Money Wise & Mommy Wellness
Quite coincidental that Mommy Wellness shares the same initials on this important and interesting topic, don’t you think?
Crackers and Water for the rest of January? PROBABLY!
It is not unusual during the month of December to spend excessively, running up credit cards or spending money that we don’t really have at our disposal. (We won’t dare mention that crackers and water may also be the answer to losing some of those unwanted kilos which seem to have piled on from nowhere), so that’s another topic for another month!
January is never plain sailing for many or most households. Mommy Wellness thought it a good idea therefore, to share some ‘doable’ ideas on how to save cleverly during the year.
Hopefully some will help avoid another dreaded January but just as importantly, help save enough as a family towards an awesome year-end holiday!
Banking statistics show that although South Africans on the whole display a healthy appetite to save, the current economic situation in which we found ourselves is sadly suppressing the hunger pains.
Alarmingly, household savings have declined tremendously since the 1980’s and South Africans are currently only able to save on average, 28 cents per disposable Rand available.
Recently, certain banks have introduced an innovative idea to save ‘left over’ change when customers swipe or use debit cards at point of sale terminals, without ‘feeling the pinch’ and with no strings attached.
What a great idea to encourage a renewed savings mentality!
It generally works along these lines:
Transactions are rounded up to the nearest R1,00, R2.00, R5,00, R10.00 or R20.00, depending on the client’s requirements.
The purchase amount is then rounded up to the client’s specification and the difference is then transferred (usually free of charge), into a linked Savings Account. Transfers between the Savings and Cheque accounts are also permitted and are also usually free of bank charges.
Let’s face it, how much easier or ‘pain-free’ can saving be?
You will be totally amazed at how much you can save by applying this saving method with your bank.
Little by Little and also ‘Pain-Free’
Some of us still prefer the old method of ‘under-the-mattress stashing’! Okay, maybe not, but using a built-in safe at home perhaps, where you can keep a beady eye on what’s coming in and what’s going out.
Take a look at day-to-day household expenses and try changing just a few habits (yes, they are habits), like switching off the lights when leaving a room as an example
This simple method of saving has been tried and tested! It WORKS!!
Start off by ‘stealing’ R10 from your pay cheque once a week for the first month.
Put it far away and out of reach!
Increase it to R20 the next month to R30 the next month and so on.
Every month, you increase the amount by R10 per week, which if you come to think about it, is truly not excessive. (Start by excluding the chocolate or crisps from your weekly shopping).
By starting in January with R10.00 per week and increasing it by R10.00 per week every month, you should have potentially saved R2 640 by the end of November.
Come on, how easy is that? And just in time for a little Christmas shopping expedition too!
Just a few arbitrary ‘use or lose’ tips, especially at this time during these annoying power outages:
