We asked South Africans to share their “crazy ways to save” and we got some great ideas!

Nonhlanhla has a debit order into a 32-day notice account where she saves for things she needs like furniture or renovations. She doesn’t touch the money for six months at a time. With such easy access to credit, many of us have forgotten what it is like to save for something rather than use our credit cards. By having a debit order in place, Nonhlanhla also makes sure her savings are prioritised before spending.

Kgomotso uses the Stash App to save into a tax-free savings account. We have featured this great investment tool on Money Matters. Stash is an app available to anyone which can be download through Google Play or the App Store. You link your credit or debit card to the app and every time you spend on the card, you can select to have R5, R10 or even R50 immediately transferred to a zero-fee, tax-free savings account. The account is invested in a fund that tracks the performance of the 100 largest companies in South Africa. This is a great way to turn spending into saving.

Shirin uses a piggybank to save all her silver coins. This is one of those really simple but effective savings strategies. Did you know that if you fill a 2L coke bottle with R2 coins it adds up to R3 000! If you stick to R5 coins, you could have R5 000 saved.

Joy uses loyalty rewards to invest in unit trusts. Usually we use our loyalty rewards for spending, but it can create the perfect opportunity to start investing. Find out if any of your reward programmes offer investment options.

Amanda committed herself to the 52-week savings challenge. In this challenge you start by saving R10 a week and each week you increase it by another R10. For example, in week one, you save R10, week two R20 –by week 20 you would be saving R200 a week. It gets tougher as the numbers climb, but it is a great way to gradually start saving.

Nosi saves 35% of her income which she divides into various buckets. She puts money into a retirement annuity, belongs to one stokvel that pays out January school fees and another that pays out in turns during the year. She also has a dedicated savings account for her car deposit and keeps her change in a piggybank. What is great about this approach is that Nosi is saving for specific needs – so each rand has a goal.

Finally, many of our respondents said they bought grocery vouchers each month to save for the festive season or kept their loyalty rewards for December.

Find those savings tricks that work for you.