Money Moves June Edition

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Money Moves

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Debt Rescue

READY? Set Goals that YOU CAN ACHIEVE

Financial Practices that will Change your Life!

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Tricky Financial Terms Explained

MAKE YOUR MONEY Work for You!

Ways for South Africans to SAVE MORE! WIN R500 CASH! Details Inside

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Letter from the Editor Letters from Readers Financial Practices that will Change Your Life

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Goal Setting the S.M.A.R.T Way

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Great Saving Tips for South Africans

Four Must-Know Financial Terms for Consumers Survey Winners, Results & New Survey

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E D I T O R

Dear Readers, Welcome to the second edition of our Digimag.

The first edition was a brilliant success! We were absolutely blown away. Thank you.

This month we have experienced extreme changes in the economic climate. These sudden changes have ripped a hole in the pockets of many consumers. Budgeting is now more important than ever before.

This month we focused heavily on organising, ordering and saving. This issue is bursting at the seams with information to assist you financially. We believe that if you use it, your wallets will be bursting with savings too.

We want to thank our subscribers who wrote to us, and congratulate the Two Lucky Winners. We have published as many as we could, as the response was really wonderful and overwhelming!

Remember to write to us and also stand a chance to win R500 cash!

R E A D E R S

R250 in Cash 2 Winners!

This Month’s Question is: Tell us Your Story of Surviving in South Africa. You can remain anonymous or add your name for publication.

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Financial Practices that will change YOUR LIFE

“Time is more valuable than money.

You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”

When you are young, building your career can be exciting. The beginning stages are the most exhilarating.

The world is open with possibilities, and you have many years ahead to see which way your career will take you.

Making more debt is not the answer here. Even if a temporary shift is something you are begging for, rather use healthier methods that will serve you in the long run.

If we concentrate on making only today better, tomorrow will come back to bite us. If we Life happens though, and more work hard on planning in the often than not we end up in a long run, and making small, yet career that we did not expect lasting changes that will affect for better or for worse. For a the overall financial health of few of us lucky ones we end up our life, we will only be happier doing what we love. for it.

Regardless, there will come a Here are some small but time, if you are not careful with powerful practices to integrate your money that you may end into your life to lessen stress up living month-to-month. and increase your financial wellbeing in the long run.

The end of the month becomes a financial slump, and two days Learn to Say No! after your payday, you find yourself back in that ‘wishing The first powerful financial for payday’ space. Financial practice is learning to say no. worry eventually ads up. It can Everywhere we look there is affect your mental, physical, someone who will be asking and emotional health. for money from you. Because This is usually where a rise in our financial decisions are loans become prevalent simply usually tied to deep-seated to get yourself to shift out of emotional ones, we end up this way of life. parting

with our finances because of guilt, fear, resentment, willingness to please etc.

Learning to say: “No, I am not in a position to assist you at this time” will work wonders for your financial health. This means saying no to family, friends, and basically anyone that you meet who is asking for financial assistance.

A wonderful gem of wisdom to remember in difficult moments is: “you cannot be of any service to anyone if you have not fixed yourself first”.

This is permission to begin Save, Save, Save, building your financial health and then Save until you are at such a stage where you feel completely con- some More. fident about the future. Until then, if you cannot, you should The third powerful not. financial practice is to save money. The best method to Know the save your money Difference is not in a bank account but in between Luxury assets. However, a and Necessity bank account is a fantastic place to The second powerful financial start. If you have not practice is learning to see the started saving and are difference between momenalso not able to start, try cuttary luxury that will depreciate ting back on one single R5 per the second that you purchase week, then R10, then R50, then it, from lasting wealth. Are you R100. This may seem small, but building a career, working building the saving mindset is every single day, only to throw one of the most powerful gifts your hard-earned money into that you can give to yourself. something that will simply Saving allows you to work for bring you temporary relief? something. It allows you to see You are working to build your hard work every day in wealth, to maximise the return front of your eyes and rememon the hours that you put in. ber why you are doing what you are doing.

