As World Financial Planning Day marks its tenth year on 7 October, the National Debt Counsellors (NDC) is drawing attention to a growing gap in South African households: the distance between how confident people feel about their finances and whether they have a plan that will carry them through the months ahead.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The day, led globally by the Financial Planning Standards Board, is about building financial confidence – but confidence and reality do not always match. TransUnion’s Q2 2026 Consumer Pulse Study found that 70% of South African consumers expect their household income to rise over the next year, yet only 37% believe their income is keeping pace with inflation. That optimism is being tested by renewed pressure on household budgets, with the Reserve Bank raising interest rates for the second time this year on 23 September.
“Financial planning isn’t only about investments or retirement. For a household under pressure, it starts with knowing exactly what comes in, what has to go out and what is left after essential expenses,” says René Moonsamy, Director at the National Debt Counsellors. “When interest rates rise, even a budget that worked before may need to be reassessed. Planning starts with knowing what you can actually afford.”
Moonsamy shares five practical steps South Africans can take to plan for their financial health:
- Give your money a goal. A plan needs a destination. Choose one specific goal, such as clearing a store account or saving three months of school fees, then attach an amount and a date to it. Work out what that means each month and treat it like any other commitment in the budget. A clear goal makes it easier to say no to spending that doesn’t serve it.
- Track the spend not just the balance. Compare the past three months. If money is running out earlier, savings are being dipped into or debt balances are climbing despite payments, the budget is moving in the wrong direction.
- Do not borrow to close a recurring gap. Another loan, a credit card or short term credit may bring temporary relief but it adds to the household’s total debt without fixing the shortfall between income and expenses.
- Know the warning signs. The clearest is needing new credit to cover living expenses or existing repayments. Others include paying accounts late, skipping one creditor to pay another, relying on an overdraft to get through the month, or not having enough left after essential expenses to meet every repayment.
- Build a buffer, however small. An emergency fund is what stops an unexpected car repair or medical bill from becoming a new debt. Start with a modest, fixed amount set aside each month, and keep it separate from your day-to-day account. If money is tight, keep up your existing repayments first – even a small buffer built slowly is better than none.
Moonsamy draws a clear line between a tight month and a structural problem. Being financially stretched for a particular month can happen to anyone, however the concern is when the shortfall repeats month after month. At that point, the biggest mistake is trying to solve an affordability problem with more borrowing. Credit has its place when it is affordable and used for an appropriate purpose but it becomes dangerous when it is routinely used to bridge the gap between what a household earns and what it spends.
For anyone who suspects their household has reached that point, Moonsamy’s advice is practical. “Start with your bank statements. Look at the last three months and work out whether your income is actually covering your essential expenses and debt repayments,” she says. “If there is a shortfall every month, don’t borrow to hide it. The sooner you act, the more options you are likely to have.”
The National Debt Counsellors offers credit and debt guidance to South Africans at all stages of their financial journey. For more information, visit nationaldebtcounsellors.co.za.