Idea for some extra bucks

^^vampire^^ said:
Although the way OP has posted this is quite snarky, many people with a half decent job should be earning and saving far in excess of this. Before I left SA I was saving/investing R20k - R25k each month. After about the R15k - R20k mark per month for expenses etc, then for the average person the excess becomes superficial, unless you are a moron buying a house far larger than you required and paying off fancy cars you can't afford instead of paying cash. Obviously there are people that fall outside of these general parameters but you shouldn't be doing things like having a ton of kids, sending kids to top privates schools etc.

Unfortunately people will live beyond their means no matter how much they earn so even for people earning R100k a month they may struggle to save anything.
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Yeah you're way out of touch with what most people are earning.
 
Dolby said:
What do you invest in?

I've come to raise everyone on here is an economist, investor and property mogul that never loses ...
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It's backstreet. Why do you take him seriously?
 
Splinter said:
And how much did you make from that?
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Enough to eat out and do extra activities in the month, it was extra cash, not secondary income worthy.

Reason being, I used that money for eat-outs and the like, if I accumulated the profits I would have been able to make more as you will be able to afford bigger prized items, but that was never goal.
 
Zophos said:
I take it that you have been out of this country for 4 years +?, and that you are in your late 30's early 40's?

Edit: I am in my 30's and every extra cent is going into my bond to get it paid off when I reach 40. So if that counts as "saving" then yes R10k is possible per month, but only barely. ;)
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31 and been out the country for 2 years.

xcaliber said:
Who the **** can save 20k per month

Edit: Also is the 5k a month after a set amount of profit from the business being reinvested?
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Not many people. My case was an extreme but shows if you are willing to work hard you can achieve a large sum AND that even if you earn more than most you don't have to piss it down the drain just because you earn it.

Thor said:

Before I left SA I was saving/investing R20k - R25k each month.

Jesus
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Suspect99 said:
Yeah you're way out of touch with what most people are earning.
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I think I'm quite in touch with what people earn and I know in many cases it isn't a lot, but my point is to highlight that you very much can pay what you need to and save; it's just that people spend far too much on crap and debt.

Perhaps I should have clarified. A dual income household should easily be able to live off R15 000 a month living in a bonded 2 bed 2 bath sectional title providing they haven't made stupid choices like financing a BMW. It is not unreasonable to expect 2 people to each be earning R10k - R15k per month in a middle income household. After tax they can easily afford their financial responsibilities and to save. I have many friends in SA that haven't worked particularly hard and are not tertiary degree educated that easily pull in well over this. One friend recently swapped from being a tint shop manager to a junior develop and is getting R18k a month and his GF works in event for a company earning R15k. Both under 30, clearing probably R25k a month so they can definitely pay their dues and save and take care of their 2 kids. Obviously if you are a domestic worker this would not apply.

Before I left SA I was on R60k. After tax thats about R43k (if you contribute to RAs at the 15% cap you could push this to R46.5k and probably almost R50k now because the cap was raised to 27.5% - it's about being smart with your money). My GF was studying at that time so I was paying everything which included a bond, our medical aid, our petrol, our groceries, a domestic worker and gardener, our cell phones, car and home insurance, electricity, water, levies, rates & taxes, armed response, spending money and whatever else. All this came to R12-13k a month. If you have kids you would probably be spending a bit more on medical, slightly more on food and then school fees. This made my situation unique in that I could afford to then save or invest a large sum each month, but if you're clearing R20k between two people then you can spend the R15k and save the other R5k, put the extra into your bond or whatever. These prices are 2 years old so things would have gone up a bit though.

The point is whether you're earning R100k or R10k the nett result is the same. If you're dumb with your finances you don't get to save. If you're smart with your money then the more you earn the more you save/invest. I still have never owned a first hand car and never owned a car worth more than R60k. I pay everything I can with cash and if I can't afford something I do without. Yes you will get people that babble on about they are not going to work hard to do without so if they want a Merc they'll get a Merc - good for them but you can't have your cake and eat it too.
 
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^^vampire^^ said:
... My GF was studying at that time so I was paying everything which included a bond, our medical aid, our petrol, our groceries, a domestic worker and gardener, our cell phones, car and home insurance, electricity, water, levies, rates & taxes, armed response, spending money and whatever else. All this came to R12-13k a month. ...
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Impossible... My monthly debts come to around R12k per month and i'm renting (not paying a bond), I don't have Medical Aid (Can't afford), I only pay 1x vehicle's petrol and work up the road from where i live, barely buy many groceries at all, don't have a domestic worker or a gardner, pre-paid cellphone (Can't afford decent contract), I only have car insurance and no home insurance, I don't have Armed Response and most definitely don't have much spending money at all once my debts go off...

