The importance of budgeting for South African consumers

At Libertine Consultants, we don’t often have the opportunity to advise consumers on the importance of budgeting. Unfortunately, we only meet them when their financial situation has deteriorated to the point where they are desperate for our help. We step in and help them restructure their debt.

Prevention is always better than cure, so let's get budgeting before the crisis hits!

Manage your personal finances

Budgeting is the best tool any South African can have in his or her personal skills arsenal. Here are some of the reasons why you should use it to manage your personal finances:

Most importantly, it disciplines you to live within your means. This may seem a little obvious, but when you stop to think about it, organizing your income and expenses in a way that allows you a bit of space to wiggle when times are tough, is an obvious way to ensure that you don’t incur unnecessary financial burdens.

It teaches self-discipline. So that, even when you are earning a nice, robust salary, a monthly budget will teach you the self-discipline required to make sure that not all of it is spent at once.

Provide for your future

It allows you to provide for your future. While you may be earning good money at the moment, the day will come when you are either too old to continue working in your industry full-time, or when you would like to scale down and take some time off to enjoy your golden years. If you budget effectively, putting money away for retirement is an automatic part of the plan!

It empowers the next generation. If you are in the fortunate position to have a family, leading by example when it comes to finances, is a vital role for you as a parent. Our children learn their spending habits at home, so if your child grows up working within a budget, chances are they’ll continue to do so when they start earning their own money.