Natalie Thinks

This week I realised there was an important category missing in my budget: calamity.  I realised this when the R1000 speeding fine arrived in the mail.  I wanted to howl.  Really.  I was going 80 in a 60 zone but, in my defence, your Honour: 1.        It was one of those areas where it becomes 80 in about 20 metres from where I was fined. 2.        I really try to stick to the speed limit; not only because the roads I travel are policed by some of South Africa’s most vigilant traffic cops, but because I try to save diesel by driving cautiously! 3.        Most days I do an 80km round trip virtually all on provincial roads with high speed limits. I have become quite obsessive (but clearly not obsessive enough!) about abiding by speed limits.  My car has a very lovely cruise control which I use in the 60 zone (but obviously not that particular zone).  Henceforward, I shall be the most speed-abiding citizen ever.  Sit on my tail if you must; I shall not be moved! Next we nee

Is it just me or is January a very long month?  I am running my budget from 25 th -25 th and even so, here I sit on the 22 nd and every budget allocation is either exhausted or overshot.  Again. Damn. I really was very conscious of every cent I spent this month because I knew I would have to account to y’all, and yet I still went over my grocery budget by about R800.  The good news is Woolworths allowed the use of Ucounts (Standard Bank rewards) for 2 weeks in January.  They did this last year too.  This enabled me to spend R1200 essentially free, as we had not used any Ucounts all year.  (Note to self: save this up again for beginning of year.)  So monetarily I stayed within budget, but really I went over…. On the subject of reward/loyalty cards; these are generally worth having.  Most don’t cost anything and if used judiciously they can save you quite a bit.  Just be aware of the psychology behind these, which is that when I walk into Clicks to spend my free R30, I will lik

We are a family of six: 2 incomes, 4 kids (yes they were all planned; yes we were warned).  We have drawn up our budget for the coming year and after trimming and trimming we are still R3000 in the hole! (Munch Scream).   And in the face of the drought South Africa has faced this past year, food prices are predicted to rise significantly in 2016.  Scary times ahead. If you’re also feeling the pinch you may want to follow my blog this year as I try to implement some thrifty ideas.  Suggestions will also be welcome.  I can also mail you a sample Excel budget sheet that you can tailor to your requirements.  If you have less or no kids, for example, then why the hell do you have a problem? then you can adjust it accordingly. No doubt, we all have different ideas of what constitute luxuries, and of course some of the things I spend money on may seem indulgent to you, and vice versa. The following are luxuries I can can’t CAN live without.  If things are tight, these are a