Most people never or rarely look at their bank statements or credit card statements. And when they do they’ll often find strange amounts deducted for things they haven’t authorised.
The easiest way to find any strange amounts going off your accounts is to plan debit orders for more or less the same time each month.
Scammers get hold of your money without you realising by taking less than R99 off your bank account; you will not get a notification on your smartphone for this amount and the only way to check this, is to check your bank statements every month.
You must take control over your finances and take immediate action when you see any strange amounts going off your accounts. If you update your budget monthly and check it against your bank statements, you’ll know exactly what goes on in your finances.
5 Ways to keep your bank statements in check:
- Construct your monthly budget with your bank statements next to you. It will give you good insight into what you are actually spending.
- Make sure each and every debit order going off your account is accounted for. Take action against unauthorized debit orders.
- Check that the debit orders are in fact the correct amounts according to your credit agreement. Many South Africans have expected a certain amount and found that they are paying more than they should.
- Check bank fees while you are at it. Maybe it is time that you consider changing your type of bank account. The type of bank account might not be the best fit for your finances.
- Total all the small amounts that you spend at the grocery store. Take that amount minus 10% and budget for the next month to buy all your groceries once off. We usually buy all sorts of unnecessary stuff if we go to the store every day.