Quick answer: The cost of living is what daily essentials, food, housing, transport and electricity, cost you, and in South Africa it keeps climbing while incomes lag. Coping means attacking the biggest costs first, cutting…
Quick answer: A stokvel is a South African savings club where members contribute a fixed amount regularly into a shared pool, then receive a payout, in cash, groceries or a rotated lump sum, at an…
Quick answer: The Credit Ombud is a free, independent service that resolves disputes between consumers and the credit industry, wrong listings on your credit report, unfair treatment by a lender, and complaints a provider will…
Quick answer: A Section 129 notice is a letter a credit provider must send under the National Credit Act before taking legal action on a defaulted loan or account. It warns you that you are…
Quick answer: Black tax is the real financial support many South Africans give extended family. It is not the problem; giving more than you can afford is. The way to help sustainably is to cover…
Quick answer: Debt collectors can contact you about a genuine debt and ask you to pay, but they cannot harass, threaten, call at unreasonable hours, shame you to family or your employer, add unlawful fees,…
Quick answer: A garnishee order, properly an Emoluments Attachment Order (EAO), is a court order that makes your employer deduct money from your salary to pay a debt. It must be based on a real…
Quick answer: Winter bills spike mainly because of the geyser, heating and higher food costs. A good winter budget plans for those extras before the month starts, then attacks the biggest electricity user, the geyser,…
Quick answer: Reckless lending is when a credit provider grants a loan without properly checking affordability, without helping you understand the risks, or in a way that leaves you over-indebted. The National Credit Act makes…
Quick answer: Debt review, or debt counselling, is a legal process under the National Credit Act. A registered debt counsellor restructures the debts of an over-indebted consumer into one affordable monthly payment and protects them…