SPENDING RESPONSIBLY IS FOR THE WEAK

a frugal housewife

YES, I know that because I am part of the weak. The strong/ brave spend carelessly and to them frugality, which I like to refer to as spending responsibly is for the weak. That's us.

The published statistics by StatsSA shows that South Africans started to spend less during and after the economic recession (2008/9/10...). the result is lowered household debt levels and improved savings. I am actually hoping this is true, and not sort of forced by the fact that people don't actually have jobs and money to splash on luxury goods. I havent been able to observe this amazing improvement in financial decision making from my close friends and family. People have been spending like there is no recession, nor a possibility of losing their jobs. they live like they are dying the next day...

My one horrible ex tenant, with a great job I must add, has left me with a huge debt in rental arrears. We have an agreement for her to pay me the outstanding rentals in installments. to my surprise, she did observe the agreement for the first four months. Being owed money when you owe no one is actually quite frustrating. The truth is that my tenant is in arrears for rental because of her previous financial choices. I never expected her to even honour the agreement. The four months has been a surprise. I was ready to write the debt off and for once use my non existent provision for bad debts account to do so. But when he started to pay every month, I sort of expected the payment every single month. I then started putting it on my monthly budget. And just as I was warming up to it, she stopped. See how frustrated I am right now?

My point is that, the BRAVE will just decide not to pay their debts, and keep making the new ones for as long as they can. At the end of it all, we keep comforting people when they are drowning in debt, losing their apartments, having kids banned from schools, etc, when they actually are the ones who made bad choices. I am not talking about people who lost their jobs or for some unfortunate reasons lost their income. I mean people who, month after month continue to live way above their means. You must know one of those. They are little miss perfect, well groomed, living in suburbs you can only dream of, in a perfectly styled home, with a perfect landscape and a machine that matches perfectly in the garage. Actually make that 2 machines in that garage. I do know a girl like that. Really now, if we have similar salaries with no inherited fortune and I live in a smaller house and drive a modest car, how on earth does she do it? How does she have all that on the same income or less. You can only stretch the rand to a certain limit.

I can think of only one explanation, consumer DEBT. The brave are not going to stay at home and not go dine out with their friends. Whilst at the dining trip, they will have to show everyone they are not cheap, they actually eat the right kind of sushi together with well matured wine. They will even offer to take everyone's bill whilst they use an almost maxed credit card. Most likely, they will be wearing a new designer pair of stilettos and a new hairstyle whilst swiping the card. Then they will force the smile whilst they feel like crying because they don't know how they will pay for the R2500 they just spent on credit card on people they pretend to like. How foolish can one be really.

On the other hand, the weak are sipping on their fresh rooibos ice tea at home playing catch up with the loved ones. They are probably reading a book they got from the library. (I buy books and never go to the library by the way. I wish I did though.) My point is that, its mostly one's own doing that they end up suffocating in debt. If you don't have savings that will last you for at least 6 months in the event that you lose your job, you are living in a glorified poverty. An emergency fund is no luxury, but a necessity. Whilst 10% of your income saved is great, 20% would be amazing. Start paying yourself first and in no time you will be addicted to it. Its not as difficult as it sounds. I have months where I save the whole 65% of my income. Those are rare months but 40% of my income should go towards my investments and savings. That is the reason I drive the car that I drive and don't buy a new outfit everytime I'm invited to a wedding. If its someone else's wedding, I don't need a new colour blocking suit for heavens' sake.

Spending responsibly is actually for those who do it for themselves. Nothing is as painful as keeping up with the Joneses at the expense of your long term happiness. I am yet to see someone happy whilst they drown in debt. I am not lying when I say I sleep like a baby. And I make it a point that I sleep on satin sheets. Its a great feeling being debt free. I know I still owe on my house, but that's about it. I don't know how I would live with myself carrying the amount of consumer debt people I know and love do.
Whats you reaction when you see a guy pulling off in his 15 year old Conquest in a traffic light? Do you frown with pity or think he might just be owning a huge part of the company you work for? In other words, he might be your employer. I always respect people who do the things that bring real happiness. And by that I mean FREE stuff like quality time with family. Think about it!!!

