8 inspiring ways to save
Are you one of those people who really want to save but don’t know how or where to begin? Here are some inspiring ways to take advantage of your bank and find creative ways to save based on research and tips from finance journalist Maya Fisher-French.
Turn
Spending to Saving
Kgomotso uses the Standard Bank Stash app to save into a tax-free savings account. Stash is an app available to anyone through Google Play or Apple’s App Store ‒ you don’t have to bank with Standard Bank. You link your credit or debit card to the app and every time you spend on the card, you can select to have R5, R10 or even R50 immediately transferred to a zero-fee tax-free savings account. The money is invested in a fund that tracks the performance of the 100 largest companies in South Africa. It’s a great way to turn spending into saving.
Rather
save than use a credit card
Nonhlanhla has a debit order that goes
straight into a 32-day notice account where she saves up to pay for furniture
or do house renovations and she doesn’t touch the money for six months at a
time. She only ever spends cash, not on credit.. With such easy access to
credit many of us have forgotten what it is like to save for something rather
than use a credit card. By having a debit order in place, Nonhlanhla also makes
sure her savings are prioritised before spending. If you do use a credit card,
be sure to pay the full amount owing by debit order every month. That way you
don’t pay any interest.
Shop
at a bargain
Andile plays the clothing retailers at
their own game. He waits until there are great sales before he buys. He then
uses the 6-month interest free period on his clothing account to pay it off.
This is a great way to avoid paying interest, and keep the money in your bank
account, but it requires discipline. Never opt for the 12-month interest-charging
account and always meet your payments on time.
Piggybanks
are not just for kids
Shirin uses a piggy bank to save all her silver coins. This is one of those really simple but effective savings strategies. Did you know that if you fill a 2L coke bottle with R2 coins it adds up to R3 000! If you stick to R5 coins you could have R5 000 saved.
Convert
rewards into investment
Joy uses her Nedbank Greenback rewards to invest in unit trusts. Usually we use our loyalty rewards for spending, but they can also create the perfect opportunity to start investing. Find out if any of your reward programmes offer investment options. Another way to use your loyalty points wisely is to use them not for treats, but for necessities that you would have had to spend your money on anyway.
Split
your savings
Nosivatho saves 35% of her income each month and she divides this amount up into various buckets. She puts money into a retirement annuity, belongs to a stokvel that pays out in January for school fees and another that pays out during the year. She also has a dedicated savings account for her car deposit and keeps her change in a piggy bank. What is great about this approach is that Nosivatho is saving for specific needs – so each rand has a goal. There’s her long-term need for retirement as well as her shorter-term need for school fees and planning for that new car.
Save
for Christmas
Finally, it’s a good idea to buy grocery
vouchers each month to save for the end-of-year festive season or to keep loyalty
rewards for that big December month. Planning for the end of the year is a
great way to protect yourself from going into debt during that festive-season
spending frenzy.
The
10c Challenge
Heartlines has another crazy suggestion for you. Try the 10c challenge started by the UK blog Skint Dad. For every day of the year save 10c. If today is 16th July 2019 then it’s day 197 in the year that means you will save R19.70. You can keep it in a piggy bank or a savings account, by the end of the year, you would have saved about R7 000!
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