“How we turned our bad money habits around for good”

Published on 25th May, 2023 at 02:05 pm

Like any bad habit, poor money habits can have an impact on various aspects of your life. The good news? You can turn yours around. But how? Get some inspiration from these two people who turned their bad money habits around for good.

Reading time: 4 minutes

In this article you’ll learn:

• The importance of changing bad money habits around for the better.
• How other South Africans turned their finances around by improving their money habits.
• About how meeting with a qualified financial planner and using our Wealth Sense tools can help you on the road to forming healthy money habits.

Poor financial habits can have catastrophic effects on your future, yet many South Africans are guilty of not saving. In fact, a 2022 survey by Business Tech, revealed that more than a third (35%) of South Africans are not putting any of their salary towards retirement savings, while 61% admit to only putting away 10% of their monthly income.

Getting a handle on your finances and managing them better can help you achieve your long-term goals, be it buying a house, sending your children to university or retiring comfortable. So where do you start?

“Kids put an end to our procrastination”

For 39-year-old Capetonian Cathy Wynn, getting advice from a financial planner was key to setting her on a better financial path. For Wynn, the biggest priority was getting the right risk cover and savings in place – something she and her husband had been putting off. “We had put off getting things like life cover, severe illness and retirement annuities (RAs) because we were worried about how much it was going to cost, and the impact there would be on our disposable income each month and, in turn, our lifestyle,” she explains.

It was when her sister, who is appointed as her children’s legal guardian in her will, expressed concern about how she’d be able to care for the children if there was no policy in place, that Wynn took action.

“We got advice from a financial planner about risk cover suited to our needs, and how these would help us in the future,” she says. She reviewed her monthly expenses and set up direct debits to move funds into her new policies each month. “Even though it took some time to get used to having less disposable income, we’ve made small adjustments to what we used to spend our money on, and after a while, we didn’t miss those things anymore. Now we have built a nest egg of savings in a short amount of time.”

Book a meeting with a qualified Sanlam financial planner to help you get on track with your finances and form healthy money habits to help you reach your goals.

Another habit she formed to guard against lifestyle creep was adjusting her savings as her income increased. “When you get an income increase, commit to putting that extra money away each month instead of expanding your lifestyle. It’s harder to pull back on spending than it is to save from the start.”

“Being debt-free allows me to breathe a huge sigh of relief”

For Clint du Plessis, 47, from Port Elizabeth, living on credit has always been his biggest financial challenge. “I’ve always been bad when it comes to credit cards,” he says. “It’s easy spending. It’s not yours, but you feel it’s somehow owed to you.”

Settling down with his partner helped him reflect on his money habits to change them for the better. “Women are, in my opinion, much savvier when it comes to finances, and my partner has been a positive influence on how I manage my money.”

Realising that his retirement is not too far off, Du Plessis committed to cutting his cloth according to his means, which meant no more credit cards. “Knowing I don’t have those repayments each month allows me to breathe a huge sigh of relief,” he shares.

As a result, he’s under less financial pressure each month, and the money that was going towards repaying his credit card debt now goes into retirement savings.

What tools do you use to help you make financial decisions that become healthy money habits? Try these Wealth Sense tools and calculators.