I will be featured in October’s TFG Club Magazine. This time we are talking about Budgeting.
First of all, we at ClubHQ would like to give you a virtual high five for taking a stand for yourself and your family by exploring the budgeting options available to you. A personal or household budget is key to taking charge of your finances, and while many South Africans do create some form of personal budget to stick to each month, according to a recent survey by personal finance website JustMoney, around a fifth of us admit to never having drawn up nor relied on a monthly budget.
This doesn’t come as a surprise to independent financial planner Sonja Linde of InSync Financial Services. ‘Budgeting is not a popular habit among many clients,’ says Sonja. ‘Most of the time, I have to ask clients to do a budget for me in order to do their financial planning,’ she adds.
Sonja’s Budget Tips
- Include unforeseen or ad hoc expenses such as vehicle licences, car maintenance, school uniforms, stationery, birthday presents and the like in your budget. This will ensure that you are prepared when these types of expenses come around.’
- Only buy what is necessary for the house. Sticking to a shopping list can save you lots of money over time.
- Use your savings on regular expenses to pay off your debt sooner. Once that’s done, you will have the savings and the previous debt payments to spend on something else. Possibly use funds on a financial goal or put that life cover you never had in place.