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Wealthy Life is Quite Boring

Wealthy life is quite boring NOT

Exactly as the title states, a road to a wealthy life is quite BORING. There is nothing glam and happening on the way to wealth. Your day is filled with spending less and less of what you make. Not to mention the stares and labels of what a loser you are, how you don't have class. Off course you mind but you are secure in your own skin and understand that building wealth is about discipline. Budgeting is boring, tracking expenditure is BORING. Who cares though, right will always be a bore. A friend once told me that I don't like nice things. Not in a bad way, just stating what she thought was a fact on a particular item I thought was just way too expensive. Too expensive meaning that I cant justify the expenditure at all.

And another friend, advising me to just sell all my rental units and buy a R2Million (should be worth R3M today) house in a very upmarket area and LIVE LARGE. I was a bit shocked, but yes I did go with her to view the house which she was planning to buy, and I fell inlove with it. I loved it for her and thought I cant possibly "afford" a house like that. By afford meaning, that house was not inline with my goals at the time. It still is not by the way. But it was very fine.  Bedrooms wrapped around in a huge balcony. A separate laundry room... and that was a big deal to me then. I now have my laundry corner in my garage and I'm happy with that "laundry room".

Funny thing is that, that same week my husband said to me "how about...we move to a smaller house and just LIVE LARGE". I couldn't stop laughing. My friend just used the same phrase in protest for a huge house and my guy uses it for a small house. My hubby loves boring and wealthy even more, I can tell you that. Makes me love him. But I wouldn't move to a smaller house than I live in. 200 square metres for a family of four is not extravagant in my opinion. Any size of a house is not extravagant when one can afford it, regardless of National Credit Regulation. Yeah, you guessed right, I will define that. Affording means paying for your house and the rest of your expenditure whilst you can still save/ invest and have a secure future at the same time. That's the boring part of wealth. You can't just spend without thinking about the future and defining what you actually mean. And to me, that is NORMAL.

I have had (still do have) a bit of fun and stupidity with my money too actually.

• For starters, I can probably do with fewer shoes and bags,
• I can also do with less jewellery, but I choose not to.
• I shouldn't have paid for the gym membership if I was never gona use it. But I did, twice.
• I didn't need a monthly spa treatment, but I reckoned if I don't spend on excessive out dining, drugs and alcohol, why the heck not,
•  I dont need to go cosmetic shopping when I see the word SALE written in RED.
• Exclusive books, exclusive books, exclusive books. I am learning to buy used books and hopefully use the library too.

However I am so very grateful that I am not:

• Gutting down the kitchen that I bought with my house, because whilst its boring, its relatively new. That makes me feel responsible;
•  Out there shopping for the leopard print boots that I wish I had so badly;
• Spending all my hard earned cash every month;
• Paying for a car installment for another few years;
• Having coffee anymore since a few days ago;
• Married to a spendaholic and my kids understand the value of money;
• A miser and I help family whenever I can ALL the time.

BUT I'd rather have a pretty boring life than:

• Live in debt because I love my sleep too much;
• Rely on government in my old age;
• Trade my boring life for a short lived glam of permanent poverty.

Whilst most believe that wealthy life is quite boring, LIVING LARGE is a matter of opinion. I choose BORING. How about you?

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Monthly Spending and Budget Report-July 2012

To sum up my monthly spending and budget report for July 2012 in one sentence I'd write... "To say its been a high expenditure month is an under-statement of the year". But I achieved more this month than most months. I think when you have huge once-off expenditure items, you become more careful with your spending in other areas.

