Worker’s Month is a great opportunity to think about yourself and put your needs first. The best way you can prioritise yourself is by focusing on your finances in Worker’s Month, so that your money can work harder for you.
Use Worker’s Month as a time to reflect carefully on what you want to achieve with your money. Once you understand your exact financial needs and your key financial priorities you can outline a plan for how to make these a reality.
Remember that saving should always be a top priority but you plan must include how you spend, save and invest your money. To read more about how to assess your needs and wants click here.
By putting together a plan you can think clearly about what you earn including your salary, any stipends or grants you receive as well as other income sources like a side hustle such as selling, rentals or baking. You can also consider all your expenses. You can then draw up a budget so that you have enough money to cover your needs and that you are putting some money away for emergencies and more long-term goals like your child’s university fees.
By taking charge of your finances you can get into the habit of spending your money wisely, saving as much as possible and investing to grow your wealth.
You financial needs can change quickly so remember to revisit your budget regularly. Perhaps now that South Africa is emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic you are required to work in the office or on site at the workplace again, this means your transport costs may increase and your home data costs will decrease.

It is always a good idea to consider paying off your short-term debt, if you can. By reducing your debt you may have more money to protect you should the economic crisis stretch on for a long period.

Remember that you should always prioritise your retirement savings, it is the best way to build your future wealth as regular contributions over a long period help to grow your money.

Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes, from a broken fridge to catastrophic floods. That is why it is more important than ever to closely inspect your budgets on a regular basis and put plans in place to weather any financial storms  that may arise.

Drawing up a budget takes 5 simple steps and is made much easier with our templates which can be found here.

Pay yourself first by spending time planning how you use your money this Worker’s Month!

You work hard and every cent you earn needs to work just as hard for you. That’s why it’s important that you don’t let anyone scam you out of your hard-earned money!

There are all kinds of scams out there. Recently, there have been cases where credit bureaus were hacked and client’s personal information was stolen.

Scammers use this information to get hold of your money by tricking you into giving them more personal information. They use this information to steal your identity and make fraudulent purchases or applications for credit.

To protect yourself from this kind of scam remember:

• NEVER give any personal information like passwords and PINs to anyone over the phone, fax or email. Your bank will never ask you for this information.
• Regularly change your passwords and never share them with anyone else.
• If someone claims to be from your bank or a credit provider and is asking for personal information like you name, address, date of birth or contact details, verify that it is a legitimate request. Only once you are happy it is indeed your financial provider requesting this information then you provide the information.

Protect yourself and your hard-earned cash by following these steps and avoid the risk of identity theft and fraudulent applications.

Remember that you should only bank with a registered financial institution. Accredited Financial institutions are regulated and supervised, by the South African Reserve Bank and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. There are strict rules and controls that govern investments with these institutions whereas, unregulated and unsupervised persons and groups don’t follow these rules and your money is at great risk with them. By using an accredited financial institution you can be confident that your money is safe.