Giving up small things can save you surprising amounts of money every month

July is savings month in

South Africa, but it’s also one of the coldest months of the year. We all know

how difficult it is to keep up our diets in the cold weather as we indulge in

comfort foods such as coffee, burgers and beers to keep snug.  

But, if you cut down one simple thing you can keep your money in your pocket and save. Sue Torr, Director at Crue Invest, started the #just1thing challenge to show how sacrificing one small thing can have positive effect on your bank balance. Here are some suggestions:

• Making your own coffee to take to work instead of buying a take-away cappuccino (@ R28 per cup) every work morning can save you R560 per month.
• Saving your money instead of buying a weekly Lottery ticket (@ R5 per ticket) = R20 per month.
• Eating one less takeaway burger per week (@ R43 per burger) can save you R172 per month.
• Boiling and bottling your own drinking water instead of spending R10 per 750ml of water daily can save you R280 per month.
• Reducing your data consumption by R35 per week (that’s 100 MB per week) can save you R140 per month.
• Packing your own work lunch instead of spending R25 on a pie and coke can save you R500 per month.
• Drinking one less beer per week (@ R10 per bottle) can save you R40 per month.
• Smoking one less box of cigarettes per week (@ R29 per box) can save you R116 per month.
• Making your own pureed baby food (@ R17 for a 1 kg bag of apples) versus spending R14 for a bottle of Purity can save you R300 per month.
• Buying your own nail polish at R40 per bottle instead of paying for a monthly manicure (@ R150) can save you R110 per month.

Even if only a few of these

apply to you, try some of them! You will be surprised at what a difference

#just1thing can make.