56 Fairlady/September 2019
wasworkingas anaccountant,
butlastyearI wasretrenched.Instead
of rushingintoa newjob,I decided
tostartmyowncompany.Luckily
I hadsomemoneyputawaysoI couldgive
it a go.Butthe“salary”I wasgivingmyself
everymonthwasa fractionof whatI’dbeen
earningbefore,whichmeantcuttingout
unnecessaryexpenses.Easiersaidthandone!
ThoseWooliescheesypuffsandthree-for-two
salesweremykryptonite.
‘I followTahliaonInstagramandsaw
herpostaboutthefinancialdiet.Theidea
of workingwithpeoplewhowerealsotrying
tosavewasreallyencouraging,andI hoped
it mightalsohelpmakemesticktomy
commitments.
‘Mygoalwastocutoutunnecessary
things:nomorecheesypuffs,orderingthrough
UberEats,buyingbooksandhomedécor.
Andjustbecausesomethingwasonsale
didn’tmeanI neededtoownit!Ultimately,
whatwasimportantwasmymedicalaid,
mycarrepaymentsandgettingfoodon
thetable.
I startedtakinga listwithmewhenever
I wentintoa storeandwouldcommitto
buying only those things. I planned meals
for the week so I knew exactly what I needed,
and I just avoided clothing stores completely.
I actually managed to cut down our weekly
grocery bills by R200!
‘I’ve now been hired by a brilliant
company and I’m extremely happy. Even
though I now have a good salary again,
I’ve picked up great habits from the financial
diet and I still question every purchase.
For the first time I can go0 into Clicks for
two items and leave with just those two
things!
‘Looking back, I’m amazed at how little
I actually need. The experience really opened
my eyes to the value of my money and how
grateful I should be for what I have.’work with Tahlia
as a corporate
financial advisor
and she mentioned
thatshewas going to
dothisfinancial diet. I
wanted to get on top of
my finances and, instead
of spending my hard-
earned cash on things, I
wanted to have money for
experiences. I had a holiday
to Greece and Italy coming
up that I needed to save
for, as well as a planned
Kilimanjaro climb.
‘My biggest money
gobblers were definitely
coffees, takeaways, clothes
and cosmetics. They were
all unnecessary expenses – I
have food in my house so I
could bring my own lunch,and there’s perfectly good
coffee at the office – and
these “small” purchases
were adding up. I started
bringing lunch to work
and committing to making
supper at home, which was
the toughest part. It’s so
convenient to make excuses
as to why you should
rather grab something
from the canteen or order
a take-out after a long day.
Surprisingly, it was easy to
avoid buying new clothes
(my Achilles heel – I spent
an embarrassing amount
of money on clothes) and
cosmetics: I just avoided
the shops completely!
‘Through this experience,
I not only saved enough
money for my holiday‘I
‘I