5 money mistakes quietly draining your wallet
From forgotten subscriptions to misleading car safety claims, Wendy Knowler highlights the hidden money traps and smart hacks that could save you thousands.
1. The Hidden Cost of "Forgotten" Subscriptions
Check your bank statement for forgotten fees. We often sign up for "free trials" or small monthly R49 services and then forget. Over a year, that’s hundreds of Rands down the drain. Banks are now being pushed to monitor "Default Instant Payments" and hidden charges more closely, but the responsibility still lies with you to cancel what you don't use. A five-minute audit of your debit orders could save you thousands by year-end.
2. The "Garage Card" That Wouldn't Die
Standard Bank has finally stopped charging a monthly R100 fee on inactive, expired garage cards after months of pressure from me. The fee was lumped into a single "service charge" with their Mastercard – tens of thousands of people unwittingly paid that R100 per month for years without realising it. This is yet another example of why it’s so important to properly interrogate all the fees and debit orders taking your money every month and cancel those which give you nothing in return.
3. Car Safety Ratings: The Chery Tiggo 7 Pro
Thinking of buying a Chery Tiggo 7 Pro? Make sure you check the latest Global NCAP crash test results. The Chery Tiggo 7 Pro and the SA-made Toyota Corolla Hatch only scored two safety stars for adults in the front seats when crash tested in Germany.While many modern cars look high-tech and "premium," their structural integrity in a crash can vary wildly. Very few SA cars have been safety tested, so if the car ad or salesman says a car scored 4 or 5 NCAP stars, that only applies if the test was done on a South African version of the car. Not Europe or Australia.
4. Credit Score Hack: The 40% Rule
Want to boost your credit score? Watch your "utilisation ratio”.Using more than 40% of your available limit at any given time can hurt your score. It looks like you're "dependent" on credit. If you have the discipline, ask for a higher limit, but don't spend more. This instantly lowers your ratio and makes you look like a lower risk to banks and landlords.
5. If you lose that gift voucher, do you lose the money on it?
Not necessarily.Unlike cash, vouchers can mostly be traced.
Consumer Goods and Services Ombud Lee Soobrathi says: 'If a supplier refuses to re-issue a lost gift card by relying on its terms and conditions, this does not automatically make the refusal lawful.
Under the Consumer Protection Act, money paid for a gift card remains the consumer’s property until the supplier has actually supplied goods or services.
If the card can be traced, confirmed as unredeemed, and cancelled, the supplier cannot suffer any loss.
So a term that allows the supplier to keep the money without providing value is likely unfair and unenforceable, and the consumer, in the Ombud’s view, is entitled to have the value re-issued or credited despite what the fine print says.”
Listen to more Consumer Hacks below:
Contact Wendy Knowler:
Get in touch with Wendy via her website or her Facebook page. Please note that Wendy is not able to personally respond to every email she receives. If she is able to take up your case, she will contact you directly. Here are other avenues for you to consider.