Remember that this is the month where I got a pleasant surprise of a reduction in levies for one unit, then security fees climbed up in two units, and my mid year goal review showed just how slow my progress is, but I'm not complaining. I spent a lot of money last month. But it was all responsible spending. Plus the interest rates dropped... which is never great news for savers.

My July 2012 monthly spending and budget report:

INCOME	% OF TOTAL	NOTES
Real Estate	63%	That's higher than I wish, meaning that my other income is too low.
Hubby Allowance	32%	This is not so necessary but I like it.
Once off	0
Online	0
Extra	4%	Interest on my Emergency Fund. Dividends were ZERO again.

On the expenditure front: it was my first overspending month for the year.

ITEM	%OF INCOME	NOTES
Real Estate	25.1%	1 mortgage & taxes/rates. I am not counting the barrier doors because they were not taken directly from my income.
RA & Unit Trusts	7%	Fixed
Online	0%	I did spend $50 on my online business but I made provision for it from my previous online income.
Internet/ Phones	1.6%
Consumer	1.6%	Groceries, personal care and all that jazz .Not realistic, I think most shopping was done by hubby.
Withdrawals&Fees	0.3%	Great
Giving	44.2%	Part of this is an interest free loan to a friend.
Invested	20.2%	Like I mention below, I paid some to  my homeloan even before I started spending. I also topped up my Just Invest which serves as my emergency fund account.

OVERSPENDING

-R2784

I ended in the RED. In reality I overspent by -R20,784 if we take the security costs of that one unit into consideration. But the money was from savings, not my monthly income.

My parents were in a tight corner and I helped them out with R9000, there goes my online income from last month. I then topped up my emergency fund by R6000, paid R3000 extra in my homeloan account, paid all municipal accounts until October and paid this quarter school fees for my one and only bursary recipient. I had to take funds elsewhere to pay for the barrier doors (R18000) for the ground floor of my biggest unit. This gave me a negative balance sheet statement with a - R2800 balance. Thats how little I overspent. My online income usually helps with occasional needs of my parents.

Interest rate cut means my interest on the emergency fund drops whilst my home-loan installment is in its lowest. I still cant believe how low it is. Since its not profiting me much to save at the moment, I will put all my extra income into my homeloan to fast track bond payment. Its my last home-loan standing. I cant wait to be home loan free.

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A Car is Not an Investment

A Car is Not an Investment

We all know that a car is NOT an investment right! But why do we continue to treat it like one? I am learning to unlearn all I learnt about car ownership in the past. We were a one car family for a very long time. And most of my friends were bugging me about not owning my own wheels. Being in South Africa where everyone owns or at least wishes to own a car, and all. I wonder why friends never ask if I'm investing for retirement for a change. That would be a better concern.

Oh well, I managed to buy myself a car 5 years ago. I did so much research. I knew that I don't want a new car, I don't want a car that has covered a lot of mileage, I don't want a very old car. Most importantly, I didn't want a car INSTALLMENT. And all my wishes came true. There I was at the dealership of choice, picking and choosing. I ended up with a 1.8 litre car, 5000km mileage, same year model, and parted with R170,000. And I negotiated it down from R175,000. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. I was very proud of myself. Sacrifice does pay off.

Lets look at the figures. Based on the high interest rates at the time I would have paid just below R5000 per month over 5 years and just above R255,000 total payment over 5 years. Typing it alone sends chills down my spine. And indeed after 5 years I had an itch to buy another car. There's a whisper in my ear that says, "your car will start giving you problems". There was that whisper until I read an article about the guy who drove his car for 16 years. His car was bought used. I brushed the edge to splash on another car immediately. I guess I can keep pushing for another 5 years. This guy understood that a car is NOT an investment and focused on things that matter. In year 13, his car started giving problems. He fixed it for R7000 or so and continues with the ride. I know you think its too much, but he rightly justifies the cost by his lack of an installment. He just put aside R7000 per year for similar repairs going forward, saving the equivalent of the installment for another car. The most that he paid in repairs in the last 3 years of his car's life was R2800 per year. By the year 16 he bought himself another car, CASH, using the car fund that he opened for such.