How could what you list above come to about the same as my monthly living costs when our world's seem to be so far apart??? Please help me understand because i'm CLEARLY doing something wrong
 
carstensdj said:
Impossible... My monthly debts come to around R12k per month and i'm renting (not paying a bond), I don't have Medical Aid (Can't afford), I only pay 1x vehicle's petrol and work up the road from where i live, barely buy many groceries at all, don't have a domestic worker or a gardner, pre-paid cellphone (Can't afford decent contract), I only have car insurance and no home insurance, I don't have Armed Response and most definitely don't have much spending money at all once my debts go off...

How could what you list above come to about the same as my monthly living costs when our world's seem to be so far apart??? Please help me understand because i'm CLEARLY doing something wrong
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Well, one thing is that he's quoting from N years ago, vs you now.

But even now his 12k is extremely doable, the problem comes in with house+car.
For example I spend less than 12k, but I have paid off my house and bought my car cash. That means I don't need to take risks with not having medical/any other insurance. N years ago even paying for a cheap both would have been doable on 12k.

How much are you paying for your rent+car per month? If you're living month to month (while renting) then you're in trouble, because your money isn't growing.

The trick is to get things you can pay off and own (and that will increase in value as time goes by). That allows you to build up e.g. a deposit for a house, which you can then buy and pay extra into. Your monthly payment for that will then keep on decreasing and giving you more money every month, allowing you to pay it off faster and faster. And while that's happening the value of the house is also increasing. Compared to renting month by month where rent keeps going up and your cash reserve isn't growing at all.
 
backstreetboy said:
Where did I state I make billions? I only said you can get more than 12% return.
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Millions?

If 12 is on the low end, I'd gather 15+ for you consistently?
I'm looking for advise on how you do this?
 
There are hundreds of different Items
But
If you do not have a Market the best would be to stick to the 6-12% or get better assistance with that investment
 
carstensdj said:
Impossible... My monthly debts come to around R12k per month and i'm renting (not paying a bond), I don't have Medical Aid (Can't afford), I only pay 1x vehicle's petrol and work up the road from where i live, barely buy many groceries at all, don't have a domestic worker or a gardner, pre-paid cellphone (Can't afford decent contract), I only have car insurance and no home insurance, I don't have Armed Response and most definitely don't have much spending money at all once my debts go off...

How could what you list above come to about the same as my monthly living costs when our world's seem to be so far apart??? Please help me understand because i'm CLEARLY doing something wrong
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Mate, you need a little wake up call, medical aid is the very last thing you cancel wtf you have R12k debit orders and no med aid, without your health you may as well not have anything else. Medical emergencies can crop up even if you are 100% hale and hearty today, acute appendicitis being one or a serious car accident. Get basic hospital cover at the very least, not more than R1500 pm. You don't want to find yourself 10 deep in the emergency room queue with life threatening injuries at a random government hospital.

And home insurance for what they cover is probably the cheapest insurance you can get, typically they'll drop your home and car insurance if you combine them, I doubt home insurance covering up to R300k will be more than R200 a month when combined with car insurance. Can you really afford to get your house cleaned out, even just clothes cost a mint, nevermind they pull an SA special and cart off everything in the house.
 
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Bond, Levies, Elec, Water, R&T 6000
Medical 1750
Petrol 1000
Groceries 2000
Domestic 500
Gardener 500
Cellphones 200
Car & Home Ins 600
Armed Response 600
Spending Money 1000
Total 14150


Apologies m'lord I was R1000 out.
 
^^vampire^^ said:
Bond, Levies, Elec, Water, R&T 6000
Medical 1750
Petrol 1000
Groceries 2000
Domestic 500
Gardener 500
Cellphones 200
Car & Home Ins 600
Armed Response 600
Spending Money 1000
Total 14150


Apologies m'lord I was R1000 out.
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Ok, in what universe do you only spend 1000 on Fuel??? That's not even 1 1/2 tanks

And Domestic Worker and Gardener will set you back at least 1000 PP per month (I do not have any of these)

Cell Phone for 200? Are we in 2010?

Groceries for 2000, if you are single and living off 2 min noodles, sure. Clearly you have not been to SA lately.

Redo that budget with realistic figure and it will paint a whole different story.

Just saying that times have changed over the last 5 years in SA :D

PS: Please don't see this reply as a personal attack, I am just pointing out my experience in good old SA
 
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