Late Night Talk

No one knows what the future holds which somehow puts us at great risk should anything unexpected happen and we have not saved for those days. You could be retrenched, lose a loved one or be diagnosed with a serious illness.

If we could predict the future we would know exactly how much money we would need for the things that we want and need in the future. Saving is important.

We spoke to Maya Fischer-French, Personal Finance Journalist and Author of Maya on Money about different ways to save money, especially on a tight budget.

The number one reason people don’t save or say they can’t save is that they say they don’t have the money to save.

— Maya Fischer-French, Personal Finance Journalist

According to Fischer, South Africa has a variety of saving products but the problem is starting and keeping the commitment.

It is not difficult if we are disciplined. We leaving in a world where we really have to watch what we spending our money on

— Maya Fischer-French, Personal Finance Journalist

Tips from Maya Fischer-French on how to knock thousands off your annual budget without changing your lifestyle:

*Check your bank fees – saving R1680

Reduce day to day banking costs by only ever drawing cash from your own bank’s ATM.

*Call your insurer – saving R2400

By renegotiating with our insurer on both our car and household insurance we saved around R2400 last year.

*Benefit from being loyal – saving R2000

A friend bought her entire Christmas dinner for the family using her Smart Shopper rewards from PicknPay.

*Protect your credit record – saving R1200 and counting

Having a clean credit record saves you money

*Drive with purpose – saving R1680

According to the Automobile Association if you have your tyres inflated correctly, reduce drag on your car by keeping your windows and sunroof closed and fill up with a premium brand, you could get an extra R70 worth of mileage out of each tank of petrol.

Other tips to saving money includes:

• Using public transport to work
• Reduce alcohol intake
• Drive the required speed limit
• Sell unused items
• Reduce or eliminate eating out or getting take-out
• Stop buying so much clothing

Here are some of the twitter responses to the topic:

@RediTlhabi @Freshfacedcosmy absolutely! Went over to Samsung and nearly died of shock. Back on my BB Torch on BIS and laughing to the bank.

— Marlene Jordaan (@murphsvanfs) July 13, 2015

@RediTlhabi Cheers to no speeding fines.After parting with thousands last year,We vowed never again.We are keeping safe & saving money.

— Kesitilwe (@KesiMolefe) July 13, 2015

@RediTlhabi you cannot claim you have nothing to save when you are wasting close to 10k pa on DSTV subscription

— katlego moeng (@katlegomv) July 13, 2015

Listen to the full conversation on The Redi Tlhabi Show: