Shocking findings in SA debt data review

Approximately 23% of South Africans have any money left at the end of the month – the other 76.58% are flat broke, the debt management firm said
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End of month chaos at the shopping mall bears this out....
 
Everything keeps going up, but salaries stay at sub 10% because of "cpi" yet real inflation is closer to 12%. Also with interest rates going up the little bit of money I had keeps getting absorbed more and more into trying to just keep a roof over my head. Even though it's been five years you'd think my salary would've increased enough to be comfortable.
 
Cray said:
End of month chaos at the shopping mall bears this out....
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I often look at friends and family around me and ask myself how they afford what they have. In some instances I know I earn considerably more than them but not even I can afford certain things, and thats already with debt (i.e. House). So they are either working 2 jobs or are in some serious $hite.
 
Personal loans (94%)
Credit cards (84%)
Store cards (76%)

All unsecured loans, and probably given to barely-qualifying consumers.

I watched a documentary on Netflix "Living on $1 a day", and there the locals were using small loans to start business's/study etc. That was a case of using credit to empower yourself. But I don't think that in a majority of cases its the same in SA
 
The_MAC said:
I often look at friends and family around me and ask myself how they afford what they have. In some instances I know I earn considerably more than them but not even I can afford certain things, and thats already with debt (i.e. House). So they are either working 2 jobs or are in some serious $hite.
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Serious shyte, and geared to the absolute limit pretty much...

I've seen it with many many people... and one or two let me have a look at their finances and what I saw absolutely blew me away. Earning pretty good salaries that would let them live relatively comfortably, but they wanted the newest bmw's and biggest tvs etc so had credit beyond what they could really afford and were now living paycheck to paycheck.
 
Live cheap and save.

The middle class in this country(actually everywhere) has delusions of grandeur. Take something like a kitchen blender. People will pay nearly R2k for Nutribullet blender, which for all intents and purposes is no better than a R150 hand blender.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Serious shyte, and geared to the absolute limit pretty much...

I've seen it with many many people... and one or two let me have a look at their finances and what I saw absolutely blew me away. Earning pretty good salaries that would let them live relatively comfortably, but they wanted the newest bmw's and biggest tvs etc so had credit beyond what they could really afford and were now living paycheck to paycheck.
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There is nothing more sobering that sitting as a couple (or single) and working out your budget each month. Its the only way to stay in tune with reality.

I would be a hypocrite if I said we havn't had a few bad months due to our own doing, but if you can break out of that bad habit and simply spend what you have you can easily recover. No need for debt rescue, only common sense and some restraint.
 
konfab said:
Live cheap and save.

The middle class in this country(actually everywhere) has delusions of grandeur. Take something like a kitchen blender. People will pay nearly R2k for Nutribullet blender, which for all intents and purposes is no better than a R150 hand blender.
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Nutribullet is a weight loss tool, a hand blender is for old people and people with babies... ;)
 
Simple rules:

Do not over extent yourself.... Ever!! New cars, IMHO...you throwing your money away. Plenty of used cars, still in warranty period, that are readily available. Need to get into the property market, buy something you can afford, not something that you want, and extents you to the limit! Clothing,...buy when there is a sale on, and for the love of all gods, do not fall into the trap of retail debt or buying groceries on shop cards. Personally, do not have any credit cards...running low on money, quick transfer from savings into everyday account...takes discipline and a very pragmatic outlook, but it is achievable.
 
One area where we're wasting a lot of money is paying tax, expecially if it's just being stolen again.
 
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