You are working to build wealth, to maximise the return Balancing the book of life towards a positive and not a negon the hours that you put in. ative balance can take a while, You are working to build a life but the importance is to begin for yourself and your family shifting your mindset and and to enhance your lifestyle.

Whatever this means to you, if focus to building your wealth you are living month-to-month, and not building a wealthy looking life with luxuries you are most certainly not dothat will never get ing this. you where you Try to keep these two words in want to be. your mind throughout the day and especially when you make financial decisions: Wealth or Luxury. Wealth will get you where you want to go, luxury will keep you where you do not want to be.

Everyone has their own financial situation to contend with and to master. There will always be emotional triggers, debts and bills. There will always be costs incurred which you did not think of.

This we cannot change, but we can change how we handle these circumstances. We can also ensure that no matter what financial predicament we are faced with, we stick to the three financial practices mentioned above.

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Goal Setting the

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.

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Way

If there is no goal setting, then your dreams and wishes will forever remain great ideas. There are of course many ways to go about goal setting. However, throughout all the tried and tested methods, a method known as S.M.A.R.T goal setting is one of the top choices. Why? Simply put, because it contains all the elements to make your goals achievable and it really works.

Today, we are talking about the S.M.A.R.T method through financial terms, but you can take this foundation and apply it to all areas of your life.

SPECIFIC The first letter in S.M.A.R.T goal setting stands for specific. This means that the goal that you set must be as specific as possible.

In other words, instead of setting a loose ended goal such as “I want to be a millionaire”, rather set a goal that is very specific.

Such as, I want to have a growing savings account of R20 000 within 12 monthsThe more specific the goal is, the better your chances are of succeeding

MEASURABLE The second letter in S.M.A.R.T goal setting is ‘M’, and it stands for measurable. This means that you need to put a plan in place that can be measured.

A loose ended goal such as the ‘I want to be rich’ cannot be measured, however, our specific example can be. If your goal is to have growing savings of R20 000 within 12 months, then you would look at a savings account that can give you the highest interest rate possible.

You can also measure the success of your SMART goal by drawing bank statements each month to see how much you have saved and how your money is growing.

ATTAINABLE The third letter stands for attainable. Your goal needs to be attainable in your eyes.

You need to set a goal that you can act on. Let’s say for example, you cannot save money each month because your expenses are too high .

Then your goal setting would first have to concentrate on how to bring in a greater income in the long run or to reduce your expenses to make your goal attainable.

REALISTIC The ‘R’ in S.M.A.R.T goal setting stands for realistic.

While attainable covers the method, the realistic part needs to be realistic to you. If you do not believe that your goal is realistic then do not set it that high.

Rather set a few small goals that you believe that you can attain, and as you go along, you will see that you get better and better. When that happens, your goals can get larger and larger.

TIME-BOUND There should be no goal setting without a timestamp on it. You need to set a time for it to get your mind into gear.

The time-bound aspect of S.M.A.R.T goals assists you to shift your life and leisure activities in such a way that you will be able to reach your goals.

Remember that goal setting is not a fixed aspect of life, it is simply a tool to assist you in your life. Many believe that goal setting is nothing more than putting ideas on paper and wishing they would work.

This could not be further from the truth.

Every time you set a goal, no matter how small it may seem, and you achieve it, your mind shifts into the gear of right action. With your finances, goal setting can get you into a better position within a few months.

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Must-Know Financial Terms for Consumers Financial terms can mean the difference between success and failure in financial decisions. Even the simplest of terms need to be understood well enough to be able to accurately decide whether an action is worth your time and energy in the long run.

There are of course thousands of financial terms, and this will be an ongoing blog to bring across both the simple, and the complicated. It’s important to be completely knowledgeable about every financial decision that you make.

While the terms discussed in this article may seem simple, there are many people who cannot explain them when asked. It is for this reason that we have decided to explain them and allow you to become empowered through knowledge.

If you prefer reading, then make sure to sign up to our weekly newsletter. If you are already a follower and subscriber on our various platforms, we would like to thank you. We value each and every one of our readers and subscribers. So, let us dive straight into this week’s four must-know financial terms.

