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It’s almost the end of the year. We’re sure you’re just as excited as we are to finally turn off and get some much-needed rest.

The end of the year is also a great time to celebrate your personal finance journey in 2022. While you’re enjoying some down time, take the opportunity to check on your finances and make sure you’re all set for 2023.

‍What’s the point?

‍If you don’t take the time to reflect on how you spent, how you saved and how you budgeted in the year gone by, you won’t identify any mistakes, losses or leaks in your money boat. You also won’t be able to identify wins! A year-end review shows that you’re intentional about your finances – that you care and that you’re definitely not an Avoider.

‍Where do I start?

‍Start by taking stock of what your finances look like now. Not to toot our own horn, but 22seven is literally the perfect app to use for this. Take note of your income, expenses, loans and investments. That way you’ll know what you have to work with in 2023, and what your major expenses will be.

‍Anything big happen this year?

‍What changed in 2022? Did your family grow? Maybe you got married or perhaps you got a new job? Pat yourself on the back – these are big, important life things! Now look at how these events affected your financial picture. Did you adjust your budget accordingly? Did you move your retirement annuity when you changed jobs? While you’re relaxing this holiday, take half an hour to work out how you should alter your financial situation to fit your new life.

‍Now for your debt…

‍Go through your 22seven profile to determine how much debt you have, but also look at how much debt you paid off in 2022.

If you made a dent in that pesky loan, well done!If you’re still overwhelmed by debt, you need to make a plan. Don’t just blindly pay off debt in 2023 as you did in 2022. Try the snowball method, where you pay off the smallest debt first. Or tackle your biggest debt first by using the avalanche method.

Set a goal for the end of 2023 – to be debt free, or to significantly pay down how much you owe. You can do it!

‍Let’s talk about saving

‍Take a moment to review your savings and investment accounts linked to 22seven. How much did you save this year? Your nudges will also show how you fared compared to others who earn in the same bracket.

Did you reach your savings goal? Nice, an extra mince pie for you! If you didn’t, don’t panic. Set a realistic savings goal for 2023 and start saving for real.

‍Don’t wait until next December…

‍Did you enjoy doing your financial review? Great feeling, right? Don’t wait until next December to do it again – have a squizz at your finances in March, June and September too. If you adjust your budget regularly to fit your lifestyle and savings goals, you’ll soon start seeing real results on your bank balance.

Go on, check in with yourself before the holiday visitors crowd your house and before the online stores call your name. You deserve it!

Hear that sound? It’s the whoosh of November disappearing. There isn’t another month on the calendar that seems to go by so fast. It went out with a bang, too, thanks to a spending spree on Black Friday.

Yup – whether you love it or hate it, the sales frenzy on 29 November has left the confines of the USA and is now firmly entrenched in the minds of deal-hungry consumers around the world. South Africa is no exception: 22seven users were keen to snap up the discounts offered by almost every retailer in every sector.

To find out how Black Friday affected our credit cards, we analysed the spending in the 10 categories with the highest sales on the day, and compared it to end-of-month spending in those categories in preceding months.

The results were interesting. The category that saw the highest increase in median spend was tech and appliances, which makes sense considering the plethora of deals that were advertised for big-ticket items like TVs, home appliances and the like. In terms of overall spending, the gifts category outshone the rest. Again, not unexpected with Christmas around the corner…

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‍Here are some more Black Friday figures:‍

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Did you get the deal you wanted on Black Friday? We hope so, but even if you didn’t and you ended up not spending a cent, don’t worry: You actually saved 100% on the day!

Our tips for shopping smartly on Black Friday are great tips for shopping in general. In the current economy, retailers are going to keep the deals going into Christmas and beyond. Try to keep a cool head and don’t buy into the hype – your bank balance will thank you in the new year.

I’m a mom in a busy family of four and it’s go-go-go from 6am (sometimes 5am!) until lights-out. I don’t have time to make spreadsheets and track our expenses manually, but I still want an accurate view of what we’re spending money on as a family, and whether it’s in line with our budget.

That’s why I use 22seven. Here are the five features I use the most – maybe they can help you, too.

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1. One view of all our accounts

His, hers, theirs and ours. We link all our relevant accounts to 22seven, which enables us to see everything in one place. For me, this is probably the most useful feature for our family. If I had to log into all the different bank and investment websites and pull statements, then combine all the numbers again, I don’t think I’d ever get as far as making a budget.

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2. Transactions are automatically categorised

22seven automatically categorises transactions. It even remembers if you select something to go into a certain category and it will categorise that purchase accordingly the following month.

Occasionally, my partner and I go through the transaction list to see whether we agree on what has been allocated where. Sometimes we make small tweaks, like changing a specific Woolies purchase from groceries to clothing, for example, or splitting a Clicks purchase between personal care and gifts.

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3. Show me the budget!

