HOW YOUR MONEY CAN GET YOU MORE IN THESE TOUGH TIMES

The current economic environment coupled with further challenges of income instability that COVID-19 brings requires consumers to follow good money management habits.

Dhashni Naidoo, FNB Consumer Education Programme Manager says “This is great time to review not only our budgets but also our spending habits.”

Naidoo unpacks 5 tips on how to stretch your Rands and cents during this time.

1.Manage your resources. Review your budget by assessing what is it that you absolutely need For example, priorities necessities such as food, electricity, water mobile airtime and data.

2.Plan on how to use resource sparingly without wastage, e.g. cook cost effective, healthy meals only enough or the family. Better yet, cook enough to enjoy for more servings to save on ingredients, time and electricity.

3.Manage electricity usage by switching off al appliances that are not n u e and try to do laundry in bulk unlike washing single clothing items. When using electronics such as computers, plug them when the battery appears low and unplug them once they are fully charged.

4.Keep an eye on your data usage and maximise free benefits.

5.Maximise on your loyalty programmes or rewards – Most consumers have a number of loyalty programmes with cashback rewards or discounts on retail shopping. Use your loyalty reward to cover some of your daily expenses or get discounted prices.

“These uncharted territories are calling all consumers to be stringent and disciplined in their money management habit. Be conservative and extra careful in how you spend over this time. Most importantly, although these are extremely challenging times one should remain hopeful ,” concludes Naidoo.