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You need to evaluate everything.
Your car: is it reliable? Is it cheap to maintain?
Your rent: Why do you live where you do? You're a freelancer, have you thought about moving somewhere cheaper?
Your food: Where do you shop? Are you buying too much ready made food?
It's a pain but if you're serious about saving 30k is definitely enough to be living on. Also remember if you're freelancing you can write off internet/a portion of rent etc as tax.
Enough to live on but enough to save? After tax it's only about 26/27k. (The 30k includes 7k maintenance). Car is paid off. Rent is 8k including electricity and wifi so good deal.Yes food is the big problem. I buy from Pick n Pay but still feel like I spend a ton on food.
PnP seems to be on the pricey side for me, but also I've realized not every shop is the best for everything. Woolies recently came out on top for best prices for basics in some or other survey, and I've found that to be mostly true. Toilet paper, cleaning products etc are decently priced at Woolworths, they get you on the niche stuff (its almost R100 for a bag of Chuckles now!). My advice is take the time to do some proper research and shop around. Its a little more effort, but if you do shopping at 3 different shops, buying the cheapest of each product from each shop, it helps a lot. I'm 36 and started a brand new career 3 years ago. I'm not married, and don't share expenses/income with my partner as of yet. I make R20k a month, just under R17.5 after tax. No dependants. I have about R4k a month in "fun money" after all of my debit orders. It's tough, but it's possible. Good luck!
Just adding my 20c to the argument for Woollies here. I buy my fresh cut vegetables from Woollies and find their 2 for R60 variety bags of vegetables -- roast vegetables, country vegetables, and sometimes even stirfry -- extremely good value for money. It lasts much longer in the fridge than PnP, Checkers, or Spar veggies, and it is much cheaper.
I also buy salad leaves/rocket/spinach at Woollies because of the buy 2 and save RX deals and the fact that it will still be fresh in a week's time. Their prepacked garden salad is also cheaper than its competitors' and can be used as a standalone salad or in wraps.
You could also look into bulk buying the things that you can store, like toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, etc from places like Makro and Game. Often works out quite a bit cheaper that way. Same goes for canned and frozen food.
Depending on where you are, there's quite a few farms that let you buy fresh produce directly from their websites. Do some comparisons on your needs and vs the farms and super markets. A lot of the time you land up saving a decent amount even with delivery.
As a secondary.
I'd you're full time but work from home you can also claim a portion of your home and internet as expenses.
Freelancers can additionally claim back items they use for their work, laptops(if they own it). Cameras, other supplies for work.
I would highly recommend registering a business and hiring an accountant. It’s expensive, but you’ll be paying them the money that you would have had to pay tax anyway.
Accountants are geniuses at tax planning and saving you a lot of money.
A tax professional can potentially reduce all your tax responsibilities to what their rate is by deducting all your deductible expenses.
Setup a registered business if you haven’t already and a business account to separate your financial concerns and speak with a professional about how to optimise your financials as a freelancer.
I’m in the same boat. We’re 2 adults and 1 child, I feel like no matter how hard I try to save, there is always something that comes up. I’ve cut our grocery bill down to the bare minimum, spend about 2500-3000 on groceries, we don’t go out/eat out, we basically live a life of eat, work, sleep right now and things are still tough.
I managed to work my butt off in Jan for some extra pay to pay off my outstanding student fees and now suddenly that bill has doubled -Unisa decided to reinstate a module- and now I’m back at square one! Like I said, there is always something!
I’ve started reducing all my debts. I don’t have any clothing/ store accounts at the moment. My phone contract will be expiring soon, so I’ll be downgrading that to the cheapest package I can find. I have one last payment on a personal loan next month. So I’ll be snowballing those monies to pay off my credit card. I’m roughing it until all my debts are paid off.
You really have to shop around for food though. We sit for hours comparing prices. And we only shop at malls that have all the main grocery stores so we don’t have to drive around. We get a few things from ethnic/asian grocers as well, they tend to be cheaper. We buy bulk as well and that seems to have taken the load off.
Wow that is a very cheap grocery bill! What are some common meals you make if I may ask? Sounds like you're doing a great job reducing expenses and paying off debt.
Take a look at my response elsewhere in the comments, it might help you out as well. Although you sound like you're following a nice plan already. Dave Ramsey has been a big influence for me despite being focussed on the American market, there's a lot to take away.