As a family, we usually set our budget for each category for the year in advance, considering things like birthday parties, holidays, gifts and school fees. By going through this exercise using 22seven, we know which months we might spend more and we can prepare for them by saving.

Surprise parties are great, but money surprises are not…

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4. Spending alerts

The app sends alerts when we’re approaching our limits in our budget categories. These alerts are super useful because they prevent us from overspending. For example, we’ve set an alert for ‘Eating out and take-aways’. Once we’ve reached the cap for that month, sorry kids, KFC will have to wait until next month!

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5. Exporting transactions

Sometimes, you might need a record of certain transactions. I’m our class rep and I have to keep track of which parents have contributed to the teacher’s end-of-year gift, for example. Once a year, my tax guy also asks for a log of certain expenses.

22seven gives you the option to export your transactions instantly, so you can add them to a spreadsheet or send them to the person who needs them.

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Don’t wait, start now

Creating a budget and sticking to it has changed our lives. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to be perfect on day one – you just need to start. When we started, we just tracked our recurring expenses for a couple of months to get a broad idea of what we were spending our money on. From there, we explored the other functions of the app and set up budget categories and saving goals.

If you know what you’re working towards, a budget is liberating, not limiting! Give it a try – if we can do it, so can you.

Apart from being a wife and mom of two, Carol is a Certified Financial Planner and part-time writer for 22seven.

She is passionate about making personal finance easy to understand, even for people with no financial background.

22seven helps her to manage her household budget like a pro.

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Black Friday on 25 November marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. Some retailers have been offering discounts for the whole of November already, but on the 25th it’s guaranteed to be ramped up a notch.

We know it’s payday but don’t freak out and spend more than you should! Here’s how to make the most of Black Friday without ending up in debt.

Ask yourself, ‘What do I actually need?’

A discount is great if you get it on something you were going to buy anyway. These should be the first items on your Black Friday shopping list – essentials like cupboard groceries, personal care items, health and beauty products or cleaning products; or a kitchen item like a new blender because yours broke three months ago.

Make a list of what you really need and check what you’d normally pay so that you ensure you get a good deal on Black Friday. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Max out your loyalty rewards

In addition to scoring with Black Friday discounts, check what other reward offerings you can use on the day. Discovery, for example, is running Miles Ð-Day on 25 November, where you can double your Discovery Miles. eBucks members will be getting extra discounts, too. Takealot accepts Discovery Miles and eBucks, so see if you can use your rewards on top of the Black Friday discounts.

Do you qualify for an extended warranty?

Depending on which credit card account you have, you might be able to extend the manufacturer’s warranty on certain goods like appliances. Consumer journalist Wendy Knowler discovered this recently and shared her findings on Cape Talk. Check with your bank if you qualify.

Are the discounts even real?

Sometimes a retailer will push up the ‘normal’ price of an item just before Black Friday to make the discounted price look more attractive. For example, an item sold for R100 might be hiked to R150 before Black Friday, then offered at a ‘crazy’ discount of 40% for R90, which is actually a true discount of only 10%.

Some sellers on Takealot are notorious for this. The clever people at Serval have created a website that tracks the prices of products sold on the platform. Find the thing you’re interested in buying, copy and paste the URL into Serval Tracker, and you’ll see a graph of the current price and listed price over a six-month period.

Stick to your budget

On Black Friday, marketing gurus flood our feeds with ‘once in a lifetime’ deals. Don’t buy into the hype. Stick to the budget you’ve earmarked for spending. Whether you go out and get that expensive gift for yourself or someone else, or if you stock up on cleaning supplies and nappies – stick to your budget. Don’t be tempted to max out your credit card or spend your year-end bonus before you’ve even received it.

Beware of no-return policies…

Before you buy anything, read the return policy and keep your receipts! The week after Black Friday is notorious for people returning goods that they bought on a whim.

Some items cannot be returned. In other cases, a penalty is imposed if the item was opened. And some stores won’t give you a cash refund, only a store credit.

If you know what you want, research the price, stick to your budget and read the fine print, you’ll do well this Black Friday. Good luck!

If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you might have noticed that we’ve been asking you to complete some 22seven Insights consumer surveys. Thanks to everyone who took part and congrats to the four winners who each received a R500 boost to their income!

‍What's the purpose of these surveys?

‍22seven is a free app. We earn money through 22seven Insights – the market research wing of our business. Insights publishes research based on completely anonymised, aggregated data from 22seven users. In other words, we help retailers and companies better understand where groups of users are spending, without ever sharing details of any individual user. Your personal data is safe, but the companies can better understand how people like you are spending, which in turn will hopefully enable them to deliver better service.

‍Give us an example...

‍Earlier this year, we analysed the spending of a group of 22seven users to help investors and media companies understand the shift from DStv to streaming services like Netflix. The results clearly showed that Netflix had won a significant share of the market over the past three years.

