If you are a working person in South Africa right now you are feeling the pinch of the 3 interest rate increases, the 7 petrol price increases, the Eskom increase of 9.61%, all your annual subscriptions have gone up the average 10%. Suddenly you have less disposable income. This tells me 1 thing. Your expenses have gone up and your income has remained the same.
If you don’t re look and re do your budget to cater for these additional expenses, you will very quickly start spending more than you earn. When you spend more than you earn you will get into debt very quickly.
How many months are you away from bankruptcy? If you are a savvy saver you might have 6 - 12 months living expenses saved up in the bank. If you are not a saver and have no savings, you are closer to bankruptcy that you think.
It’s not the worst thing in the world to relook your budget and make sure you are spending your money on the right things. The things you value, your family’s needs and saving for retirement.
When we take the time to examine our spending habits and have a spending plan for our money it’s much easier for us to spend less and plan our finances better.
- Write down your expenses as you think they are.
- Review your bank statements and write a true budget. Work over 3 months so you don’t miss odd expenses. Review all of your bank statements and credit card statements.
- Review current providers (Insurance, WI-FI, entertainment budgets).
- Change mindset/ lifestyle changes – what can you do differently to use less money?
- Make a new family plan and stick to it!
- Prioritise paying off your debt. With increasing interest rates your debt will keep growing.
- Prioritise saving.
- Challenge yourself to a no spend week/weekend.
If you don’t start to manage the money you do have better, you will never live the life of your dreams. You will only live the life of your means!
#getmoneysavvy #moneysavvy #moneysavvyhumans #moneysavvybudget
If you have never done a budget before you can download a free budget sheet here.
