Admit it… You spent more money over the festive season than you had planned (or can afford). With unplanned sun downers with your friends, splurging on that outfit for your work year end do, having to cater for the extended family over Christmas and those extra Star Wars IMAX tickets you bought for the kids, it’s completely understandable that you have a lot of “month left at the end of your money”.  And you are not alone.

But now reality has started to hit home. Your leave is officially over and even the kids are back at school. Problem is that there is still two more weeks left before pay day. Two long gruesome weeks of trying to stretch your last cents.

Not to fear, the MoneyShop team have a couple of suggestions that will help you survive the budget blues until pay day:

1)      Research what activities you can do for free in your area

Think fun family picnics at the park, stopping by local art galleries, browsing around local flea markets or visiting museums – there are heaps of interesting and stimulating free things to do in your neck of the woods if you just get a little creative (and do some research).

To prove this point, we’ve collated a couple of suggestions of free things to do in the city of gold:

  • Visit the Goodman Gallery in Parkwood
  • Find out all about the history of money at the ABSA Money Museum
  • Take the dogs for a walk at the doggie friendly side of the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens at Emmerentia
  • Stop by the Rosebank flea market on Sundays
  • Browse around the Maboneng precinct with all its quirky shops
  • Take a 10km hike at Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve

2)      Pack your own lunch

Yes, we know that this has been said a million times, but have you been doing it? No?

Well we’re about to make a pretty compelling case as to why it’s about time that you start:

  • Coffee – a jar of Jacobs Krönung Instant Coffee (200g) bought at Woolies costs in the area of R100 (give or take a few cents). From this you get about 40 cups of coffee. Bought at the local café at work, however, the picture changes a lot. A small cuppa can set you back about R13.90, a medium coffee R16.90 with a large coffee coming it at almost R20.

In other words, depending on how you spend your 100 bucks, you can either get the equivalent of 40 cups of homemade coffee or five large cups of coffee bought at the canteen at work.

  • Muffins – Buying muffin mix costs about R40 for a package containing enough mix to make 10 medium muffins. Add the cost of the other ingredients required (milk at R15 a litre and two eggs at approximately R3 each) and the total cost for 10 medium muffins rises to R61. That’s R6.10 a muffin.

Compare this to the R22.90 that a muffin can cost at the likes of Mugg and Bean and the case for making your own becomes crystal clear. Sure the sizes of the muffins may differ, but does that justify the huge difference in cost when you’re low on cash?

3)      Car pool

It’s the perfect way to get to know your colleagues. Plus you get to save moola on petrol. Car pooling with people who live and work close to you can also make your daily commute to and from work a lot more pleasant and stress free. And the more people you get to join in, the more you save.

Keep the miles off your car and the moola in your wallet by alternating between drivers and cars weekly and splitting the petrol costs.

In many things in life, a person’s success is more often linked to his or her resourcefulness rather than their resources. This can also be said for making it through to pay day.  A little creativity and self-discipline can go a long way to help you stick to your budget and make the most of your money.