A month ago, the peeps over at 22Seven challenged me to try seven tasks that, they assured me, would yield extra cash, come month end. I’ll admit, I was skeptical at first, but undertook to take them on to the best of my ability. You can read my first post about the challenges here.
A month later and I’m R4004 richer. Yep, that’s right & I can hardly believe it myself.
Here’s how I did it:
DECELLARATE
I was spending around R600+ on JUST mobile data per month. Spurred on by the “Decellarate” challenge, I went online and saw that I could purchase a 250MB bundle for just R59. That equals a R541 saving per month! Why oh why did I wait so long?
LUNCH DELOADED
This was by far the most challenging challenge, as I had to really think about, pre buy and prepare my lunches. Because I’m on a bit of a health kick, I decided to do salads in a mason jar.
The most difficult part of this challenge was convincing my hubby that a weeks worth of salad lunches would not only be nutritious, but delicious too. My hubby & I work from home, so we either skip lunch, get a takeout, or we pop across the road to our local called “Locale”. We spend anywhere between R150 – R200 on a lunch (for the both of us).
Buying veggies and ingredients for our “salad in a jar” came to R487 for the week. Amount saved that week: (working on a regular lunch spend of R200 per day) R513.
Check out the 22seven app screenshot I took to compare my Eating Out & Takeout spend for July & August.
FIND SOMETHING FREE
My hubby, daughter and I opted for a blissful Sunday walk through Newlands Forest, instead of joining friends for lunch in the winelands. I reckon we saved around R600 here and managed to get in a bit of exercise too.
SPRING CLEAN
This was my favourite challenge. I have A LOT of clothing. While I’m pretty ruthless with my seasonal wardrobe edits, there are a few pieces of clothing I’d been hanging onto for years – some were even around two sizes too small!
The best part of this challenge was realizing I could actually make good money selling my old stuff. I made R1200 and, to be honest; I plan on spending the cash on new shoes…
PAY YOURSELF FIRST ON PAYDAY
This was easy. I transferred R900 into my investment account and really didn’t even miss it at the end of the month. This is definitely something I’ll be doing monthly.
GROOVY GIFT
I had a lot of fun with this challenge. I gathered up a few bits and ends that I found lying around: an empty plastic pot plant holder, some twine, my daughter’s craft glue and a small peg with a wooden heart on it.
I gave the pot plant holder a quick sand with medium grade sandpaper, covered the whole pot with craft glue, then carefully (from the bottom) wrapped the twine around the pot. I then filled it with potting soil that I had lying around and put three “Echeveria” into the soil. These succulents are so easy to grow and are drought resistant. I reckon I saved around R250 making my girlfriend this gift.
COIN JAR
Even my 11 year old was inspired by this challenge and started her very own coin jar. For the past 3 weeks, both my hubby and I have been throwing all our coins into the jar. We managed to accumulate R162 thus far.
KICK THE HABIT
Okay, this wasn’t an official 22Seven challenge, but after doing a few calculations to see just how much money I’d save if I quit smoking, I was very motivated. I won’t lie; I have had a ciggie here and there (that I’ve bummed off friends) but straight after feel quite sick. I worked out I’d save R600 a month by kicking the habit. In addition, my life insurance premiums will come down by R200 after being 6 months nicotine free.
I love the 22Seven app and have been using it for close on a year now. I like that it allows me to see exactly what I’m doing with my money. I’m able to set budgets and compare what I spend over various months. If you haven’t already, you can download the app here. You can also see my other 22seven posts here, here, here and here.
