BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE- Most people start the New Year with good intentions to build up some savings, emaSwati have also ventured into this exciting challenge.
Social media has been abuzz with multiple savings plans that seek to help them save money for the next 12 months.
Families across the country have been hard hit by the cost of living crisis, with soaring energy bills and higher food costs pushing budgets to the limit. But they have decided 2023 is going to be the year they stop living from payday to payday.
A financial guru in the name of Temaswati Dlamini said these money challenges could see one start by saving just E100 on the first day but if they stick with it, they could end up hundreds or even thousands of emalangeni better off by the end of the year.
“Whether you save cash in jars or envelopes or open savings accounts is up to you, but here we look at nine creative ways to boost your savings,” said Dlamini.
She mentioned that there were different plans they were giving out to people to choose from with their savings. In addition to that she said everyone had the option to choose a plan they were most comfortable with.
“The round-up challenge means you round up money you have spent and put that extra cash away into savings. For example, if you have bought something that cost E19.30, then you will be able to spend E20 and you will have E70 in savings. It might not sound like much but if you’re doing this with every transaction then it adds up.” Said Dlamini.
However, a largely recognized economist in the country Sabelo Nkambule said it was admirable that members of the public in the country are showing interest and taking charge of their financials and saving.
Before breaking down the culture of savings he commended emaSwati for taking the initiative to choose positivity with their money.
“Saving means different things to different people. To some, it means putting money in the bank. To others, it means buying stocks or contributing to a pension plan. But to us economists, saving means only one thing, consuming less out of a given amount of resources in the present in order to consume more in the future. Saving, therefore, is the decision to defer consumption and to store this deferred consumption in some form of asset.” He said.
In addition to that he explained that the precautionary motive that is, the motive to save in order to be prepared for various future risks is one of the key reasons people save. Besides the risk of living longer than expected, people save against more mundane risks, such as losing their job or incurring large uninsured medical expenses, he said.
