With unemployment in South Africa being high, and rapidly evolving skill sets in short supply, saving money has never been more important. You don’t need to face the challenge of HIV or Diabetes to know that the cost of living in our country has skyrocketed. With so many financial mountains to climb, how does anyone figure out which direction to go?

The first thing to remember is that it IS possible

Every now and then we see a heartwarming headline spread across South Africa’s social media feeds and newspaper stands. Oftentimes we hear it all around us, and we’re guilty of it ourselves: we think we can’t afford to save. Many examples exist, of people turning hard times into long-lasting wealth and your savings strategy will play a key role in whether you achieve this turnaround too.

Take, for example, Edward Moshole. As a janitor in a factory, he found inspiration among the very cleaning materials he worked with (Rising Africa, 2015). He performed his job with the utmost devotion and on his days off he would use some of his wage money to go out and buy bulk supply of cleaning products. In his lunch hour, Moshole would offer discounted rates to factory employees on cleaning products for their own homes, knowing full well that many of the staff would work until after stores closed.

Moshole’s strategy of saving R50 from each week’s wage, so he could buy his bulk supply and his own unbranded plastic containers to package them into, paid off in a major way. By 2014 over 70 000 bottles of Moshole’s Chem-Fresh branded products were purchased by major retailers in South Africa, alone, for onward sale. He now mixes his own formulae, ranging from handwash to bleach (Rising Africa, 2015).

Another great example of an empowered South African is Pamela Phumzile Sithole, who opted to secure part time employment as a Domestic Cleaner from the age of 14 (Mathebula, 2018). Her unwavering focus and determination helped her use her holiday and weekend pay, from cleaning houses, toward buying food for the household and paying for her school fees. By challenging the hand she was dealt in life, and deciding to take control, set goals and save toward her education, Pamela developed the work ethic required to obtain a scholarship to study Medicine and Surgery. Today, she is a practicing medical professional and exceptionally proud of the path she walked to get there.

Where can you start to save?

At home

You need to first figure out what kind of a person you are. If you get distracted easily, avoid discussing your savings goals with others in the house until you actually achieve these. If you need motivation and a savings buddy, like a workout buddy, then turn to someone at home who you admire or can trust. Discipline is the most important thing about saving, but we’re not all just born with such a gift; it must be learned and practiced to develop into a habitual behaviour. A popular trend across South Africa over some years is to fill a 5l bottle with R5 coins throughout the year.

At work

Taking lunch to work requires planning, shopping ahead and making some time to prepare it but the savings add up when compared to buying lunch daily. Try each for a week and compare your costs. If you’re smart about meal-prepping your way forward, within 7 days you’ll see significant savings too. Click here for some cost-effective meal-prep ideas for lunch.

At the taxi/bus rank

Millions of South Africans rely on public transport to travel to and from work every day. There are those moments when hunger creeps along while you’re waiting for your taxi or bus to fill up with a load, and what happens then? That’s right, you see the vendor on the curb from your seat, and you quickly dig around in your handbag/wallet/pocket for that coin change you threw in days ago. You hurry over to grab that packet of chips, or a fresh delicious vetkoek, and you head back to claim your seat for the long journey home.

If you want to reach your savings goals, you can visit a bulk supply store once monthly to grab a bale or two of your favourite snacks. Discipline is required, but you can pop an extra packet or two into your work bag for the commute, and not have to spend that R5 every day.

Make saving money something fun for the whole family

Family life in South Africa is as diverse as ever. A great way to get everyone involved in saving money is to set up a goal amount per person, that’s realistically aligned with everyone’s income. Get creative with how you help each other save. Maybe when someone forgets to do his/her chores, they have to contribute an amount between 50c and R5, depending on income or allowance.

The concept of rewarding additional chores with a few extra rands each month could also be a way to inspire family members, especially children and teens, toward saving for their own goals.

Start thinking about your savings goals, and click here to find us on Facebook where we’ll soon be sharing even more information and tips about managing your finance so you can work towards leaving your loved ones a legacy to truly be proud of.

Sources

Mathebula, N. 2018. From domestic worker to doctor. Vuk’unzenzele. Online. Available at: https://www.vukuzenzele.gov.za/domestic-worker-doctor [Accessed 22 January 2020].

Radloff, L. 2017. Healthy (and delicious) recipes you can make for just R20 a meal. Women24. 21 July. Available online at: https://www.w24.co.za/SelfCare/Wellness/Diet/healthy-and-delicious-recipes-you-can-make-for-just-r20-a-meal-20170721 [Accessed 22 January 2020].

Rising Africa. 2015. The unlikely millionaire: from a factory cleaner to building a multi-million company – inspiring story of Edward Moshole from South Africa. Online. 9 October. Available at: https://www.risingafrica.org/success-stories/business/the-unlikely-millionaire-from-a-factory-cleaner-to-building-a-multi-million-company-inspiring-story-of-edward-moshole-from-south-africa/ [Accessed 22 January 2020].

Snyder, B. 2017. How these 3 janitors went on to become self-made millionaires. CNBC. Article online. 27 April. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/27/3-janitors-went-on-to-become-self-made-millionaires.html [Accessed 22 January 2020].

Von Molke-Todd, N. 2019. 10 SA entrepreneurs who built their businesses from nothing. Entrepreneur.com. Article online. 27 February. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/327431 [Accessed 22 January 2020].