propotion of Living expense has the largest, accounted for 63,3% of
the respondents. Tution fees was the second highest, made up 40,9% of the total respondents.

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The lowest type of financial support by parents is shopping, only 4,5% while hobbies are in the
middile at 27,3%. In opened question, many students shared that they are outstation students
from the countryside and their parents are the ones who provide financial support forr living
expenses (such as rent, electricity bills,…) and tution fees. This is because outstation students
have to pay for many expenses like accommodation, electricity bills etc. which local students do
not have to pay. (Stollak, et al.).

Figure 5: Factors influence college students’ spending habit

Overall, the bar chart shows the factor influence college students’ spending habit in a
month. The greatest percentage is inflations and cost of living, at just over 11 responses, closely
followed by debt at 10 responses of total respondents. The lowest percentage of factor influence
is family which in “Others” category, only 1 response. In addition, the house price has 8
responses. In summary, college students do not need to pay taxes because they are still in school
and can not affort tax-related things yet.

Figure 6: Saving response from college students

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 No
32%

Yes No

Yes
68%

The pie chart shows the percentage of student having saving plan. In total respondents,
more than half of student have consumption plan. Only 32% of student do not prefer to save their
allowance because at the end of the month they are hardly able to save any money. (Jeevitha, et
al., 2019).

Figure 7: Money college students save in a month

1,000,000 VND -
3,000,000 VND
11%

500,000 VND - 1,000,000

100,000 VND - 500,000VND
VND
25% 500,000 VND - 1,000,000 VND
1,000,000 VND - 3,000,000 VND

100,000 VND -
500,000VND
64%

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 The pie chart below iillustrates the amount of money college students save in a month. the
highest percentage is 100,000 VND – 500,000 VND, accouted for 64% total of respondents. The
propotion of saving from 500,000 VND – 1,000,000 VND experienced one-fourth (25%). The
lowest percentage is saving from 1,000,000 VND – 3,000,000 VND, only 11%. In summary, the
college students have small incomes, therefore, the amount of money they save is also small.

Figure 8: College students' self-perception about their spending habit

Extremely
20%

Never
32%

Never
Moderately
Extremely

Modera tely
48%

The pie chart above shows that college students’ thinking about their spending habits. The
highest proportion of students think their spending habit is normal is almost half, accounted for
48%. The percentage of students think their spending habit have a problem is nearly 32%. The
least propotion of students’ self-perception about their spending habit is extremely fine is only
20%.

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 CONCLUTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

On the basis of information in this report, it can be concluded that, many students have a
small income from 0-3 miliion VND. The main source of money for university students is from
their parents, the remaining 54% is the number of students who have part-time/full-time jobs,
and they can be financially independence. However, students who depended on their parents'
financial help also took action to work part-time outside to earn extra income and pay for their
own living expenses. This is a good step for college students to be able to break out of their
parents' shells and grow up.

Regarding the spending activities of university students, the highest monthly

connsumption activity is entertainment and shopping. This shows that college students pay more
for hobbies than they need. In addition, living expenses and school fees are the two things
students receive the most financial support from their parents.

As a result of the survey, the factors that influence college students’ spending habit is the
most important consideration for students’ spending. From these conclusions, it is therefore
recommended that students should set a specific spending plan for the month, keep a daily
spending diary to form a good habit for themselves. Meanwhile, a good knowledge of financial
management can help students manage their finances well and have comfortable lives at the
university.

TOTAL WORLD COUNT: 1482 Words

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Birari Abhijeet., Patil Umesh. (2014). ‘Spending & Saving Habits of Youth in the City of
Aurangabad’, The Standard International Journals, May 3, 2014. - 2321-242X : Vol. 2. - pp.
158-165.
- Jeevitha P. and Priya R. Kanya. (2019).’A Study on Saving and Spending Habits of College
Students with reference to Coimbatore City’, International Journal of Research and
Analytical Review. -1 : Vol. 6. - pp. 463-466.
- Stollak Matthew J., et al. ‘Student Budgeting and Spending Behaviours: A Comparative
Study’. Associate Professor of Business Administration.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: Colledge students’ spending habit questionaire.

Introduction:

I am Nguyen Quynh Huong (ID: 1581665), a member of monitor of class ENG 1102. We are
conducting a research on your spending habits. This survey is collected for lecturer of ENG 1102
class. We hope you will take the time to do the survey, which will help us figure out what we
should spend and improve the irrational spending. It also helps teachers understand more about
students' spending habits. Your answer will be kept confidential, no one can see your responses.
We really appreciate your input!

Question 1: What are yout main resource of income? (You can choose more than one answer)

❑ From parents
❑ Part-time/Full-time jobs
❑ Social media

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 ❑ Schoolarships
❑ Others ………………………………………

Question 2: How much money do you earn a month? (You can choose only one asnwer)

❑ 0-3 million VND

❑ 3-5 million VND
❑ 5-10 million VND
❑ Others: ………………………………………...

Question 3: What do you spend the most money in a month? (You can choose more than one
answer)

❑ Shopping
❑ Electronice devices
❑ Medical expenses
❑ Transportation
❑ Educational expenses
❑ Entertainment
❑ Others: …………………………………...

Question 4: What do your parents give you money to pay for? (If you choose only “job”, you can
skip this question)

❑ Living expenses (rent, food, home applicances...)

❑ Tution fees
❑ Shopping
❑ Your hobbies
❑ Others: ……………………………………...

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Question 5: What factor influence your spending habit? (You can choose more than one answer)

❑ Ìnlations and cost of living

❑ House price
❑ Tax rates
❑ Debt
❑ Others: …………………………………….

Question 6: Do you have saving plans? (If you choose “No”, you can skip question 7)

❑ Yes
❑ No

Question 7: How much money do you save every month?

❑ 100,000 – 500,000 VND

❑ 500,000 – 1,000,000 VND
❑ 1,000,000 – 3,000,000 VND
❑ Others: ………………………………………….

Question 8: Are you satisfied with your spending habit?

❑ Never
❑ Moderately
❑ Extremely

Question 9: In your opinion, what would you do to improve your financial resources in the most
effective way?

Write your answer:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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