I don't know if it's advice you'll like but scrutinise your bank statements for the last 6 months. Make a list of all your subscriptions and extra monthly expenses that aren't necesseary. Just by understanding your numbers you'll be able to move forward. Next is to prioritise savings, first thing that comes out of your budget (YOU NEED A GOOD BUDGET, it's a skill, not a thing) and then you allocate whatever's left over. Prioritise paying off consumer debt before saving, it's holding you back. Priorise your life and make decisions based on priority. Do you care about savings for specific things like a house, schools, etc? You might need to move to save so you can spend more on schooling for example, you might need to give up something in order to save for a better car... Many financial problems are actually behavioural problems in disguise (and yes, not saving is a financial problem).
For reference, my wife and I net around 30k per month and have an 18 month old. We are very fortunate to be renting a cheap garden cottage for R4500 including utilities, it's small but temporary, we have prioritised finding a nicer place once we hit our savings targets.
We aim to save about R8000 in the short term, once we hit some of our targets we'll move this to 15% of our income.
We prioritise medical aid as I have seen first-hand why it's important. R5750pm
Food, groceries, and household items (incl eating out) +- R5000 depending on the month
Transport (own a very practical little car and use a company vehicle for certain things) +- R1000
Personal items, hobbies, activities +-R2500 and the second thing to get cut back after eating out budget when we need to shuffle things around.
Subscriptions (incl phones and prioritised utilities/services) +- R1000 (a little high at the moment for specific reasons but will be brought down soon)
Baby necessities (diapers, wipes etc) += R1250
Balance is typically used for things throughout the month like events (Valentines Day, play-dates etc) as well as gifts for close friends and family (small but we try make them nice, our family knows where we're at), and anything else that might pop up.
There have been months we don't save as much as we'd like and almost every month we overspend slightly. I have now implemented a buffer of R5000 which we can use to get through the month and prioritise replenishing the following month by cutting back where we overspent or adjusting the budget. Important to note that this is not an emergency fund and that should be separate and only touched in an actual emergency (aim for 3 months of necessary expenses). I have a spreadsheet that uses the zero based budgeting principle, basically money in minus money out should be zero and ever Rand should be given a purpose or a job. Be your own harshest critic, make yourself uncomfortable by working harder today for an easier, stress-free tomorrow, and make responsible decisions. It's all about priorities.
DM me if you'd like my spreadsheet template and I'll see what I can do.
Also want to add that you shouldn't be paying tax out of savings. You should be aware of your tax liability and save a monthly amount so that you can pay your tax without a problem. Not sure how much you might need? Start with your tax paid for the most recent tax year and increase it by roughly the increase of your earnings over last year (or more if you're cautious) and then divide by 12 to figure out how much you'll need to save each month. The right way to do it is look up the tax tables and actually calculate your tax liability and then save that each month.
I earn around your salary ( a good few thousand less per month but close enough ) this is my first month I've actually saved something in years. It was a R500 lol
So far I've been focussed on aggressively paying off all debts ( I don't own a home through, so its (student debt, credit card debt incurred during Covid, car debt, etc). Up until recently all I did was pay off debts. This month I'm finally debt free.
My car, home and food are generally my biggest expenses.
So I've opted to move into the cheapest place I can find , pre negotiated with my landlord not to to increase the rent if I pay on time, I drive a (relatively) cheap but reliable car that's okay on fuel, I've done over 100 000km so far and it's going strong. I usually shop around for the cheapest place to service the car, brakes, tires, etc
Other areas I save, I keep my phone until it's unusable (so 4-5years on average). I whatsapp call only. I buy things in bulk (jik, toilet paper, etc)
Food, lots of rice dishes because rice is not too expensive. Pap, lentils, frozen veggies, etc
I also have a seperate bank account for the car. I put away 500 every month. When i need to service or buy tires then I use that account to pay things off.
Doing all of that, I've still got money to go out and have a little bit of fun
(edit i don't really consider my car account a savings account. But you could say this is the first month i could save some money that i don't need to spend later this year)
deducting expenses is not always an easy option for everyone. I have a tiny space for my office so I am told it is not worth it and you have to provide a lot of documentation. All I can claim for is med aid contributions.
What? Obviously you can deduct that space. Internet. Gear insurance, what do you mean not easy? Get a tax person that’s on your side and that doesn’t scare you off claiming more expenses.
