Bear in mind that tickets literally change price every hour. The prices increase AND decrease, so by waiting a little doesn’t mean that all prices will be more expensive, in my case it was cheaper!

Search by return AND search one way

That’s how I managed to save over R350 a ticket. I first searched by return flights from CPT to JHB and none of the 1time flights were less than R700. I then searched for a 1 way ticket and found a ticket for R389. I purchased that ticket and then did another one way ticket for my return journey and found another ticket for R389! So instead of buying a return ticket on the same day, I bought 2 one way tickets on the same day and managed to save over R650!

So next time you are looking for cheap flights, search one way tickets and return tickets. You will be surprised!

Here are some gloomy pics from yesterday’s trading.

Dell Inspiron 640m and 9400

Dear Jason,

I am writing to you to inform you that as a result of a technical error we have inadvertently advertised the Dell Inspiron 640m and 9400 on our web store at R0. This is incorrect. The goods should have been priced at R6,990 and R10,990 respectively. As a result we are unable to fulfill your recent order for these goods. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have already paid for any associated goods, software or delivery charges forming part of your order for the Dell Inspiron 640m and/or 9400 please furnish us with your banking details and you will be reimbursed within the next few days.

We are in the process of correcting these technical issues. We hope to have this store up and running by early next week.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or your account manager if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely

Gavin Slevin
Brand Manager – Mobile Products

Heres a screenshot of my original order.

Im sure Mike Stopforth and the likes are going to have harsher words to say than me about Dell, and their non-delivery, especially after he promised he’d donate all 6 laptops he ordered to Baragwanath. :-)

I’d compare this experience to playing the Lotto. I had a ticket to a free laptop, but didn’t strike it lucky. :-(

The only reason people are scared of using credit cards is that they are misinformed. You just see people flashing their credit cards all over the show, and you think to yourself, “shame, that person can’t manage their debt.” But the truth is, that using a credit card properly, actually can save and make you money! So listen up, and adhere to my tips on credit card usage, and you will save money!

Choosing the right credit card

Every single banking institution, and lately, large corporate companies offer some sort of credit card. All have different interest rates, annual fees, rewards schemes, etc. So finding the credit card that is right for you is very important. Once you have all the facts, you can make the right decision on which card to choose.

Virgin Money

If you have never owned a credit card before, or are new to the whole credit card thing, go straight to Virgin Money and sign up. As long as you are earning a living, you should qualify. The reason I choose Virgin, are two simple factors. No annual fees, which in essence makes owning a credit card free, and their 5% credit interest rate. But you might be on Discovery Medical, and their credit card might appeal to you more because of their rewards scheme etc. Choose wisely, but don’t not choose a credit card!

How to use a credit card wisely

This is the step where a lot of people get caught, and get stuck in the never ending spiral of debt and interest-on-debt repayment. Your credit card will have a limit that you are allowed to spend. Remember, this doesn’t mean you must spend that amount every month! Draw up a budget, and the amount of money you spend a month on your credit card must be on that budget, so that at the end of the month, you haven’t spent more money than you earn.

The rules of a credit card are so, that if you buy a pair of shoes on your credit card today, you only have to pay the bank back for those shoes in 55 days time. 55 days! That is almost two months! This is where you can make money from the bank. Using this rule means that the money that you owe for those shoes should be sitting in an interest-bearing account so that for 55 days you can earn interest on the money that the bank just lent you for 55 days, interest free! Confusing you hey? Look at this example…

• I have R1000 in my savings account, and I want to buy a pair of shoes.
• Puma sneakers: R1000 (Some bling man!)
• Pay for these sneakers using your Credit Card.
• Transaction fees buying sneakers: R0
• For 55 days that R1000 is earning interest sitting in your savings account.
• After 55 days, you transfer that R1000 into your credit card – in order to pay the bank back for your funky shoes.
• You get charged not 1 cent from the bank, but you have just earned interest on the bank’s money for 55 days!

Stick to these 3 rules, and make money with your credit card!

1. Do not spend on your credit card what you cannot buy with hard cash. Buy that pair of sneakers on your credit card, but if you do not have the hard cash in the bank, do not charge it!
2. Pay back the full amount you owe on your credit card every single month. By missing just one payment, all your hard work saving, can be lost, because of the high rate at which you get charged for late, or not paying up in full. Sometimes up to 25% on your outstanding amount!
3. If you do not have a savings account to utilise, put all your monthly spending budget into your credit card, and earn interest that way! That means you can earn up to 5% on your spare cash lying around!

So, along with a possible 3.6 billion clients, you can imagine everyone wants to get a piece of the action. Whether its a billboard next to the field, advertisment on television or the most marketable place – a team’s kit, companies will be trying to outdo each other to get a slice of the marketing and sales pie.

