By making changes to their spending habits and reducing their expenses, people can keep a little extra money in their pockets that they can put towards a savings fund. Picture: File
The recent interest rate hike as well as rising inflation and increases in the cost of food have made it difficult for South Africans to save money.
By making changes to their spending habits and reducing their expenses, people can keep a little extra money in their pockets that they can put towards a savings fund.
Here are 5 hacks that can help you cut down your expenses and start saving money;
Switch off vampire devices
Unplug all of the devices in your home that suck energy when they are not in use. These devices could be your TV, phone charger and laptop chargers.
By unplugging your devices you will be saving energy, saving money on your electricity bill and protecting your devices from energy surges when load shedding ends, and the power comes back on.
According to Defy South Africa, people can also save money on their electricity bill by optimising the energy usage of appliances like their fridges. On a monthly basis, people should check that the suction of the seals on the doors of fridges and freezers should be checked to ensure that they are working properly.
Drive less and slower
Following the pandemic, the transition of the workplace from the office to people’s homes has led to people spending less time on the road.
With less time on the road, people will be saving on their petrol costs. People should also check if their insurer will reward them for spending less time on the road.
Other ways that you can save on petrol costs include consolidating all of errands into one trip and taking it slow on the road.
“When you drive faster, your car’s fuel consumption increases to power the engine to drive at higher speeds. Add in more air resistance the faster you go, and you’re burning rands as fast as your burning fuel,” Keletso Mpisane, head of MiWay Blink said.
Leave online items in the cart for a few days
Online shopping is increasing in popularity because it is convenient but people may be tempted to buy more than they planned to.
The trick to saving money is to leave the items in your online shopping cart for a day or two to give yourself some time to decide whether all the additional items are really needed and worth the money.
Review your subscriptions
Most people will have moments when they sign up for an app because they are working on something specific and need a particular feature, or they hosted an event and needed uninterrupted streaming music so they signed up for a premium account.
Then they forget about it but the cost of the subscriptions continue to be deducted out of their account.
Make sure that you check in on your app subscriptions monthly and remember that even a smallest amount taken off every month can add up to a large amount in the end.
Make lunch at home
The mornings can be a rush so it’s easy to forget to pack a lunch bag for yourself and then buy lunch at work.
Buying lunch from the office or a food delivery service can be even more expensive.
Think about packing your lunch the night before or cooking a bit extra for dinner and then packing the leftovers for the next day to make your life easier and save money.
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