How to unlock the secret to lazy saving

Published on 26th July, 2023 at 12:29 pm

Saving doesn’t have to be a big, scary goal you can only tackle when all your other financial responsibilities have been taken care of. Make it easy by including these lazy saving tactics in your day-to-day, so you can save without even thinking about it!

 Reading time: 3 minutes

In this article you’ll learn:

• Why you should get in the habit of putting money away regularly.
• 5 easy hacks for making saving a habit.
• How the Sanlam Money Saver credit card can help you save without even thinking about it.

It’s important to get into the habit of putting money away, instead of leaving it to chance like winning the lottery. “At the core of any successful outcome is habit formation,” says Farzana Botha, business development manager at Sanlam Private Wealth. “We are what we repeatedly do. If you become accustomed to setting money aside periodically, it will translate to greater financial freedom in the long term.”

Lazy saving tip #1: Set up a monthly debit order

Once you’ve budgeted how much money you can and should save every month, set up a debit order to transfer that amount automatically into your savings account. This means that before your salary even touches sides, it’s whooshed out of your daily account. You can’t miss something you never had, right?

Check out these other habits to inspire you to reach financial freedom.

Lazy saving tip #2: Sign up and use your loyalty programme benefits!

With a loyalty progamme like Sanlam Reality, you can save on travel, entertainment, dining, education, risk cover and plenty more. All you need to do is actually use your benefits to enjoy these easy daily savings and rewards. Have your membership number saved to your phone for easy access whenever you want to take advantage of these easy savings.

Lazy saving tip #3: Swipe and save without a second thought

The Sanlam Money Saver credit card can help you save while you spend. If you choose to commit to saving with the Sanlam Money Saver credit card and shop at Reward Partners, you’ll get 5% Wealth Bonus, except at TotalEnergies Forecourts. If you fill up at TotalEnergies, you earn R1 back per litre of fuel, guaranteed! Find out more here.

Already have a Sanlam Money Saver credit card? Here’s how keeping it open can help your credit score.

Lazy saving tip #4: Reconsider your unused subscriptions

Go through each one of your monthly subscriptions and decide if you really use it, or just signed up with the best intentions. Cancel anything you don’t consistently use, and put that money towards your savings.

Remember that as a Reality Club, Core or Plus member, or client with Wealth Bonus Lifestyle benefits, you have up to 5 months’ Showmax streaming on us. All you need to do is activate your discount once a year using your membership number, and enjoy streaming at no extra cost to you.

As a Sanlam Reality member, you can save up to 20% on RSAWEB fibre to your home.

Lazy saving tip #5: Bundle services together

Look into whether your insurance, medical aid or cellphone provider offers bundled services at a lower cost. Perhaps you can bundle your home and car insurance, or life insurance and disability cover, together in one monthly payment, or your internet and cellphone plan. Those extra rands can then be channelled into your savings.

Feel you could be paying too much for car insurance? Here’s what insurers look at when calculating your premiums.

Lazy saving tip #6: Start saving today

Compound interest is often called the eighth wonder of the world because earning interest on the interest you have already earned is pretty much money for jam. If you start saving sooner rather than later, you can reap the benefits.

“Compound interest is a magical thing, but we can only see its true potential if we start now, rather than later,” explains Botha. “Starting to save now means you will have the opportunity to leverage time and compound interest to grow your money.”

Use your Personal Assistant benefit to help you source quotes to ensure you are paying the lowest amount for services you use frequently near you.