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Saving money is becoming more and more difficult as the cost of living seems to keep on rising.
That dreaded recent announcement on a Tuesday that petrol costs will be going up at midnight; the shock when you realise that three bags of groceries come to nearly R1 000 – costs can leave one feeling rather despondent, and wondering how on earth to make your expenses fit into your budget.
Here are 5 smart hacks that can help you start saving money right now, and they’re really so simple!
There are many devices in your home that can suck energy even when they’re not in use. Your TV, for example, or phone charger – and that energy-hungry laptop charger – all consume energy even when you’re not using them.
By unplugging these devices when they’re not in use, you can save money on your electricity bill – not to mention protecting them from energy surges when your loadshedding shift ends and the power comes back on!
Did you know that when a technician flicks the switch to bring your power back on, a surge of around 11 000 volts hits the system, and to the average home that runs on 230V, you can imagine what damage this sudden surge could do to your electrical devices.
Driving less has become easier with the transition of the modern workplace into a hybrid model, where many employees are allowed to work from home for a couple of days a week.
This allows you to save on petrol costs, as a tank will go a lot further in the average month. And when you need to get out and about on the weekend, try and consolidate all the things you need to do into one trip – and take it easy on the road!
“When you drive faster, your car’s fuel consumption increases to power the engine to drive at higher speeds,” shares Keletso Mpisane, Head of MiWay Blink.
“Add in more air resistance the faster you go, and you’re burning rands as fast as your burning fuel. Take it slow – leave earlier if you need to – and you’d be surprised at how much money you can you save!”
While you’re “not driving” around town, you can save even more money by taking advantage of the rewards offered by an insurer like MiWay Blink, which gives customers cashbacks for driving less (not to mention saving on your monthly premiums too!)
An app on your smart device measures the number of kilometres you drive, and gives you money back according to your driving behaviour.
“It’s so important to help customers wherever we can, especially in the financial strain that we are all facing," says Mpisane. "We’ve made it possible for customers to pay as they drive through the power of tech.”
Online shopping is convenient, it saves time as you don’t have to go out to the shop, and it can consequently save you money too. But the challenge with online shopping is that you’ll often end up buying more than you intended to, on impulse.
A nifty trick here is to leave the items in your online shopping cart for a day or two. This will give your brain (and emotions) time to decide whether all the additional items are really needed and worth the money.
Most of us will have moments when we sign up for an app because we’re working on something specific and need a particular feature, or we hosted and event and needed uninterrupted streaming music so signed up for a premium account – and then clean forgot about it when the urgency of the situation had passed.
But the monthly renewals continue – and so does the drip-depletion of your bank account.
Make a point of it to check in on your app subscriptions monthly – remember that even a small amount taken off every month can add up to a large amount in the end.
The mornings can be a rush, getting the kids ready for school, getting yourself ready for work – and it’s so easy to forget to pack a lunch bag for yourself to keep you sustained during the day.
Easy then, too, to pop out to the shop to buy lunch (and usually additional snacks and drinks while you’re at it), or order from a food delivery service if you’re too busy to step out – which can be even more expensive.
Consider packing your lunch the night before, so it’s something that’s already ticked off of your to-do list in the morning.
Cooking a bit extra for dinner and then packing the leftovers for the next day’s lunch makes it even easier.
If you add up the money saved over the course of a month, you’ll be surprised that something as simple of this can be so effective.
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