Here are some ideas for saving your hard-earned money and getting your finances in tiptop shape:

	Use an online travel broker to get the cheapest flights and hotel rooms. For example, Travelstart searches all airlines’ databases to find you the cheapest flight possible.
	Enjoy a 3-course meal at The Five Flies in Cape Town for R150. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until June 2010.
	At Relax-with-dax.co.za you will find the best list of restaurant specials in Cape Town, in our opinion.
	Frequenting Jozi’s restaurants? You could save thousands of rands per year with the Deals On Meals card (R400 pa). Get the cheapest meal for free when you go out, subject to the maximum amount per restaurant listed on their website.
	Did you know that taking the cable car up Table Mountain is free on your birthday?
	Make sure you’re not paying higher car insurance premiums than needed. Is your vehicle a few years old and still insured at the purchase price? Unless it’s an investment car, changing to the market value option could save you a lot of money every year.
	If you mostly use a card to pay for your purchases and have quite a large number of transactions every month, use a credit card rather than a debit card if you want to cut down your monthly bank charges. With a debit card you usually pay per transaction; with a credit card only an annual administration fee. Just avoid paying credit card interest by settling all your debt every month.
	When you make a donation to any charitable organisation or to a church, ask them whether they are approved under section18A and to send you a certificate as proof. You can deduct the whole amount of the donation from your income when you next fill in your tax form.
	Did you know that you can put a clause in your Offer to Purchase that says you want to choose the transfer attorneys? This gives you a better chance of negotiating lower fees.
	Love books but can’t afford to buy everything you read? Check out BookCrossing if you want to pick up great books left in unusual places by anonymous book lovers. This is a great game!
	If you worked for only part of the tax year (from 1 March to end of February in SA) and paid tax during this time, the chances are good that you are due a tax rebate. Speak to a tax adviser to find out how to claim.
	If you bank online with Nedbank, and don’t make more than four cash withdrawals per month, check whether you qualify for a Savvy Electronic Account. Your monthly bank charges will then be capped at R65.
	Like the Nedbank Savvy Electronic Account, Standard Bank also has fixed monthly fee accounts. The Classic costs R80 pm and includes 8 ATM withdrawals, 30 electronic transactions, 10 cheques and 2 cash deposits.
	Instant Life is a new generation insurer with an online quote system which is a pleasure to use. They also claim to provide the cheapest insurance for their target market, but it’s always wise to get a quote from more than one insurer before you decide.
	If you need to borrow money and have a home loan into which you have put extra money, check whether you can take some of that extra money (which is actually yours) out of your home loan – the interest is much lower than that on a credit card or other credit arrangements. Just keep in mind that you now won’t be able to pay off your bond as quickly.
	If a divorce order allocated a portion of your ex-spouse’s retirement fund to you, don’t just leave it in his or her fund. Inflation is very likely to erode a large part of your money over the years. If possible, transfer it tax-free to a retirement fund of your own and get professional, independent advice on how to invest that money.
	Looking for concert tickets? Tixdaq searches other ticket sites to get you the cheapest tickets for the world’s 20 most popular events.
	If you are travelling to the States, remember to show your passport at massive department store Macy’s and get an 11% discount on all purchases. For non-US residents only.
	Should you need to transfer money to a preservation fund or decide that you want to put money in a retirement annuity, choose a company that offers the administration of the wrapper (the preservation fund or retirement annuity structure) practically for free. This is the case with Allan Gray’s retirement wrappers that invest in Allan Gray unit trusts. You then pay for the management of the unit trust and for your financial adviser only.
	Keep in mind that the fee you pay an independent financial adviser when buying a new investment product is almost always negotiable.
	Shoe fashionistas, you may be spending double what your colleagues are spending on the same pair of shoes. Drop in at one of the branches of discount shoe chain HQ for the same shoes which you might have spotted at shops like Rage, Zoom, YDE and more. But they’ll be half the price!
	If you haven’t got the latest free Skype download yet, we’ll try and hide our shock, but strongly encourage you to use this to cut your phone bill. If you have a broadband connection and both PC users have downloaded Skype, you can make free calls from one computer to the other. And the latest version has much better sound quality.
	Commuting stressing you out or struggling with the rising costs of fuel and car maintenance? Consider joining a lift club: www.n1liftclub.co.za in Gauteng or www.freeflowliftclub.co.za in Cape Town. We know a few people who have made great new friends this way.
	Capitec is head and shoulders the leader in no frills low-cost banking in SA. Each type of bank fee is about half what you would pay at any of the big four banks and you earn 10% on money in your savings account (for balances up to R10 000 each in 5 different savings accounts). And Capitec now has internet banking for account holders in the Western and Eastern Cape.

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