Now back to me. This is my 5 years of driving my car, and my first year doing so without the warranty. That used to scare me. What is stopping me from starting a car fund, saving the R5000 - R7000 that I would pay for a car installment in that fund. I refuse to spend more than that on a car installment by the way. I can even invest that car fund whilst learning online investing. And since its a longer term project, I would reinvest all my dividends and do what is termed drip investing. It would be interesting to watch the money piling. YES, I am that positive. And I suspect that with a mileage of just above 100000km, I will have a great 5 years and another 100000km. Paying for service will be a pain, but a better pain compared to a car installment. I think.

How do you finance your cars? Do you save for a high deposit to reduce the monthly installment? Do you buy an older car for cash? Do you just do without a car, PERIOD?

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Beginners Guide To Investing

Now for an opinion only beginners guide to investing for inspiration:
I happened to bump into one of the big four banks’ pages on Facebook. They challenged their followers to inspire others on turning budgeting into a habit. Those who have succeeded in making bugeting a habit started sharing their tips. A young person started:

I don't have a car and haven't started paying for my new home loan. In preparation for these financial commitments I save 30% of my income equating to two monthly homeloan installments, I save another 30% which equals to a car installment, I invest 10% and live on the remaining 30% which covers my current living expenses.

Its public knowledge by now that I try to live below my means but this young man/ woman is a hero. I have never lived on 30% of my income. The best that I achieve is living on 45% in one given month every once in a while. A friend of mine told me that she lived on 25% of her income a few years back. I must say I was more than impressed. Like me, my friend loves money market investing and rental property.

What better way to test if you are ready for home ownership than saving an equivalence of the bond’s monthly installment. Even better, save two monthly installment per month like the guy in the forum does. This doesn’t require any training, just an old fashioned discipline. For a young person, I would have expected some stocks in the mix. Standard Bank used to offer some beginner stock market investing courses. That may help.

However, low risk-low return products usually offer safer investing opportunities that we are mostly comfortable with. In that case saving in money market accounts, investing in index funds, etc. are the way to go. Pay up your debts, cut back on your living expenses and start saving towards your goal. Your goal could be investing for retirement, buying a home, a vacation or children education. The only way is living below your means.

Our Beginners Guide To Investing Goes:

1. Monitor and reduce your monthly bills by monitoring your usage of electricity and water consumption
2. Draw your own personal finance plan. Start at your goal eg. Increasing passive income, buying a house, paying up your home...
3. Budget and stick to it. You may work on living on 50% of your income. Its quite possible if you are committed enough. If not, 80% can be low enough to give you a saving space. 
4. The 20% or 50% that you don’t use should be saved and invested in income earning products. This could be shares for dividends, banks' interest bearing accounts and unit trusts for interest, property for rental income, etc. Draw a plan on that too and make sure its diversified. 
5. Avoid excessive shopping and impulsive buying. Differentiate between needs and wants. Some things are just not necessary. Rephrased, MOST things we spend on are not necessary at all.

Its feels great not doing as the Joneses do. Its my life, not a contest. Financial freedom is worth depriving myself now so that I do as I please in future.

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Cost of Security in a Property Investment in South Africa

Cost of Security in a Property Investment

I live in South Africa, OK! I invest in property and I sometimes feel that my investments are under threat. Whilst I am very positive about the future, I am definitely not in denial.

In my previous post I wrote about how my levy dropped a whooping R130+. But today is another day and I am writing about how my net income went down due to high security costs. It’s like a rolling wheel. You get one step forward and two steps backwards. But the long term the graph is moving upwards.