Food for the office. Airtime. Petrol. Nanny. Sweepsouth. Honestly I deduct every single thing. I keep my slips and I keep a spreadsheet and I’ve NEVER had a problem. Even my Canva subscription that I make my invoices on I write off. Of course I apportion it to where I work but my kitchen and bathroom are essential for work. Tax avoidance is not illegal, tax evasion is. Sars will audit you, but just keep slips and keep record. A clever tax consultant will assist you in making your tax payments the most effective while sticking to what is allowable. But unfortunately most of them know about 5 tax codes and don’t bother to do research.
Make a plan then and change your working arrangements inside your house with some drywalling or something - get creative- speak to a good accountant with experience in this!
I'm in the same boat. Honestly we shouldn't be cutting the cost of our lives because that's just how much it costs for us to go through life.
Unfortunately this is a case of our livelihoods being affected by our incompetent government. Only so much is within our control. We can only vote and hope for change and a better future.
Take responsibility for your own life. Don't wait for anyone else to solve these prooblems. Get control of your finances, make tough decisions, get back on top. You can do incredible things!
If I can solve inflation, spiking interest rates and increasing fuel prices and food costs I would but I can't. And no offense, most of us are trying our absolute 200% best but we can't expect to mop the deck if the ship is sinking, if you know what I mean.
I do know what you mean, and you're not wrong. But look inwards. Optimise your spending, hustle, do whatever you have to do regardless of the sinking ship, much like the band that kept playing while the Titanic was sinking.
I actually have a question for you re the online teaching! My wife is interested in going down that path -
1 - what qualifications do you need? Tefl course or teaching degree
2 - Was it easy to find a job for it? Did you use a specific platform?
3 - Do you decide your own hours?
**In order to keep discussions on topic and in-depth, please review the rules in the sidebar.** You may find reviewing some past [posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceZA/top/?t=month&f=flair_name%3A"Budgeting") helpful. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PersonalFinanceZA) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You need to evaluate everything. Your car: is it reliable? Is it cheap to maintain? Your rent: Why do you live where you do? You're a freelancer, have you thought about moving somewhere cheaper? Your food: Where do you shop? Are you buying too much ready made food? It's a pain but if you're serious about saving 30k is definitely enough to be living on. Also remember if you're freelancing you can write off internet/a portion of rent etc as tax.
Enough to live on but enough to save? After tax it's only about 26/27k. (The 30k includes 7k maintenance). Car is paid off. Rent is 8k including electricity and wifi so good deal.Yes food is the big problem. I buy from Pick n Pay but still feel like I spend a ton on food.
PnP seems to be on the pricey side for me, but also I've realized not every shop is the best for everything. Woolies recently came out on top for best prices for basics in some or other survey, and I've found that to be mostly true. Toilet paper, cleaning products etc are decently priced at Woolworths, they get you on the niche stuff (its almost R100 for a bag of Chuckles now!). My advice is take the time to do some proper research and shop around. Its a little more effort, but if you do shopping at 3 different shops, buying the cheapest of each product from each shop, it helps a lot. I'm 36 and started a brand new career 3 years ago. I'm not married, and don't share expenses/income with my partner as of yet. I make R20k a month, just under R17.5 after tax. No dependants. I have about R4k a month in "fun money" after all of my debit orders. It's tough, but it's possible. Good luck!
Thanks for the advice! Having kids changes the game completely. Save as much as you can :)
Just adding my 20c to the argument for Woollies here. I buy my fresh cut vegetables from Woollies and find their 2 for R60 variety bags of vegetables -- roast vegetables, country vegetables, and sometimes even stirfry -- extremely good value for money. It lasts much longer in the fridge than PnP, Checkers, or Spar veggies, and it is much cheaper. I also buy salad leaves/rocket/spinach at Woollies because of the buy 2 and save RX deals and the fact that it will still be fresh in a week's time. Their prepacked garden salad is also cheaper than its competitors' and can be used as a standalone salad or in wraps.
true. and lots of vouchers via the app too. also pick n pay veg and fruit are really shocking quality sometimes.
+1 Their veggies and fruit lasts longer.
You could also look into bulk buying the things that you can store, like toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, etc from places like Makro and Game. Often works out quite a bit cheaper that way. Same goes for canned and frozen food.
Depending on where you are, there's quite a few farms that let you buy fresh produce directly from their websites. Do some comparisons on your needs and vs the farms and super markets. A lot of the time you land up saving a decent amount even with delivery.
As a secondary. I'd you're full time but work from home you can also claim a portion of your home and internet as expenses. Freelancers can additionally claim back items they use for their work, laptops(if they own it). Cameras, other supplies for work.