But not all our clients agreed. Some said that the true cost of Netflix – which is much cheaper than most DStv packages – should also include the cost of home internet. We had a hunch this wasn’t true because an internet connection at home is so much more than just a pipeline for streaming the latest shows.

But Insights isn’t about hunches. We wanted data to validate this theory, so we did a survey. The overwhelming response was that users would still pay for home internet even if they cancelled streaming, suggesting that home internet is something of a ‘sunk cost’, in the same way that you wouldn’t stop paying for electricity just because you stopped using your toaster. (Yes, comparisons to electricity in South Africa are sensitive, but we hope you get our point!)

Another example is clothing retail. Insights has been warning retailers that Shein – the online-only Chinese retailer – has been growing extremely quickly over the past 18 months. In some segments of the market, our data shows that Shein is larger than many well-known retail brands even though it basically didn’t exist here before 2021.

Again, some clients dismissed these warnings, so we did a survey. We asked you to list the website you go to first when shopping online for clothes and shoes. Shein ranked alongside some of the most established brands in the country – an amazing feat after just two years in the market, and a blaring alarm for the more established fashion retailers…

‍Sharing is caring

‍If you find this interesting, please complete this month’s survey! It really helps 22seven know what’s important to you. We promise to share more findings next time.

Mmmm… Coffee. South Africans love their daily caffeine fix and will happily spend their hard-earned money to get it. The local coffee industry was worth as much as R4.9 billion last year and some project it to reach R7.2 billion in the next four years.

Want to take advantage of this booming sector and become a coffee baron? Business Insider recently published an article about how much it costs to buy a coffee franchise like a Vida e Caffè, Mugg & Bean or Bootlegger.

Fair enough, but how much are coffee drinkers spending at these stores?

What’s the average monthly spend?

We analysed the spending of 45,000 22seven users (that’s you!) over three months. More than 19,000 users transacted at one or more of the franchises during the period in question, with an average monthly spend of R156 per user. That’s about five and half Americanos…

Vida has the most foot traffic

When it comes to the number of transactions, Vida is the clear leader. 22seven users buy from Vida 61% more often than they do at Mugg & Bean, and 157% more often than they do at Bootlegger.

Customers spend the most at Mugg & Bean

Vida might have the greatest number of transactions but spend at Vida is the lowest on average – about half of the average spend at Mugg & Bean, and 37% less than at Bootlegger. This is probably because Mugg & Bean and Bootlegger outlets generally have more substantial food menus and larger seating areas for dining.

What about customer loyalty?

For a coffee shop, regular customers are like gold. And on this score, Vida is most reliant on its regulars. Nearly half of all spending at Vida came from only 10% of its customers. Since these regulars are not spending a lot each time (remember, Vida has the lowest average transaction value) it backs up the evidence that they're buying much more often than at the other franchises.

Use 22seven to keep track of your coffee spend

Now that you’ve seen a picture of the coffee market, you’ll be more conscious of your spending next time you pop into your local Bootlegger for a flat white. If you’re worried about how much you’re spending on coffee, set a budget for the Coffee category in 22seven and enable spending alerts so you’ll be pinged when you reach 50%, 80% and 100% of that budget.

Who knows, the money you save in the long run might put you in a position to buy your own Bootlegger franchise and make heaps of money off everyone else’s caffeine craving!  

Thanks to 22seven Insights for the data used in this Slice. Insights is 22seven’s market research business, using anonymised aggregated spending data to see how consumers engage with various brands. Find out more here.

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Your finances have a direct impact on your daily decision-making. Whether you’re buying a latté from your favourite coffee shop, signing up for a new app subscription or planning a holiday – everything hinges on money. And it’s how you manage that money that will help you make smart decisions.

The best way to get an accurate picture of your finances is to make a budget. In the past, budgeting meant making a spreadsheet and tracking all your expenses manually. Let’s face it, Excel is a fun-killer of note – surely there’s a better way?  

There is! And it’s free to download…

Here are three ways 22seven will change your life.

22seven saves you time

No more trawling through bank statements and listing all your expenses on a spreadsheet. With 22seven, you can link all your accounts instantly at the click of a button, whether it’s a savings account, credit card, loan or investment account, or even a rewards account. The app automatically tracks and categorises your spending and you get an instant overview of your entire financial situation.

22seven is easy to use

Columns of numbers are so last season. 22seven uses charts and colour categories to give you a visual summary of your finances and your total net worth – how much money you have after all your debts and expenses have been deducted. You can quickly see how you’re doing against your budget by glancing at the icons and following the indicators. Have you overspent in a particular category? You’ll notice immediately. As you make good money decisions, you can stay motivated by watching your net worth grow and grow.

22seven tells you things you need to know

22seven identifies trends in your spending. For example, you’ll know at a glance whether you spent more on airtime this month than you did the month before. You can go even deeper and set custom timeframes and categories within your budget, so that you have a clear picture of money coming in and money going out. Thanks to the 22seven community, you can also get an idea of how your habits compare to other users. For example, you’ll receive insights into how your spending compares to others in a similar income bracket.

22seven is so easy to set up and use. Be proactive, start budgeting and set a course to achieve your financial goals. The app provides a secure and practical platform to help you manage your money better. Go on, give it a try!

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We’ll let this sink in for a moment: It’s almost December again…

Remember how rough it was last January, eating two-minute noodles for dinner because December was just too lekker? Not this year, folks! This year, we’re going to live our best lives without breaking the bank.

Here’s how.

Start planning now

There are still a couple of salary cycles left before the holiday fun begins. For the next two months, try to live as frugally as possible and save.

Use 22seven to see what your basic expenses are per month, so you have a good idea of what you’ll need to cover in January 2023. Put some money away for that. Afterwards, start allocating some of your leftover money towards the discretionary expenses for December — any holidays, outings or parties you have planned. That way, your December salary (and bonus) won’t have to cover all your December expenses.

Take a time machine to the future

Money doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Use 22seven’s future budgeting tool to work out ahead of time how much you’ll have for gifts, food and entertainment this December once you’ve covered all your monthly expenses. No more credit card scares, and no more Janu-worry when you somehow have to pay all your bills…

It’s the thought that counts

Gifts are one of the biggest holiday expenses, but there’s no need to splurge. There are so many cost-effective ways to show how much you care about the people in your life. Shop second-hand, for example, or check out all the thrifting sites popping up online. Make a gift yourself, write your loved ones a heartfelt letter, cook a friend a nice meal…

Some 22seven team members have strict rules in their families when it comes to gifts. These include:

• All gifts should be under R150.
• Only buy gifts for immediate family members.
• Only the children get gifts.
• Each person gets a gift-buddy — that way you only have to buy for one person.

Be mindful of your spending

Most of the time, the feelings of regret and stress that come with the holidays arise because we spend far more than we should. At the end of December, the money’s gone and we have almost nothing to show for it.

But it doesn’t have to be like that! If you’re mindful of your spending and you budget for the fun you want to have, then you can enjoy yourself without the guilt.

Give this a try:

• List the activities you want to enjoy, budget for them, and stick to only those activities.
• Set a strict grocery limit so you don’t roam the aisles and spend thousands on fancy holiday food you don’t even like. (Fruit cake, seriously?)
• Start shopping for the holidays now. That way you have time to think about what you’re buying, you can spread your spend, and you can avoid overspending in the frenzy of end-of-year sales.

Sit back and enjoy

If you have your spending planned out, budgeted for and under control, your holiday season will be filled with what matters most — quality time with your friends and family. And then, as everyone struggles to survive January with a spending hangover, you’ll be able to set your sights on the year ahead, ready for any challenges life throws your way.

2seven is a great tool for seeing all your money in one place. And the best part? It’s free! But what features do I actually use as a young professional, and why do I love them?

I use 22seven to save time

Who wants to spend all their time trying to figure out what’s happening with their finances? Not me! With 22seven, all my transactions are automatically updated and categorised. Once I’ve linked my bank accounts, which takes minutes, I can just open the app and see what I need to see. No time wasted.

I use 22seven to stay motivated

As a young, hard working person, I want to know if I’m doing the right thing with my money. By linking all my accounts, I use 22seven to get an instant, accurate idea of my net worth. I can see my net worth immediately when I open the app, which helps me stay focussed on the long game.

The nudges are also super useful. For example, getting that notification telling me that I’ve put a certain amount of money towards my future seriously motivates me to stay on track and reminds me that my sacrifices are worth it.

I use 22seven to streamline my tax return process

I use the date range filter on the Transactions page to set the dates for the tax year in question. This shows me all my income and expenses within the relevant timeframe. I can even filter it per category to see a summary of specific expense types, like commission earned, donations etc. It can’t be easier!

And when it comes to my medical aid, 22seven is an angel sent from heaven. I create custom categories for my medical expenses to help me work out how much I can deduct without having to scramble through doctor’s emails and receipts.

Oh yes, I also export my 22seven data to a spreadsheet. I send this spreadsheet to my tax guy, which makes his job so much easier.

I use 22seven to confidently manage my money

22seven lets me see exactly where my money is going each month, how my spending compares to my peers and how much I’ve saved and invested. This information allows me to make better decisions and I feel confident in my ability to manage my money.

Don’t believe me? Give it a try and see how much 22seven can help you!

Lisa is a 27-year-old graduate with 4 years of working experience. Having recently changed career paths, she’s slowly but surely climbing the ladder of career success and couldn’t have done it without the help of her 22seven profile that keeps all her money matters in one place.