A while back I decided to get rental property in the security/ residential/ gated estate. I still think it’s a wise move because many South Africans like the idea of living inside an estate. I never have vacancies in the unit but the returns on my investment are horrid. The truth is… I bought this property as my own home. It became a rental unit when I moved out. I doubt if I would buy it for rental purposes. I have owned this unit for 6 years now. In the 6 years I haven’t heard of an attempted break in into the said estate until May. After that I got an email on break ins in 2 houses in the estate. Scary right???

There are a number of factors that put us at risk at the moment...
There are a lot of commercial developments in the area, making the estate very vulnerable to opportunists. It’s easy for criminals to hide in empty buildings and construction sites, etc.

Being an estate proves to make it easier for criminals to do their business. They may have inside help or worse, buy property to be part of the community. That way they can learn the ins and outs. Actually, even before they learn ins and outs, it may be far easy for them to get assets without breaking in. My friend, for instance, has a tendency of sleeping with first floor doors open in summer. We’ve always believed that we are far safer than we actually are. And yes, criminals don’t struggle to break into estate houses because of this relaxed attitude to security by the residents. We put too much trust on the manmade systems.

Safety Doors
You would think that we are relaxed because we have trellis and security bars in our doors and windows…NOOOO we don’t. In my case, that’s about to change. I am going through my security door quotes for the ground floor. My tenants are very happy to pay more for extra security. But I must say, my income will be hammered by the +/-R15000 this will cost. Why does everything have to cost this much?

More Estate Costs
The estate is also taking this matter seriously, as it should. And their seriousness costs a lot. We had emergency levy of about R1000 when we had an attempted break in. When the actual break ins occurred, the paranoia grew stronger and fast. I’m scared of what will be required now. Worse, guests may be required to strip naked when they visit residents.

Alarm Systems
It looks like we are back where we started. When we lived in a stand-alone house we had burglar proofed our home to a point of feeling imprisoned. Burglar bars, alarm systems and locked doors 24/7. We paid premium with the hope of feeling a little free, and now, we are back where we started. We need alarm systems. How sweet. And we still pay premium for “safety”.

As if this is not enough, a couple of months ago we had a few break ins in the complex where I have duplex. Tenants and owners who live there were in such a panic that we had to get security guards immediately. We later had to formalize this and increase the levies by about R500. That’s a lot of money. It’s a low income area. I raised the rental by R300 for this unit, meaning that I have a R200 decline in net income, plus inflation. 2012/13 will be a lower income year in this unit in real terms.

Whats your experience on the cost of security in a Property Investment in South Africa? Is property investing still worth it?

photo by: Christopher Barnatt

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MY LEVY DROPPED

Residential Estate Entrance

Shocking, I know, my levy dropped by R136 for real. I was in shock. I have bought into the sectional title schemes from the year 2001 and I never got a letter that I received last month. At the best, my levy remained the same.

In reality, no favour was done for me and other homeowners. We paid more last year, thats all. The units are relatively new, and therefore require minimal maintenance. Most units are still owner occupied, which helps with the damage to the property. Owners take care of their investments than tenants in most cases. Knowing that its my money coming back didn't stop me from jumping with joy as I read-

During the recent meeting of the Trustees, the budget of the HOA was discussed in detail. It gives great pleasure to announce that the Trustees resolved to decrease the levies from 1 July 2012 as follows…

As usual I was scanning through the letter rushing to the bottom line. How much more will I have to part with exactly??? Geez, a decrease in levies, of more than R100 nogal. My guess is that we had excess in our savings/ scheme funds. These can’t be refunded to the owners according to the law, but can serve as a subsidy for future levies. And YES, I didn't attend the meeting, I was traveling.

Not to dampen this moment of excitement, but I have to mention that my security costs are shooting way up in two of my units. I’m installing trellis in one and paying about R500 extra levies for security guards in the other. When will this craziness end good Lord?
 
