On the cutting edge of poverty
Whether it’s eating out less‚ homemade pet food‚ cancelling gym memberships or avoiding parking tickets‚ South Africans are cutting costs to survive the economic recession.
In a Facebook post where friends were sharing their budget readjustments since the ratings downgrade‚ Enver Essop said he had stopped buying expensive cat food.
Barbara Friedman said she had to stop her satellite TV subscription‚ among other luxuries: “No DStv‚ no hair highlights‚ no takeaway coffee ‚ no new clothes‚ only vegan food‚ no spontaneous purchases‚ cut down insurance to minimum‚ no more gym membership‚ no new books and the list goes on and on and on — don ’t really drink much booze anyway … but still buy decent coffee for home.”
For Nina Callaghan‚ making homemade dog food is the way to go. Her ingredients include cheaper turkey meat‚ chicken necks‚ chicken liver‚ spirulina supplements‚ peas‚ carrots ‚ beetroot pulp and rice.
“Eating animals only two days a week; restaurant outings for a family of five down to once a month; taking public transport to work when I can; homemade dog food; less craft beer … that proved the hardest. Oh … and sticking to the speed limit‚” she said.
Some are investing in their property over their retirement annuity.
“My retirement annuity was making little money plus I was being whacked with charges. So I decided to stop paying more money into it and rather pay the amount extra into my home loan where I pay no charges and score better interest‚” said Gill Gifford.
Amanda Hawker, who’s switched to Telkom Free Me Prepaid bundles for browsing, also offered these saving hacks: “I buy a box of cereal‚ 30 eggs and a couple of cans of tuna and keep them in the office for breakfast and lunch while at work. Mainly buy no-name brand items. Lentils and chickpeas are an awesome meat substitute.”
Many people are cutting out gym memberships.
Thami Oliphant‚ a personal trainer‚ said his industry had seen a decline.
“Though gyms have tried to introduce packages inclusive of a personal trainer‚ it’s still expensive for people to take up such packages. Since at least four years ago I have noticed a major decrease in the number of people who stick with a trainer for long.”
Kuben Chetty‚ head of transactional savings and investments at Standard Bank‚ said saving was a transferable skill and people should learn to differentiate between a need and a want.
“To survive the economic climate‚ people need discipline around setting up a budget. Key is to track your spend and there are plenty of budget apps that can help‚” said Chetty.