Nakita De Souza-Plaatjies has joined the team as our new 041Budget columnist. The newly-ish married dog-mom is frugal at heart and shares all kinds of tips and tricks on her social media under Nakita21 on Instagram and Nakitaplaatjies on TikTok. She is known for her bubbly personality and her catchphrase “Sprinkle Kindness”.
WITH the festive season fast approaching, it’s super easy to overspend. Buying items you don’t need or items you already have. The main place in your home where you can save a great deal of Rands is in your kitchen! Grocery cupboard, cleaning product cupboard and bathroom cupboards.
This year I’m trying out a new method to see if I can save some moola on food items, especially those cleaning and hygiene products that cost an arm and leg. I’m starting this late in the year, but hopefully, it will give me some discipline for the new year ahead.
Let’s start in the bathroom cabinet, unpack all the items, and take stock of what you have. Write down what you have and how many of that specific item you have. You know more or less how long a tube of toothpaste will last at home.
For example, I’m my cupboard I have 5 tubes of toothpaste and we use about a tube a month, so we are good on toothpaste for approximately 4 months. So now I know I don’t need to spend any money on that specific item. Keep going through your cupboard and at the end, you have a full “stock list”
Cleaning products are so expensive, I love making use of the R100 deals at Makro, and the crazy specials Pick n Pay and Checkers apps offer at random times. I now only stock up on basic cleaning items and stopped buying all the unnecessary cleaning products, meaning “specialty products”. Don’t get me wrong they are great but I consider them a luxury. I look for cleaning products that have multiple uses. For example, windowlene is also a surface cleaner. Handy Andy has multiple uses as well, just don’t mix it with bleach, as it’s kind of dangerous. This is my current list of cleaning items I have and I know I am fully stocked on the basics for the next 2 months or so….
Now let’s move to the kitchen cupboards. Food prices have increased dramatically over the last few months and it’s an enormous worry for a lot of us.
Follow the same process and take stock of what you have. This will help you from not buying the items you already have or that you only use on “special occasions ” like Christmas day. If you have a surplus of an item you know you won’t need or use up before the best-before date, please consider helping a family member or friend, or even a charity. I’ve included my fridge and freezer,(you can check my Instagram and TikTok for some easy freezer hacks and tricks) I believe in buying a full lamb and dividing the meat into portions suitable for my home.
Once you have your home “stock list”, you can keep track as you start using up your items or as you buy in and or replenish items.
Quick tips:
- Throw it away, if it has been in your cupboard for more than a year.
- Check the medication expiration date
- If a product doesn’t work for you, give it away to someone who would like to try it.
- Keep it neat, to avoid feeling overwhelmed
- Do what works for you and your family
- Keep your list in the cupboard so you have easy access to update it
Hope this helps you from overspending this festive season.
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