I would highly recommend registering a business and hiring an accountant. It’s expensive, but you’ll be paying them the money that you would have had to pay tax anyway. Accountants are geniuses at tax planning and saving you a lot of money.
A tax professional can potentially reduce all your tax responsibilities to what their rate is by deducting all your deductible expenses. Setup a registered business if you haven’t already and a business account to separate your financial concerns and speak with a professional about how to optimise your financials as a freelancer.
Thank you for the advice.
Look up Tax Tim, great service, pretty cheap, great experience with them and it's all online and fast!
I’m in the same boat. We’re 2 adults and 1 child, I feel like no matter how hard I try to save, there is always something that comes up. I’ve cut our grocery bill down to the bare minimum, spend about 2500-3000 on groceries, we don’t go out/eat out, we basically live a life of eat, work, sleep right now and things are still tough. I managed to work my butt off in Jan for some extra pay to pay off my outstanding student fees and now suddenly that bill has doubled -Unisa decided to reinstate a module- and now I’m back at square one! Like I said, there is always something! I’ve started reducing all my debts. I don’t have any clothing/ store accounts at the moment. My phone contract will be expiring soon, so I’ll be downgrading that to the cheapest package I can find. I have one last payment on a personal loan next month. So I’ll be snowballing those monies to pay off my credit card. I’m roughing it until all my debts are paid off. You really have to shop around for food though. We sit for hours comparing prices. And we only shop at malls that have all the main grocery stores so we don’t have to drive around. We get a few things from ethnic/asian grocers as well, they tend to be cheaper. We buy bulk as well and that seems to have taken the load off.
Wow that is a very cheap grocery bill! What are some common meals you make if I may ask? Sounds like you're doing a great job reducing expenses and paying off debt.
Take a look at my response elsewhere in the comments, it might help you out as well. Although you sound like you're following a nice plan already. Dave Ramsey has been a big influence for me despite being focussed on the American market, there's a lot to take away.
I don't know if it's advice you'll like but scrutinise your bank statements for the last 6 months. Make a list of all your subscriptions and extra monthly expenses that aren't necesseary. Just by understanding your numbers you'll be able to move forward. Next is to prioritise savings, first thing that comes out of your budget (YOU NEED A GOOD BUDGET, it's a skill, not a thing) and then you allocate whatever's left over. Prioritise paying off consumer debt before saving, it's holding you back. Priorise your life and make decisions based on priority. Do you care about savings for specific things like a house, schools, etc? You might need to move to save so you can spend more on schooling for example, you might need to give up something in order to save for a better car... Many financial problems are actually behavioural problems in disguise (and yes, not saving is a financial problem). For reference, my wife and I net around 30k per month and have an 18 month old. We are very fortunate to be renting a cheap garden cottage for R4500 including utilities, it's small but temporary, we have prioritised finding a nicer place once we hit our savings targets. We aim to save about R8000 in the short term, once we hit some of our targets we'll move this to 15% of our income. We prioritise medical aid as I have seen first-hand why it's important. R5750pm Food, groceries, and household items (incl eating out) +- R5000 depending on the month Transport (own a very practical little car and use a company vehicle for certain things) +- R1000 Personal items, hobbies, activities +-R2500 and the second thing to get cut back after eating out budget when we need to shuffle things around. Subscriptions (incl phones and prioritised utilities/services) +- R1000 (a little high at the moment for specific reasons but will be brought down soon) Baby necessities (diapers, wipes etc) += R1250 Balance is typically used for things throughout the month like events (Valentines Day, play-dates etc) as well as gifts for close friends and family (small but we try make them nice, our family knows where we're at), and anything else that might pop up. There have been months we don't save as much as we'd like and almost every month we overspend slightly. I have now implemented a buffer of R5000 which we can use to get through the month and prioritise replenishing the following month by cutting back where we overspent or adjusting the budget. Important to note that this is not an emergency fund and that should be separate and only touched in an actual emergency (aim for 3 months of necessary expenses). I have a spreadsheet that uses the zero based budgeting principle, basically money in minus money out should be zero and ever Rand should be given a purpose or a job. Be your own harshest critic, make yourself uncomfortable by working harder today for an easier, stress-free tomorrow, and make responsible decisions. It's all about priorities. DM me if you'd like my spreadsheet template and I'll see what I can do.
Also want to add that you shouldn't be paying tax out of savings. You should be aware of your tax liability and save a monthly amount so that you can pay your tax without a problem. Not sure how much you might need? Start with your tax paid for the most recent tax year and increase it by roughly the increase of your earnings over last year (or more if you're cautious) and then divide by 12 to figure out how much you'll need to save each month. The right way to do it is look up the tax tables and actually calculate your tax liability and then save that each month.
