For young professional, it tends to test keep up monetary freedom - particularly in intense financial times, and the allurement might be solid to depend using a loan to take care of expenses.
Head of Advice at Old Mutual Personal Finance Lizl Budhram warns against this practice. "While credit may seem like the obvious solution, the truth is that loans and credit cards charge interest, which can accumulate at an alarming rate if you're not careful," she explains.
"Numerous young professional paying their bills for the first time can discover the experience overwhelming."
To help relieve the financial burden, Budhram shared her 10 top tips on setting aside extra cash and reducing costs with Fin24.
1. Make savings fun – Turn savings into a game; look at savings as an adventure. Try to top your own savings each month or compete with a friend.
2. Become financially savvy – Learn about everything from tax to savings to retirement planning.
3. Set a monthly limit on your airtime and data spending – Be mindful of your daily usage.
4. Build up an emergency fund – Make provision for unforeseen expenses, otherwise your budget may be at risk.
5. Avoid ATMs outside your network – They usually attract higher fees.
6. Check with your bank – Make sure you have the best type of account for your needs.
7. Downgrade your brand purchases – How about dropping a brand level on everything you can? The overall price drops by 30%, said Budhram.
8. Familiarize yourself with seasonal sales – But forbid yourself from buying things simply because they are on sale. An extra expense is just that – yet another drain on your resources.
9. Avoid getting into debt – pay for your purchases with a debit card or cash, rather than buying on credit.
10. Try discount shopping – Products are cheaper at certain times of year. Follow the shops' sales cycles and use this to your advantage. Build a shopping calendar.
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