We’re almost through the January drag and when we reach the end of the month, we would have broken the back of the whole year. But as Gasant Abarder writes in a new #SliceofGasant column, it’s time to reclaim our space and use the rest of 2024 to ensure we kick next January in the nuts.
Today is the 334th day of January. There are 126 days of January left until the next payday. It would have been 125 days but remember 2024 is a leap year! The heroics of Drikus (een kus, twee kus, Drikus will put you in your doodskis) and Bafana just gave us a little respite from reality this weekend.
But hours later, I spent my meagre eBucks to eke out an electricity purchase. I’ve been staring down my fuel gauge and willing it to stay up and last for the final leg of this epic month. I’ve been giving fyn, sagte poepies in the hope that none of our pets gets sick between now and payday and needs treatment at the vet’s surgery.
I would love to say there are cash reserves but being South African right now is a lot and there is little to put away for a rainy day. That is why I’m taking this January hit and starting my new year in February, which will become March because it’s birthday month for me, my wife Laylaa and Valentine’s Day to boot.
January is effectively a year on its own because you got paid early in December and started spending like there was no tomorrow. Actually, that wasn’t true. In fairness, we’ve been quite miserly this holiday season as we tried to keep pace with bills, back to school, holiday spending and the usual household goods that keep on rising in cost but pay cheques remain the same. It’s been rough.
So, we’ve declared 2024 the year of saving. It’s hard to cut back on weekend takeaways and effect savings for a rainy day. But thanks to hacks on platforms like TikTok and elsewhere, Laylaa has laid down a battle plan that could realistically work.
She’s doing an R150-challenge: a compound savings plan based on a grid from 1 to 150 that if you save the monetary amount of each number you’ll end up with around R12 000. I have opted for the R300-challenge and it tallies to a saving of around R45 000. That is crazy and very achievable if you think of the change burning up a hole in your pocket that can be ticked off the savings grid.
Another nifty plan – that can potentially make you financially free in a matter of perhaps a decade – is to hit zero debt. The motivation to start saving is difficult but how many of us have a garage full of things that we never use and are cluttering up space? Have a garage sale and sell them. Say, for example, you make R3 000 from the sale. The trick is not to spend it but to target your smallest debt and pay it up.
Then, when R3 000 worth of disposable income becomes available don’t buy that G-Star jeans. Repurpose it into paying extra into the next debt item on the list from lowest to highest debt. Once paid off that bigger amount goes to servicing the next debt and the next one. Get rid of credit cards and overdrafts in the process. Eventually, you could be paying an extra R15 000 into your bond.
There is currently a massive demand for thrifted goods. There are websites like Yaga.co.za where you can sell your previously loved items in your own personal store. I had to trim down my football kit collection last year and over about six weeks sold in the region of around R7000 in items I no longer needed. My rule of thumb is simple: if you haven’t worn it in three months then you don’t need it.
The trick is not to leave the cash raised lying around but to move it into a fixed 32-day account where a decent interest is earned on savings. Once you get into the discipline (and I include myself in this conversation), then set challenges and rewards for yourself. For now, our main motivation is to get through next January unscathed with fuel in the tank and pre-paid electricity in the meter.
But we are looking towards a family holiday abroad, a stupid second leisure vehicle for me in about four years and eventually being bond-free well before our contracted period with the bank. It can be done.
When you falter, just remember that last week of January. If all of us save just a little we can literally change our fortunes for the better.
Also read:
How South Africa found its soul by putting apartheid Israel in the dock
Picture: Andre Taissin / Unsplash