I’m always interested in which team is sponsored by what sports brand, as well as the players and which boots they wear. Theres also one other big reason this year… Germany, Puma, Adidas and the famous Dassler brothers.

Adi and Rudolph Dassler started the Dassler Brothers Sports Shoe Factory in 1920’s in a small town in Germany named Herzogenaurach. In 1948 they parted ways with Rudolph Dassler founding Puma and Adi Dassler starting Adidas. Today, Puma and Adidas are 2 of the most recognised sport brand in the world. This year in Germany, there are a number of teams represented by both Adidas and Puma, with 12 teams wearing the puma logo and 7, including the referees and officials wearing the 3 stripes. I’ve comprised a list of all the sports brands being worn in Germany with the respective countries.

Soccer World Cup Kit Sponsors

Adidas

• Argentina
• Germany
• Spain
• France
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Japan
• Referee’s and Officials

Puma

• Italy
• Iran
• Ivory Coast
• Angola
• Ghana
• Czech Republic
• Switzerland
• Togo
• Tunisia
• Saudi Arabia
• Poland
• Paraguay

Nike

• Brazil
• Portugal
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• USA
• South Korea
• Australia
• Croatia

Umbro

• England
• Sweden

Lotto

• Serbia & Montenegro
• Ukraine

Marathon

• Ecuador

Joma

• Costa Rica

Comprising a list of all the players and their sponsors is alot more tricky, and is way too much work! But I hope you find this list interesting.

I then asked myself, why am I a ABSA bank customer? I mean, why ABSA? Why not some other bank? There products arent any different from any other bank. They charge more or less the same price for banking(or alot more in DEF’s view). I started as an Allied customer way back when I was about 8 years old. They gave me this blue piggy bank that I religiously used to put all my loose change into, and ever since then, I’m guessing I have had that “saving” mentality. Allied joined forces with Trustbank, United Bank and Volkskas Bank to form ABSA, the red giant that we all know today. I say red because I, myself love all things red, Ferrari motorcars, Ferrari F1, strawberry jam, Vodaphone(Vodacom rocks, thats why I dig them…) and my red adidas t-shirt. The only thing I dont like red are red football teams :-). So ABSA just being red, means I’m already biased.

I dont like getting ripped off, but I also dont mind paying the price for something that I deem to be of value, and I feel that ABSA do deliver on service as well as products. One product that beats all other banks hands down is their internet banking portal. From ease of use to functionality and features. A couple of my collegues have said they wish their internet banking had this or that. I proudly tell them, ABSA has it already.As for their online shopping portal, where you shop on the internet with a virtual credit card number linked to your credit card, ABSA really have me hooked. So no company on the internet will ever have my CC number. And it generates a new number for every purchase I make. No other bank in South Africa offers a product like it. So a thumbs-up for that, ABSA.

Looking at Standard Banks fees, they are cheaper than ABSA, and offer a wider variety of products. But do I really want to make a switch? Ill save some money on transaction charges with Standard Bank, but for me, thats all Ill get out of it. Ill have to change ATM’s, and ABSA do have the largest ATM network. That also means changing my driving habits. Ill also have to change where I do banking, change my internet banking, change everything. And to change something just for the sake of changing isnt always a good thing.

So, in conclusion, I dont want to change banks. I dont mind paying alittle more. But I like red, and I like ABSA.

In related news, two articles on news24 about banking charges. (BTW Def, theres not much mention about ABSA. hehe)

Thats why Government and South African banks launched a new savings product, Mzansi, that encourages saving, and provides low cost banking to the masses. But the Americans have an even better way of encouraging saving – spending money. Huh?

Bank of America have launched a new product called keep the change, and thats exactly what it does. When you buy a sandwhich for $4.20 with your debit card, the bank deducts $5 from your account, and deposits the $0.80c into your savings account.

Im really hoping some of our banks catch on and offer this service here in South Africa, because I would be the first to sign up. Obviously 80c in $ is alot more than 80c in R. So we should be given the option to round up to say the next rand. So I buy a meal for R16.50, it rounds it up to R18, and deposits the R1.50 into an account of my choice, either a fixed deposit, or savings account. Some account that I cannot touch for a specified amount of time.

Another service I found was Coinstar. They have coin counting machines located countrywide, and all you do is feed all your loose change into the machine, and it prints you a Coinstar voucher which you redeem. It charges a small fee for the service, but It cant be as bad as taking your change to the bank. Taking it to the bank means putting the correct amount of the correct denomination into bank bags. Banks then charge you around 10% to take YOUR money!!

This is another product which I hope gets implemented into South Africa, especially since all our change goes to parking attendants and beggers. Save your money first, before giving it away.