Durban - South African consumers are in for yet another rough patch with the rising fuel prices, which recently broke the R20-a-litre mark.
Economists say practising the simple, yet effective, methods can help save money.
Professor Bonke Dumisa, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), reflected on his younger days when OPEC was at war with other countries.
He said the price of fuel at the time rocketed which forced him to resort to better money management.
Dumisa suggested:
Car pools: Dumisa said that starting a car pool with colleagues, rather than travelling alone, could help save fuel costs.
Justifying the trip: The UZKN professor said that if people were to think about the necessity of each car ride, they would begin to see how much they needed to travel versus how much they wanted to travel. “Find a way to do away with small unnecessary trips,” he said.
Consolidated shopping: While we all have daily living needs, Dumisa said rounding up shopping trips into one or two trips a month could cut back on fuel costs. “People obviously need things like bread and milk on a more frequent basis, but those things can be purchased at a lot of places. But the main shopping should be done once in a month.”
In the wake of the country’s stagnant economic growth and subsequent high unemployment rate, economist Dawie Roodt said consumers were in for a tough few years.
Roodt said those in low- and no-income households “can’t do much and will need help from the government”.
He said the petrol industry was volatile and therefore people were always exposed to shocks.
The finance fundi said many people tended to cut back on medical aid and insurance during tough financial times, which was a mistake because that harboured more financial costs in the long run.
“You must have a budget or a plan. You can't plan when the hard times get here, you need to plan before they do. Keeping whatever amount you can aside for unforeseen circumstances is a must these days,” Roodt said.
“I’m not saying people should not enjoy their lives, but we can do without eating out and online shopping sometimes. People will also be surprised how far they can get with their cars, instead of buying new ones. But also, all individuals are different, people will have to prioritise their own lives to find what works.”
For the lower-income household, however, rising petrol prices means more money spent on food items that are increasing in price faster than their wages and grants.
Mervyn Abrahams, from Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity, said poor citizens had nothing left to cut back on.
“For someone living on a grant, the potential solutions don’t apply to them. They are way past the mark. So, the question is what can the country do to help them? And you will find these are more structural issues.
“Can we break down those large scale agro-processing farms and begin to make food more locally sourced? Produce our food close to the table it is being eaten on? (if so,) that means we cutting out a massive amount of fuel that is being used. In that way, we may not be so exposed to fuel hikes,” Abrahams said.
IOL