Chapter 4: The Month-End Spender 4
The air suddenly became very quiet.
Wang Yan showed a look of regret, an expression that seemed to say she had spoken the wrong words.
Zhao Qianqian’s face turned pale as she bit her lip, wanting to say something but holding back.
In her mother’s eyes, she had always been extravagant. Although she had promised to save money, who knew whether it was true before she took any action?
At home, there were two of them: one who spent freely, using up all their salary, and the other who should have saved more, accumulated a little extra.
In the end, it was her carelessness and free-spiritedness that burdened her mother. If she had a few tens of thousands saved up for emergencies, her mother wouldn’t have to scrimp on food.
After realizing this, Zhao Qianqian’s face grew even paler. She forced a smile and said, “Then you rest well, I’ll go back now. I’ll come see you tomorrow.”
“Hey…” Wang Yan wanted to stop her but didn’t know what to say.
Her daughter spent money freely, and she was happy to spoil her. But she never understood how young people today could spend all their salary every month. If it were her, she would never dare to do that.
Without savings, there was no sense of security. Once savings were used for emergencies, they had to be rebuilt through frugality. These simple and humble financial principles had been deeply ingrained in her and were not easy to change.
Even if her daughter didn’t understand, she still wanted to live like this.
—
When she didn’t consider five thousand yuan as money and handed it out casually, her family members were saving five or ten yuan, eating bad food to save money.
Zhao Qianqian felt extremely uncomfortable, almost running out of the hospital room.
As night fell and the city lights began to shine, she looked at the thousands of lights, feeling incredibly lost.
So many things had happened in the past few days, and she wanted to reflect on her life. But every time she did, she was reminded of her careless spending.
Then… her breath caught, and the pain in her heart became so overwhelming that she couldn’t breathe.
Why had she been so thoughtless back then?
Why hadn’t she listened when Liang Yan advised her during college?
Why hadn’t she paid attention when her colleagues talked about financial management?
Regret and frustration intertwined, almost tearing her apart.
Zhao Qianqian stumbled back home, her mind a blur, and it took her half an hour to get there.
The house was pitch black, eerily silent.
After work, she had gone to the hospital, and after leaving the hospital, she had walked home. By now, it was nearly seven o’clock, and she still hadn’t had a hot meal.
The suitcase in the room was wide open, and she hadn’t had the chance to organize it.
The trip was over, and as soon as she got home, she received a call from the hospital. She stayed there for a night, consulted with the doctor in the morning, then went back to work in the afternoon, only returning home now.
Zhao Qianqian suddenly felt as though she had crossed into another world. Sending out a few thousand yuan in red envelopes, taking a vacation, and buying souvenirs recklessly—those things felt like they happened in a past life.
She sighed, resigned, and picked up her phone to order takeout.
She spent the next few hours organizing her luggage, having dinner, and getting ready for bed. By the time everything was sorted, it was already 10 PM.
Zhao Qianqian lay in bed, wide awake. She tried calling out, “Yun Luo, are you there?”
“I’m here,” Yun Luo replied instantly. At the same time, a small figure appeared at the edge of her pillow.
“Didn’t you say you were going to hibernate?” Zhao Qianqian asked, curious.
“I’ll hibernate for six hours and then go back to standby mode,” Yun Luo explained.
… She had expected it to hibernate for a week or two.
Zhao Qianqian felt a bit reassured. Then, she cautiously made her request, “I want to change myself. I want to learn how to manage money. Can you teach me?”
“Of course,” Yun Luo said.
Zhao Qianqian was overjoyed. She quickly sat up, “Thank you! I’ll definitely learn well!”
“Learning financial management isn’t really that hard,” Yun Luo said, leaning back on the pillow.
Zhao Qianqian quickly got up, grabbed paper and pen, and prepared to listen intently.
Yun Luo spoke in a calm voice, “Step 1: Pick up your phone.”
“Step 2: Open a search engine.”
“Step 3: Type in ‘How to manage money with a 4,000 yuan monthly salary.’“
“Step 4: Read all the information on the page.”