Financial Terms #1 – Secured Debt and Unsecured Debt In the world of financing, there are two forms of debt: Secured debt and unsecured debt.

Secured debt is debt which has a collateral backing attached to it. This means that there is an asset attached to the

money which is borrowed to you. A home loan would be considered a secured debt, as would vehicle finance.

There is more benefit to the creditor with secured debt. This is because they are at liberty to seize the asset when the consumer defaults on their payments. Debt Rescue can assist in such matters; however, this avenue should be considered sooner rather than later.

Unsecured debt, on the other hand, is debt where there is no collateral attached to the money.

When the consumer defaults on their payments, the creditor would have only one option and that is to take legal action. Clothing, food, and other non-collateral accounts such as loans and credit cards fall under unsecured debt.

Debt Rescue assists consumers in preventing the negative consequences of legal action and seizing of assets wherever possible. If you find that you are struggling to maintain payments on either secured or unsecured debt, click here to contact a consultant now to see how we can be of service to you.

Financial Terms #2 – Interest Rate The interest rate is defined as being an amount charged by a creditor to a consumer and is dependent on many aspects. This includes any legislation from the specific country you are accessing credit from as well as the consumers financial history and current affordability.

Each person will be charged a different interest rate. However, the interest you are charged also includes the rates charged by the Reserve Bank, which remains constant. The repo rate. The interest you will be charged is dependent on the Repo Rate. The Repo rate in South Africa is defined by the Reserve Bank. This is the rate at which the Reserve Bank lends to the commercial banks. They in turn include this percentage and charge you, the consumer, interest based on your financial position as well as your financial history – your credit score.

It is imperative that you shop around before taking on long term and short-term financial commitments. Different financial institutions charge differently, and if you are simply taking the first offer on the table you may be sitting with a larger price tag when it would have been far more affordable somewhere else.

The interest rate in South Africa has seen a double increase within the space of 4 months, leaving 2022 with a grim outlook for consumers.

It is now more important than ever to look after your credit score. If you have not downloaded your free report yet, please go ahead and do so now, here.

Financial Terms #3 – Net Worth To understand your net worth, you must understand assets and liabilities.

Assets are resources which belong to you, which you have complete control over, and which will become beneficial in the long run, such as property, minerals etc. Liabilities are items which you still owe on, so if you have a home and are still paying off a mortgage on the property, the mortgage would be seen as a liability.

Your net worth is the measure of your overall financial health. If you would like to work out your net worth, simply calculate assets minus liabilities. If the amount that you are left with is in the negative, then your financial health may be in trouble. If it is in the positive, then you are doing well. The higher the net worth, the better and more sought after your financial position is.

Financial Terms #4 – Credit Score Your credit score as a consumer is your financial face to the greater world. It is more important than people realise and looking after your credit score should not even be a question. The credit score in South Africa is determined by many factors including the type of credit, the length of the credit history, your payment habits throughout this time as well as your total amount of debt owed.

Your credit score depends on every financial transaction between you and financial institutions. It is also found to be very common for employers to look into the credit report of prospective employees. If you would like a free credit report, then click here.

We have covered four seemingly simple financial terms; however, these four financial terms are a make or break to a consumer. If you wish to increase your wealth and lift your position in society, it is important to really look after your credit report and ensure that the debt that you are making is benefiting you in the long term.

Financial decisions should never be on-the-fly decisions, but well thought out and carefully planned actions. Perhaps, this is true even more now than ever as we see the rise of unemployment and a forecast of troubling economic times in South Africa.

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GREAT

SAVING

Tips for South Africans

“You don’t always need money to acquire things – it’s often possible to use your resources and barter when you don’t have cash.”

South Africans need to make their resources turn over ten-fold. Especially if we are to find financial freedom within our current economic turmoil.

Not saving, isn’t an option. Nor is spending without consideration. There needs to be thought placed into our actions and the direction that we send our hard-earned money into.

When we read the word ‘saving’, we often only think of the act of placing our money into a savings account with a desirable interest rate.

