By Nomndeni Ndlovu
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) disclosed a R10.6 billion
shortfall for 2025, meaning that there is a possibility some students may experience
funding delays.
The financial aid scheme distributes a monthly allowance of R 1 716 to university
students living in residences. Most students often struggle between balancing the
spending money on either textbooks, groceries and or toiletries. To survive, all that
is required is a little bit of discipline and with consistency, you are good to go.
Amahle Mkhize, a journalism student at Durban University of Technology (DUT),
mentioned that since she lives far from campus, she often has to take taxis to get to
and from campus, she has now resorted to using the buses contracted to the
university to commute to campus.
“Usually, I am a person who sleeps a lot and wakes up very late in the morning.
My residence, Mazepa, is far from City Campus, and it would take me ages to
arrive, so to avoid arriving late, I caught a taxi or Uber. After seeing how much
money I was wasting, I eventually opted to take the school bus instead,” she
explained.
Mkhize added that she used to spend roughly R80 a week, as a taxi costs around
R16f including return fare from res to campus.
“I spent a lot of money on transport,to the point where I’d run out of food and
actually run out of money to buy groceries. That is why I decided to wake up early
so that I can catch the bus. In that way, I end up saving more than R300 a month,
which I can use on other necessities,” Mkhize said.
Another student, Sphila Nkomo, a third-year Civil-Engineering student at Howard
College campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, said that he always sets a budget
before the end of the month to avoid spending money recklessly.
“One thing I usually do is draw up a budget for myself where I allocate R200 to
my savings account for emergencies, I save another R100 on my Shoprite gift card
where I can buy food mid-month when I am broke,” Nkomo explained.
Nkomo added that he also chooses not to cook every day, opting to cook only three
times a week.
“I usually cook food that I will eat for two consecutive days to avoid cooking every
day. When I don’t cook, I eat cereal, it’s one of my favourites,” he added.
According to Edufunds, a financial advice site for students, students should write
down all their expenses to get a clear picture of where they spend their money.
“Before making a budget, you first need to know how much money you will
receive. Once you know your income and expenses, you will have to set the limits
for each category. To make sure that you follow your budget, you have to keep
track of your monthly expenses. This will help you to see where your money is
going and where you can cut other costs.”
Students were also advised to avoid making mistakes such as overlooking small
expenses, failing to save, and relying on credit or unnecessary loans.
