Monthly Budget Builder

What you will need

• Take-home pay each month (after tax and deductions) (R): Use the amount that lands in your bank account.
• Other income each month (side hustle, grant, maintenance, rent received) (R)
• Essentials: rent or bond, food, transport, electricity, water, school fees, medical (R): Line items listed under 'More detail'.
• Debt repayments (loans, cards, store accounts, car) (R)
• Family support (black tax), stokvel, burial society, church giving (R)
• Lifestyle: data, takeaways, DStv, entertainment, clothes (R)
• Savings and emergency fund (R)

How it works

income = take_home + other_income; spend = needs + debt_repayments + family_support + wants + savings; left_over = income - spend; for each category pct = category / income * 100. Guide split (shown as a guide, not a rule, because many SA households cannot hit it): needs ~50%, debt under ~30% (ideally lower), wants ~20% combined with debt, savings at least ~10%. Zero-based option: prompt the member to allocate left_over until it is R0 (give every rand a job). If left_over < 0: list the three largest non-essential lines as 'Look here first'.

What you get

• Total income
• Left over (or short)
• Essentials as % of income
• Debt as % of income
• Savings as % of income

What it means

• You are spending more than comes in each month; the gap is usually covered by credit, which makes next month harder.
• You are balancing, but nothing is set aside for surprises; even a small amount helps.
• Debt is taking a large share of your income; the Debt Stress Assessment can show your options.
• Your budget balances and you are saving; well planned.

Next step: Want help interpreting this? Book a free budgeting session with a money coach.

Runs on the device. Nothing is saved unless the member chooses.