But is it that simple?

Let’s look at the definition of the word saving: “The act or instance of economizing or spending less”.

By this simple definition, it’s important to understand that saving can and should be happening inside your home every day.

The adage, ‘You need to spend money to make money’ is not always true. If you work well with what you have, you truly can become financially independent, even in a world that leaves our finances so dependent on outside influences.

We cannot become a millionaire overnight. Well, at least not without some miraculous event occurring in our lives.

But we can become clever, crafty, and self-reliant. If you focus on these 8 saving tips, your money can become a tool for investing, instead of being hammered by any economic migraine.

Great Saving Tip #1 – Pay Yourself First If your financial stress is lessened, your perspective on life is very different. Regardless of the amount of money that you earn, you need to pay yourself first. It is a general rule of thumb that 10% of your salary should be assigned to an automatic debit order every month and go into a savings account.

Great Saving Tip #2 – Hack Success by Setting Smart Goals Goal setting is necessary. It is imperative if you want order and success in your finances. You need to understand the path that you are following, instead of leaving everything to chance. It is currently unimaginable to even contemplate not writing down or using an app to set those dreams into goals, and then realise them. Every celebrity speaks about how they had a goal once in their lifetime and achieved it. Think of Jim Carrey with his million-dollar cheque.

Great Saving Tip #3 – Pack Your Lunch and Cook Your Dinner

Great Saving Tip #5 – Heard of a ‘Staycation?’

Take-out should not be a default. Buying lunch every day, or eating out every week is robbing you of your finances.

A staycation is a vacation in your area. It is a massive saving compared to leaving the province that you are in to go on vacation and out of season rates are great for further saving.

If you need to see it in action, take last month’s bill on take-outs, restaurant visits or vending machine purchases, and add them up. If you cannot recollect the number of times, start now.

Take a notebook or use your phone and record every food purchase you could have gone without. You will be amazed when you add up how much a chocolate or quick box of chips and a burger can cost every week. Every cent saved makes more sense to your financial freedom.

Great Saving Tip #4 – Kitchen Windowsill Shopping Lettuce, Rosemary, Onions, and Garlic are some of the greatest windowsill decorations, and it saves money. Although growing potatoes takes a little practice to harvest, they are exceptionally easy to grow. One head of lettuce costs roughly R18 and instead of spending that money, you can save it. If you do not know where to get trustworthy seeds, Seeds4Africa are very well priced and have a large variety of yummy, easy-to-grow items.

Every province has its beauty and tourist attraction, and hardly any South Africans have experienced the entirety of what our beautiful country has on offer. Try a staycation and let us know what new and amazing sites you have found in South Africa.

Great Saving Tip #6 – Make Gifts and Cards This may sound like a terrible idea to people who believe that they are not creative, however, with YouTube and other platforms like Pinterest that offer billions of how-to videos and articles on making goodies, this is an option for everyone.

Great Saving Tip #7 – 30 Days or Nothing at The 30-day rule before purchasing anything only works if you have a willpower, and do not

go against it. However, once you begin practicing it, you will find that almost every time that you have waited 30 days, you no longer want that item anymore. This is a brilliant method of saving and really does work, if you can stick to it.

Great Saving Tip #8 – Thrift Store Shopping South Africa has a thrift store or a person advertising second hand goods in quality in every town. Everyone is either selling out, swapping out or donating their unwanted goods.

Most of the thrift stores, or second-hand shops have amazing items, some of them brand new with price tags on. Not everything should be bought from a thrift store, but jackets, books, toys and so forth are absolutely cost saving at the end of the day.

The plus side to many of the stores such as Little Eden, is that they are owned by a charity and the money spent is going to a good cause – looking after those less fortunate.

Under our current economic climate many people are afraid of the looming price hikes and the financial forecasts which will severely impact their standard of living. If you are anticipating a period where you will not be able to meet your repayment obligations, fill in our no-obligation free quote and see how debt counselling can assist you.

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But we can become clever, crafty, and self-reliant.

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