More on Levies or Homeowners Association Fee
A levy is an amount of money paid monthly by owners of sectional title residential property to themselves as a collection/ organisation. The levies are used to maintain and improve on the property. In South Africa the HOA fees or Levies, as we commonly refer to them, are quoted calculated in accordance with the participation quota for their unit which is usually according to the size of the property. Levies used to pay for Municipal rates and taxes among other things. Each owner pays the municipal rates with the municipality and pays the levies for the management of the sectional title scheme and:

• Water and electricity used on the Common Property
• Waste and Sewerage
• Insurance premiums
• Repairs and maintenance of the Common Property
• Wages and salaries of the cleaners and other staff
• Security
• Savings fund for unexpected expenses

Levies can be required for Free Standing properties in gated communities and boomed off areas. That is for security and we know we need a lot of that. In my next post I will write about the cost of security for property investors in SA today.

With the new comfortable lifestyle, our levies also cover:

• Swimming pools,
• Tennis courts,
• Community clubhouse
• Neighbourhood parks and water features
• Children play areas
• Garages, gardens and parking areas 

It is possible for Home Owners Associations to actually go bankrupt. In that case, it may be liquidated. This is a reason prospective home buyers should always investigate prior to buying into the sectional title scheme. Whether it’s a rental unit or for their own use.

You should also investigate the levies to determine the affordability. The levies are just very high these days. That’s due to the cost of security. I pay up to R2500 for some units. This is inflated by security and the municipal rates and taxes.

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Nedbank: the Best Bank in South Africa

Is Nedbank: the Best Bank in South Africa? Apparently YES, that according to the global banking publication, Euromoney International Finance Magazine. And they scooped an award at the 2012 Euromoney Awards for Excellence Dinner in London. The stamp on their victory for being named the South African Bank of the Year for the year 2011 by the Banker Magazine and Sustainable Bank of the Year for Middle East and Africa for 2012 by the Financial Times and International Finance Corporation. Well Done to them.

Praising South African banks' profits wears me down. It reminds me of the crazy bank charges and numerous penalties and high interest rates on debt, etc. But what can we do, the bank has done well regardless of how I feel. We can only make sure we get a piece of those profits through the JSE or investments and savings. The figures confirm that Nedbank did extremely well regardless of the global crisis.

“It was a good year for South Africa’s banks. Bad debts were largely already cleared; percentage profit growth at the big four banks was in the twenties.” said Clive Horwood, editor of Euromoney. We are off course not surprised. Nedbank reported a 26% growth and a 15.3% return on equity in 2011. Nedbank is further praised for investing in its staff. Thats great, I think.

The chief executive, Mike Brown must have been over the moon when he said, "We pride ourselves on being a world-class financial institution and are deeply honoured by this award... We continue on our journey to become a great place to work, a great place to bank and a great place to invest.” *touching*.

I guess you and me don’t care about Nedbank being named the Best Bank in South Africa or their profits, losses and amazing profits. What we want to know is what this means to us.
What we should be doing is investing in the banks to get back our charges and some more. Crying about it will never help. Like I always mention, my Nedbank Just Invest gives me great interest. My small Nedbank shares give me great dividends. You should be investing where your money is taken too.

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2012 Mid Year Goal Review

Its 2012 Mid Year Goal Review time already, SO UNBELIEVABLE. Time flies.
The emergency fund and the small girl's bursary that I give are the highlights of the past semester. I had 2 bad months and the rest of the time I was a great girl. I will actually revisit my goal setting. I don't think I need most of the goals I have here anymore. Blogging makes it so much fun trying to keep on to my goals.

