Durban – Many people have to rework their budgets in the wake of spikes in food prices, fuel and interest rates. As a result, people are opting to shop at cheaper outlets to help save a rand or two.
Stockpiling has become a buzzword in circles in the last few years but what is stockpiling.
Stockpiling is “the activity of acquiring and storing a large quantity of something.”
Ncumisa Ndelu started the 1 Family 1 Stockpile group on Facebook to encourage women how to save and empower themselves. With its more than 461 000 members, the group offers valuable advice on all facets of saving cash.
“Before this rough economic patch, stockpiling was easy and it made sense. We used whatever extra cash we had to buy more when the price is at its lowest and saved money. The challenge now is that everything has gone up and families have less disposable income to save or stockpile. Judging by interactions in the groups, more families are barely getting by on a monthly basis.
“There’s a sharp increase in posts from people struggling to cope with their lives, increased debt and we’ve even seen a few threats of suicide. With that said, I still advocate for stockpiling even if it saves you R100 it’s still saving and the more items you remove from your grocery list on a monthly basis the more you reduce your grocery bill” Ndelu said.
Meet Salamina Mpeke, a senior account manager who supports four people on her net income of R45 000.
Name – Salamina Mpeke
Occupation – Senior Account Manager
Where do you live – Carrington Heights
How many people do you support? – 4
Income – net 45 000
How much do you pay for:
Groceries – 3 000
Transport – 2 500
Bond/Rent – 13 000
Rates/Tax/Levies – 4 400
Insurance – 880
Medical aid – 8 000
Eating out – 1 000
School fees –15 000
Data/Fibre – 600
Telephone/Cell – 900
This excludes: loans, electricity, clothing, entertainment and child care.
“My creative way or tip to save money is by buying at Makro and stockpiling. I also save R450 per month to help with stationery in January,” Mpeke said.
IOL