Coming off the thread about working girls lowering their fees.

I thought it might be good to have thread to help each other with tips on how to reduce the cost of living expenses and perhaps save a few rondela's?

Staying positive is one thing. But I think everyone needs to start planning ahead and not sitting back waiting for change. We can all do small things to make a change.

I also started cutting costs, which I am sure we all have.

Watch your water and electricity usage, and save where you can.
Put a deep, big bowl in your shower and collect the water to reuse instead of letting it go down the drain.
Use gas instead of electricity if you can. Switch off all your plugs, pool pump, stove etc at the wall or on the DB board.
Plant a vegetable garden and grow your own veggies. Not only is it therapeutic, but gives you such a sense of pride and accomplishment. Oh, and they taste sooo much better than store bought veggies.
Plant a communal vegetable garden on your side walk. Start giving hope and "Paying it Forward" in whatever small way you can.

I have also extended my gutter's to flow directly into my pool. All rain water flows directly into the pool, so I don't have to fill it up as often.

Arz

I started visiting asian ladies im saving r300 a week..lol

Agreed on all of the above, what I can add is:

1) Make a grocery list and stick to it, so much gets wasted through unnecessary or emotional purchases

2) Make sure your cars tyre pressures are correct and air filter is clean, and remove all junk that has accumulated on your back seat and boot, any weight means more fuel used, its amazing how much these improve economy.

3) Make use of your rewards programs, get to know the rules and properly maximise it. eBucks are now part of my monthly budget and The Entertainer app is my best friend.

5) A credit card and overdraft are not part of your budget, they are for emergencies, focus on settling all unsecured debt starting with the one with the highest interest rate, slowly you will pay less interest as the capital ammount owing reduces.

Good luck to all

Don't grocery shop when you are hungry

Print a bank statement, take a good look at what your banking fees are. Approach your bank to see if they've got a more competitive account, if they don't approach other banks. I've saved R700+ a month

On 2018-06-05 22:48:46 StickyWicket said:
Agreed on all of the above, what I can add is:

1) Make a grocery list and stick to it, so much gets wasted through unnecessary or emotional purchases

2) Make sure your cars tyre pressures are correct and air filter is clean, and remove all junk that has accumulated on your back seat and boot, any weight means more fuel used, its amazing how much these improve economy.

3) Make use of your rewards programs, get to know the rules and properly maximise it. eBucks are now part of my monthly budget and The Entertainer app is my best friend.

5) A credit card and overdraft are not part of your budget, they are for emergencies, focus on settling all unsecured debt starting with the one with the highest interest rate, slowly you will pay less interest as the capital ammount owing reduces.

Good luck to all

StickyWicket, I agree with you on the rewards program, for instance, here is some tips I have:

1. Only put in petrol at Total and let them swipe your Dischem card, or at Shell and swipe you Clicks card, on both you get points which ends up being extra money you can spend, especially at Total with Dischem, which works out lekker.
2. Also try and get Ebucks points where you can, especially at Makro.
3. Do bargain shopping when buying groceries. Before going out and just buying, first look at who is having specials.

Due to numerous factors which happened in the last year, I had to learn to cut back a lot, and also not able to punt anymore as much as I did and want to.

Good luck all

My recent changes which made a huge difference:
1. Change light bulbs to the Luceco 4 watt (available at Builders)
2. Get back on the bicycle, for shorter trips to the local shop and cancel the gym membership.
3. Cook larger portions once or twice a week, and freeze. Then instead of using the oven daily it's just heating in the microwave or some stove top cooking for veggies.
4. If you live alone, find a friend or neighbour who you can team up with to bulk buy items on special and split the cost.

Arz what a great thread! Love how positive you are and how you want to help us all!

Stop Smoking, that is just burning money. It is a potential saving of between R500 to R1000 a month.

1. Shower together
2. Do threesoms instead of one on one... they got to arrive together in one car... saving petrol :)))
3. Drink wine instead of water... :)))
5. Keep on smiling... it's the cheapest medicine ever...

On 2018-06-06 08:05:20 Ms Paige said:
1. Shower together
2. Do threesoms instead of one on one... they got to arrive together in one car... saving petrol :)))
3. Drink wine instead of water... :)))
5. Keep on smiling... it's the cheapest medicine ever...

Lol absolutely looooove the way you think ;)