Zhao Qianqian, “…”
Her hand, holding the pen, trembled slightly.
Yun Luo continued, “If you feel you’ve grasped the basic techniques, you can try searching with different keywords.”
“For example, ‘Financial management principles,’ ‘How to save money as a The Month-End Spender member,’ or ‘How beginners can learn financial management.’“
“You can also search for ‘How much savings should someone have after three years of graduation.’ Look at your peers’ situations to motivate yourself.”
“Self-study?” Zhao Qianqian hesitated.
Yun Luo told her, “You don’t understand anything right now, and you can’t do anything. You’ll need to start from the very basics. This knowledge can be understood just by reading it, no need for anyone to teach you.”
“What if I don’t understand after reading it? Can I ask you?” Zhao Qianqian felt a little nervous. She had no confidence when facing something unknown.
“Of course,” Yun Luo replied.
Only then did Zhao Qianqian feel at ease.
She picked up her phone and began searching as instructed.
The first thing she typed in was “financial management principles.” Zhao Qianqian thought this term sounded like a summary, so it should be relatively easy to learn.
After pressing enter, the screen was suddenly filled with numerous links.
She clicked on the first article, which detailed the financial management principles—
1.Expenditure = Income – Savings
At the beginning of the month, after receiving her salary, she would pay for daily expenses, and by the end of the month, whatever was left would be deposited into the bank. However, doing this resulted in huge monthly expenses, leaving almost no money left. If, instead, she saved 30% of her salary first and then spent the remaining 70% freely, she would still have enough money, and her savings would gradually grow.
2.The 3-Part Income Rule
Each month, when receiving the salary, she should divide it into 3 equal parts.
One part for living expenses, such as rent, utilities, communication, and food.
One part for savings.
One part for dream funds, which could be spent freely. For example, saving it for a year to travel, buy new clothes, shoes, or attend training or certification courses.
3. The 4321 Rule
40% of the family income should be used for mortgage and other investments, 30% for family living expenses, 20% for bank savings in case of emergency, and 10% for insurance.
4.The Double Ten Law
The family insurance amount should be ten times the family’s annual income, and the insurance premium should be 10% of the family’s annual income.
The distribution of insurance premiums among family members should follow the 6:3:1 principle. The insurance premium and amount for the main income earner in the family should make up 60% of the family’s insurance assets, 30% for the secondary income earner, and 10% for the children.
In addition, the article also discussed the importance of keeping records, setting annual and monthly budgets. The logic was simple and easy to understand.
Zhao Qianqian felt like she had opened the door to a new world and eagerly devoured the information.
Before she knew it, an hour had passed.
Yun Luo reminded her, “Host, make sure to rest. You’ll need to get up early for work tomorrow.”
“These articles are really well written. If I had seen them earlier, I wouldn’t have suffered so much,” Zhao Qianqian thought deeply, feeling quite moved.
Yun Luo glanced at the screen and saw the text display: “…You never know which will come first, tomorrow or an unexpected event. What do you do when you need money but your wallet and bank card are empty? That’s why, from the moment you get your first paycheck, you need to build the habit of saving.”
This was exactly Zhao Qianqian’s reality!
“The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, the second-best time is now. Waking up at 26 isn’t too late,” Yun Luo’s voice was ethereal. “In this life, you may not have to study, but you can’t avoid dealing with money.”
“I have to work hard now,” Zhao Qianqian made a firm decision and pulled the covers over herself to sleep.
—
The next day, Zhao Qianqian woke up at 6:40 AM. After getting ready, she left the house and went to a street vendor to buy breakfast.
“Boss, I’ll have a pancake.”
The vendor, a man with dark skin, responded in a deep voice, “Do you want pork tenderloin, ham, or luncheon meat? I can also add an egg.”
Zhao Qianqian usually would choose to add egg and tenderloin, but today, she painfully declined. “No, I’m on a diet.”
Upon hearing that, the vendor quietly made the pancake.
A short while later, the pancake was ready. Zhao Qianqian grabbed her breakfast and hurried to the bus station.