2012 PERSONAL FINANCE GOALS

1. Online income to R5000 per month by December 2012. This will take some work in my writing. I expect to spend at least 1 hour per day writing. - PROGRESS...
2. Maintain at least 12 months expenses worth of an Emergency Fund. - 131% DONE
3. Spend an average of 50% of my net income or less. - PROGRESS...
4. Maintain giving of about 10% of income- DONE SO FAR
5. Buy a new rental property. Changed my mind. Changed my mind again - PROGRESS...
6. Remodel the duplex that we have put off the market. Prepare that property for rent by the end of 2012, when we no longer need to use it. Remodel the bathroom in a two bedroom property.
7. Push for 70% equity on our home by December.
8. Get retirement accounts to 45% of the target
9. Get stocks to 55% of the current target. This is the most important personal finance goal for me. All my wealth growing energies are on this in 2012..

2012 HEALTH GOALS
My PCOS is in control. I am on a special diet. I lost 13.5 kg in the 6months or so. YAY
Exercise 3 times a week - FAIL

2012 FAMILY GOALS
Holiday in the Mediteranean Europe with hubby in 2012. MIGHT BE DUBAI
Spend great amount of time with my family. - DONE SO FAR
Visit my parents for at least 2 weeks.

CAREER GOALS
Get training in some media form. This can be online.

HOBBIES, ETC
Read at least one book per month. 
Finish all my unfinished home and craft projects. 
Volunteer in charity as much as I can. GAVE A BURSARY TO 1 CHILD & MORE

Have fun whilst doing it all. INDEED I AM HAVING LOTS OF FUN.

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Monthly Spending and Budget Report-June 2012

My monthly spending and budget report for June 2012. It makes me glad to report on the highest income month this year. I had above R13,000 online income. I decided to only claim my online income when its above R10,000. It takes me 2 or 3 months to get that. I am happy with my online income for now. I am happy with my Nedbank JustInvest interest. I am happy with my property income. I am totally unhappy with my dividend income. I am working on it seriously though. Hopefully my discipline will pay off.

I’m not confident enough to continue picking stocks and want to go the Satrix Divi route. I am a beginner stock investor and should behave like one. I will get lower returns with the Satrix fund than if I picked the best individual stocks. However, I ma pick the worse stocks too. But the Satrix Divi is a good mix of stocks that are expected to perform well. Some will perform well but some may not. I am banking on the benefit I will get from the great performing ones. What I want is a boost in my monthly income through higher dividends. R5000 per month would be amazing. Below is my budget and spending in percentages.

My June 2012 monthly spending and budget report:

INCOME	% OF TOTAL	NOTES
Real Estate	36%	Down from 59% last month. I like it when my rental properties are contributing a lower percentage. This is partly due to my online income and to a lower extent, preparing one rental unit for tenants.
Hubby Allowance	24%	This is not so necessary but I like it.
Once off	2%	Interest free loan repayments by a friend.
Online	35%	This is not for 1 month. I keep a hold on my payments for 3 months or more.
Extra	3%	Interest on my Emergency Fund. Dividends were ZERO again.

On the expenditure front: we had a nice and short holiday. It started with a trip to my in-laws and ended with a short trip to Gauteng. What a cold piece of SA. It was so refreshing though.

ITEM	%OF INCOME	NOTES
Real Estate	15.8%	1 mortgage & taxes/rates.
RA & Unit Trusts	5.5%	Fixed
Online	2.6%
Internet/ Phones	2.9%	Broken 3G cards, contract upgrades, etc, very costly.
Consumer	12.5%	Groceries, personal care and all that jazz.
Withdrawals&Fees	0%	Great
Giving	13.8%	Part of this is an interest free loan to a friend.
To Invest	47%	A huge part of this went to my homeloan. A small part went to my Just Invest. I am thinking of dumping the rest on the soon to be opened Satrix Divi.

It’s been a great month. I have an opportunity to get back to work after years of a break. That's very confusing. Most of my investments are 100% passive, justifying my going back to work in a way. This is more so now that I decided to give all my properties but one to a property manager. Hiring a property manager makes a huge difference when you don’t want to run around fixing tiny issues.

This is the second semester of 2012. The first half of the year is gone. We are given an opportunity to do better. The question is: are we gona take that that opportunity and do right with our personal finances this round.

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