Adopt these financial habits to save money in 2019
The start of the year is often characterised by financial demands and pressure. How can you ease this pressure?
Janu-worry is often touted as the toughest month of the year financially, but for most of us, the financial pressure doesn’t cease once February rolls around. With the high costs of food, petrol, medical bills, entertaining, childcare and a multitude of other expenses, ordinary South Africans are starting to feel the pinch not just over the festive season and following months, but throughout the entire year. Here’s how to ease the pressure a bit so that you’re not left with no money, no petrol, and no food until payday rolls around each month!
Always Shop With A List
This applies to things other than grocery shopping too, may we add! Spur of the moment purchases and disorganised spending are major culprits when it comes to bad budgeting. When you visit the supermarket, make sure you know exactly what you need for the week and buy that – or make small substitutes for cheaper produce. Baby spinach might be cheaper than lettuce, cherry tomatoes cheaper than big tomatoes or vice versa, for instance. There are so many ways to save money on your grocery shopping – it just takes some planning!
The same goes for when you’re looking for something like a birthday gift, a new insurance policy, a car – whatever. Making sure you know your requirements and spending limit and then actually sticking to them can make a big difference.
Draw Up A Budget
You should have a budget for every month of the year taking into account things such as holidays or birthdays. It’s crucial for you to track your incoming money as well as outgoings. You might think you know what you spend but when people draw up a realistic budget and actually track everything, most are surprised at one or two amounts. Maybe your dining out bill is higher than you thought, your electricity usage is more than it should be for a small family, or your twice-weekly shop is actually putting a big dent in your budget.
For tight months such as December, the focus should be on working with whatever money you have available to you for the month. You can divide it up into essentials and non-essentials and allocate a certain amount to each section. You may need to cut back on meat and go vegetarian a few days a week, or forego your usual night out with friends in order to make ends meet, but at least you’ll know what you can spend and where.
Pack your lunch
Those burgers, sandwiches and chips for lunch add up quickly over the cost of the month. And if you’re ordering salads or wraps, it’s probably costing you even more!
Instead, cook extra in the evenings and bring some food to work. Or just bring your own sandwiches, if you’re not a leftovers kind of person. They’ll be just as good and a fraction of the price. Plus, you can spend that money on other essentials in other months where your budget is a bit tighter than expected.
You could even club together with colleagues and agree that one day a week each of you will cook enough to bring leftovers for the whole group. That way you save time and money, and get to eat some new foods….just make sure to speak to the good cooks when you plan this one!
Look for a way to generate some extra cash
Of course if we could all just make extra money on demand then nobody would ever need to worry about bills, but there are a few ways of scraping together some extra cash that may just come in handy over January.
It’s becoming increasingly common to have a side hustle in South Africa, with people doing extra jobs to support their main income. Some of the more popular ones are writing, photography, painting or drawing, or selling beauty products. Really though, you can do whatever you’re good at.
Amazing at cooking? Why not offer to make some homemade meals for friends and family who are struggling to keep up with the mad rush or who are returning from holiday and will need a few days to get organised?
Good with dogs or kids? Perhaps you could offer to babysit for a couple of evenings? Or check on and/or walk pets for people. You could fit this in on weekends, evenings or even during your lunch break.
Some people may even be able to apply for leave encashment if they have extra leave and desperately need a cash injection.