Usually, when she had to wait a long time for a bus, she would find it troublesome and flag down a taxi to go to the company. She thought to herself, taking a taxi was better than being late and getting her pay docked.
After doing this for a while, she had gotten used to it and didn’t think of taking a taxi as wasting money.
But today, she had set an alarm and woke up early specifically to avoid the rush hour traffic and long waits for the bus.
At the bus station, Zhao Qianqian ate her breakfast while occasionally glancing around.
Suddenly, Yun Luo spoke, “Host, take out your phone.”
The unexpected voice startled Zhao Qianqian for a moment. But soon, she regained her composure and followed the instructions, taking out her phone.
“Search for ‘bus app,’” Yun Luo instructed.
Zhao Qianqian didn’t understand the purpose, but she followed the command anyway.
The app was quickly downloaded and installed. She entered the city and the bus number she was waiting for. Suddenly, her phone screen showed the bus route, stations, and the location of the nearest bus, along with the estimated time of arrival.
Zhao Qianqian widened her eyes in amazement. Such a bus-waiting tool exists in the world!
Yun Luo: “This app can check bus routes for over 300 cities at the prefecture level. The app is completely free to use, but the search process requires data usage.”
“When the app shows that there’s one minute left until the bus arrives, pack your things and get ready to board.”
Zhao Qianqian saw the phone screen display “3 stops/5 minutes,” meaning the next bus was 3 stops away and would arrive in 5 minutes. She could finally eat her breakfast in peace.
After eating for a while, the app notified her, “The bus will arrive in 1 minute.”
Zhao Qianqian put away her breakfast and got ready to board.
A few dozen seconds later, the bus arrived right on time.
She boarded, scanned her card, and noticed it wasn’t rush hour—there were several empty seats on the bus.
Zhao Qianqian casually found a seat and continued eating her breakfast.
—
Before she knew it, it was lunchtime.
As usual, Zhao Qianqian ordered takeout, then took out a small notebook and carefully wrote, “Year X, Month X, breakfast 5 yuan, lunch takeout 25 yuan.”
“Bringing your own lunch is more economical,” the elusive system reminded her again.
Zhao Qianqian blushed. “I don’t know how to cook.”
“Just put some meat and lettuce between white bread, and it becomes a sandwich. What’s so hard about that?” Yun Luo said.
Zhao Qianqian: “…”
The system made a good point, and she was left speechless.
“If it’s just an occasional meal, instant noodles aren’t a bad option either,” Yun Luo continued.
Zhao Qianqian: “Thanks, but I don’t want to eat sandwiches or instant noodles every day. That would be too miserable.”
Yun Luo didn’t press the issue: “The system only provides suggestions. Whether or not to follow them is up to the host.”
Zhao Qianqian was firm in her decision: “I can cut costs in other areas, but I still have to eat well.”
Yun Luo fell silent and didn’t speak again.
—
Reader’s Knowledge Sharing:
Some surgeries cannot be immediately covered by health insurance, and you will need to pay upfront and submit receipts for reimbursement later (e.g., cross-provincial treatment, going to a large hospital in another city to see a renowned doctor).
In addition, post-surgery medications may not be reimbursed by health insurance, such as some imported drugs. However, the doctor will prescribe them because they are essential and far more effective than domestic alternatives. I have seen patients who suffered terribly and had poor recovery because they tried to save money by using domestic drugs (in the case of neurological surgeries).
In conclusion, although health insurance is now available, it’s still important to save money and avoid being a “The Month-End Spender.” Money is the backbone and courage of a person. If possible, it’s also a good idea to purchase some supplementary commercial insurance (to cover expenses that health insurance doesn’t reimburse).
—
Another Reader’s Knowledge Sharing:
Commercial insurance has some restrictions. The premiums are related to your age, health status, and occupational category.
If you apply for insurance after being diagnosed, the application will be rejected. If you conceal your medical condition, your claims will not be honored.
If a disease caused by a pre-existing condition requires a claim, there’s no guarantee the entire claim will be covered. There’s a certain chance of rejection.