The five Absa and City Press Money Makeover candidates are reaching the end of their six-month intensive financial bootcamp.
All five women have seen a change in the way they approach their personal finances as well as how they see and use their hard-earned money.
In this video update from each of the five candidates we asked them to describe their biggest ah-ha moment with regards to the competition.
READ: Meet the 2018 Money Makeover candidates
This is what they had to say:
Amanda – widow, accountant and mother of three
Before Amanda found out about the competition she was furiously googling and reading any and every piece related to personal finance that she could find. She stumbled on to the Money Makeover competition and applied immediately. Six months later she feels like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders.
This is her ah-ha moment:
Samke – 26-year-old financial controller
Before the competition Samke had accumulated a lot of debt without fully understanding the long-term implications. As she went through the competition, her ah-ha moment was when she realised how important it was to be committed to her debt repayment plan. This gave her the confidence to say no to people sponging off of her.
This is what Samke had to say:
Tamsin – freelancer and mother of two
As self-employed person Tamsin has had a few ah-ha moments, but the biggest one was a mindset change towards money. She now employs the strategy of paying herself a salary, which has helped with her financial management.
Here’s what Tamsin had to say:
Thuli – mother of four and head of operations at a non-governmental organisation
Thuli started off her Money Makeover bootcamp with five credit cards from five banks. Eventually, as the competition progressed, she realised that the best way to cope with unexpected costs was to set up an emergency fund instead of using all those credit cards.
This is Thuli’s ah-ha moment:
Nkosi – environmental affairs officer and single mum
Before the bootcamp started, Nkosi was concerned with constantly having a zero balance in her account at the end of each month. Her ah-ha moment came when she realised how her savings goals have taken priority over her spending patterns.
Watch as Nkosi explains her achievements: