2019-09-01_Fairlady

Penny-pinching

September 2019/Fairlady 57

ahlia’s

Instagram

post

couldn’t

havecomeat a better

time.I hadjustchanged

industriesandstarted

a careerinaccounting,

soI hadgonefrom

a comfortablesalary

toanentry-levelone.

It wasimportantto

re-evaluatemylifestyle

expensesbecauseI

wantedtokeepsaving

inspiteof thepaycut.

I alsolovedtheconcept

of beingmindfulof

whatI’mspendingmy

moneyonanddoingit

withina communityof

supportivewomen.

‘I’vealwaysthought

of myselfas a frugal

person,butwhen

I startedaddingupmy

unnecessaryexpensesI

quicklylearntthatthat

wasn’tthecaseat all!My

biggestproblemswere

takeawaycoffeesand

worklunches,andI was

spendinga lotonbeauty

productsI didn’tneed.

SoI challengedmyself

todrinkthecoffeeI had

at homeinstead,pack

worklunchesformy

partnerandme,andbuy

newproductsonlyonce

minehadrunout.

‘Mybiggestchallenge

wasplanningmyweekly

mealsaheadof time.I’d

domyshoppingforthe

weekona Sunday,so

I hadtoknowexactly

whatI wasgoingto

cookbeforethen.But

I eventuallygotinto

it andI loveit now–

it’snotjustsavingme

money,butit’salso

makingmylifesomuch

easier.I gethomefrom

workandit’sallplanned

out.Bythetimethe

twomonthswereupI

wassavingdoublethe

amountI’dbeensaving

before,whichseemed

unimaginable,giventhat

I wasearningless.It’s

eye-openingtoknow

thatsmalladjustments

thatdon’timpact

thequalityof mylife

canmakesucha huge

financialimpact.’✤

abroad, but I also became
a better cook. I tried out
new recipes and even
learnt how to cook fish,
something I’d never
done before. The next
goal is Kilimanjaro in
two months’ time – I’ve
managed to get together
40 percent of my budget
so far, and it’s looking
really promising.
‘The financial diet
has shown me that
it’s not that hard to
create good spending
habits. Through it all,
I was surprised at how
disciplined I was. And
most of all, I had fun
getting to know everyone
in the group and sharing
all our experiences.’

22seven

With22sevenyougeta

completeoverviewofyour

finances,soyoucansee

whereyou’respending

yourmoneyandcreate

a personalisedbudget

thatwillletyouknow

whenyouarecloseto

overspending.Androidand

iOS.

http://www.22seven.com

Moneysmart

Thisappshowsyouhow

muchyouareableto

spendeverydayafter

yourfixedexpenseshave

beentakenintoaccount.

Andif youdohappento

overspendona particular

day,it willrecalculateyour

budgetsoyoucanmake

yourgoalforthemonth.

AndroidandiOS.

moneysmart.co.za

Goodbudget

Thismoneymanager

andexpensetrackeris

basedontheenvelope

budgetingmethod.You

decidehowmuchyoucan

spenda monthonspecific

things– clothes,food

andentertainment– and

thatamountis putina

virtual‘envelope’touse

throughoutthemonth.

AndroidandiOS.

goodbudget.com

‘T

FREEAPPSTO HELPYOU

MANAGEYOUR FINANCES

The financial dieters

were amazed at how

easy it was to exercise

fiscal discipline over

two months. Most

agreed that the one

month hiatus helped.