Keeping winter costs low

GUARD AGAINST THE CHILL: SEAL YOUR LEAKY DOORS AND WINDOWS

Whether for medicines, gas or electricity, it’s easy for winter costs to add up.

Winter is coming. While we prepare to dig out the additional blankets and heaters, South Africans should remember to factor in the accompanying increase in monthly expenses that comes with the chilly period.

Additional expenses during the colder season demand immediate monitoring and budgeting to prevent long-term impacts on your finances, including increased electricity consumption to keep you warm.

The importance of this exercise is compounded considering the 5.2% electricity hike which kicked in on 1 April 2018.

Here are five tips to keep your bank account warm this winter:

1. Back the bargains

Take advantage of freebies and discounts this winter. Most medical aids and pharmacies offer a free or discounted flu inoculation and health screening to help you prevent illness and unwanted medical expenses. Check your policies for value-added benefits and make the most of bulk, bargain specials on winter food.

2. Practise digital restraint and curb excessive online shopping

Avoiding the cold naturally means spending more time indoors, and often online and at home. This heightens the temptation to overspend on data costs, clothing and grocery shopping online. Make an effort to cut back on impulse purchases and only buy necessary items that are within your budget and be mindful of your data usage.

3. Stay close to home

Staying in helps cut costs, but this doesn’t mean you have to hibernate. Host a supper club, watch a movie at home instead of at the cinema, or rediscover old board games. If you must eat out, keep it pocket-friendly by tracking down the restaurants in your area that offer winter specials.

4. Chill-proof your home

Keeping heaters on for hours on end can be costly, so help ward off the outside cold by sealing leaky doors and windows with foam self-adhesive sealing strips. Warm up your living area by introducing plenty of hygge elements. Hygge (pronounced “hoogah”) is a Danish word that refers to the sense of warm cosiness you get from an abundance of fluffy blankets and pillows, thick knitted socks and mugs of thick soup or steaming hot chocolate.

5. Be in the know

With hundreds of free budgeting apps available, there’s no excuse for runaway expenses. Old Mutual’s free budgeting app, 22Seven, centralises all your accounts in one place and uses the data to generate a tailor-made budget that tracks your actual spending against what you planned to spend.

Tristan Naidoo is legal advisor at Old Mutual Personal Finance.

Picture: Shutterstock GOOD BUDGETING. Electricity consumption goes up with the use of electric blankets, heaters, kettles, stoves and ovens to cook winter-warmer foods. Factor this increased usage into our monthly budgets.