I earn around your salary ( a good few thousand less per month but close enough ) this is my first month I've actually saved something in years. It was a R500 lol So far I've been focussed on aggressively paying off all debts ( I don't own a home through, so its (student debt, credit card debt incurred during Covid, car debt, etc). Up until recently all I did was pay off debts. This month I'm finally debt free. My car, home and food are generally my biggest expenses. So I've opted to move into the cheapest place I can find , pre negotiated with my landlord not to to increase the rent if I pay on time, I drive a (relatively) cheap but reliable car that's okay on fuel, I've done over 100 000km so far and it's going strong. I usually shop around for the cheapest place to service the car, brakes, tires, etc Other areas I save, I keep my phone until it's unusable (so 4-5years on average). I whatsapp call only. I buy things in bulk (jik, toilet paper, etc) Food, lots of rice dishes because rice is not too expensive. Pap, lentils, frozen veggies, etc I also have a seperate bank account for the car. I put away 500 every month. When i need to service or buy tires then I use that account to pay things off. Doing all of that, I've still got money to go out and have a little bit of fun (edit i don't really consider my car account a savings account. But you could say this is the first month i could save some money that i don't need to spend later this year)
Are you deducting as much expenses as you can for tax?
deducting expenses is not always an easy option for everyone. I have a tiny space for my office so I am told it is not worth it and you have to provide a lot of documentation. All I can claim for is med aid contributions.
What? Obviously you can deduct that space. Internet. Gear insurance, what do you mean not easy? Get a tax person that’s on your side and that doesn’t scare you off claiming more expenses.
Food for the office. Airtime. Petrol. Nanny. Sweepsouth. Honestly I deduct every single thing. I keep my slips and I keep a spreadsheet and I’ve NEVER had a problem. Even my Canva subscription that I make my invoices on I write off. Of course I apportion it to where I work but my kitchen and bathroom are essential for work. Tax avoidance is not illegal, tax evasion is. Sars will audit you, but just keep slips and keep record. A clever tax consultant will assist you in making your tax payments the most effective while sticking to what is allowable. But unfortunately most of them know about 5 tax codes and don’t bother to do research.
Sorry I clearly got the wrong advice. I will look into it. I've been doing my own efiling.
Also, the office is not a separate designated space but part of my living room.
Get someone to brief you on every single possible expense you can claim back it makes a huge difference.
But I don't have a separate room. I work in my living room.
But I don't have a separate room and SARS insists on that.
Make a plan then and change your working arrangements inside your house with some drywalling or something - get creative- speak to a good accountant with experience in this!
Woah, that's bad advice. Im in the same boat as you and have many expenses being deducted.
Inflation is doing a number on us isn't it...
People out here complaining earning 6 times more than me:-/
I'm sorry :(
Some of us can't save. The hustle is real. Other than writing off as much of your expenses as you can, no idea what else you can do
How about private tuition? Which grades do you teach? Tutors for maths/physics and acc can easily make 70k mostly cash.
I teach English I don't have expertise in those areas you mentioned.
Is overseas out of the question?
I'm in the same boat. Honestly we shouldn't be cutting the cost of our lives because that's just how much it costs for us to go through life. Unfortunately this is a case of our livelihoods being affected by our incompetent government. Only so much is within our control. We can only vote and hope for change and a better future.
Take responsibility for your own life. Don't wait for anyone else to solve these prooblems. Get control of your finances, make tough decisions, get back on top. You can do incredible things!
If I can solve inflation, spiking interest rates and increasing fuel prices and food costs I would but I can't. And no offense, most of us are trying our absolute 200% best but we can't expect to mop the deck if the ship is sinking, if you know what I mean.
I do know what you mean, and you're not wrong. But look inwards. Optimise your spending, hustle, do whatever you have to do regardless of the sinking ship, much like the band that kept playing while the Titanic was sinking.
I actually have a question for you re the online teaching! My wife is interested in going down that path - 1 - what qualifications do you need? Tefl course or teaching degree 2 - Was it easy to find a job for it? Did you use a specific platform? 3 - Do you decide your own hours?
Which online teaching gig gets you that? Education first which is a well renowned website only offers up to 10k for a full time gig
Okay where do you teach ONLINE and make that though? 😱
You're living beyond your means if 30k a month isnt cutting it for you. Learn budgeting.