Nomzamo Khosa · Elevate Finance Partners · 20 October 2026 · 9 minute read

Averages, medians, inflation, and ten swaps you can test for yourself before payday.

Stats SA’s latest figures put average salary monthly earnings at R30,611, up 4.1% in a year. A number like that is easier to read with three questions in hand: what does it measure, who does it describe, and what does it buy today? This post looks at all three, and then at some ways people compare and test their own spending.

A Personal Note

I’ve had months where the headline and my own bank balance told two different stories, and what steadied me wasn’t a better headline. It was looking honestly at what was actually in front of me and remembering where my provision comes from.

I depend on God for every need, and I also believe in knowing my numbers. I’ve stopped seeing those as opposites. This post is written in that spirit: it sets out what the figures say, leaves the conclusions to you, and offers a few ways to test what works for your own household.

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

What the Average Salary R30,611 Measures

The figure comes from Stats SA’s Quarterly Employment Statistics. It covers the formal non-agricultural sector, includes bonuses and overtime, and describes May 2026. Average earnings were 4.1% higher than a year earlier and 2.6% higher than in February 2026. In the same release, total employment decreased by 14,000 to 10.425 million between March and June 2026.

Two things follow from how it’s built. It describes people in formal employment, so it doesn’t include everyone who earns a living. And it is an average, which brings us to the question of who it describes.

Average vs Median

An average adds every earning together and divides by the number of people. A median lines everyone up from lowest to highest and takes the person in the middle. When a few earnings are very high, the average moves and the median barely does.

A hypothetical illustration: five people earn R5,000, R6,000, R7,000, R9,000 and R120,000 a month. The average is R29,400. The median is R7,000. The average sits above four of the five people.

Stats SA’s own explainer on earnings makes the same point: a handful of very high earnings can shift the average substantially while leaving the median unchanged, which is why its household-survey earnings reports use medians. The most recent report in that series covers 2022 and puts the median monthly earnings of employees at R5,417. In that same distribution, three in four employees earned less than R15,000 a month, the top 10% earned above R26,500, and the top 5% above R35,000. Medians also varied by province, from R7,500 in Gauteng to R4,200 in Limpopo.

One caution. These come from different surveys. The household survey covers all employees, including informal and domestic work, while the employment statistics cover the formal sector, and the years differ, with wages having moved since 2022. The two aren’t directly comparable. They’re placed side by side here to show how different the shape of the picture can be depending on which number is quoted.

The Inflation-Adjusted View

For the same month, May 2026, average pay rose 4.1% while headline consumer inflation was 4.5%. On those two published figures, the average pay packet bought roughly 0.4% less than a year earlier. By August, headline inflation was 4.4%, with annual fuel inflation at 20.0% and transport inflation at 8.8%.

None of these inflation figures includes October’s fuel adjustment, which will appear in later releases. Inflation is also measured on a national basket of goods. The rate a household actually experiences depends on what it spends its money on, so a long daily commute and a short one can produce very different personal inflation rates from the same headline.

This Isn’t Only a Local Story

Households in many countries have faced stretches where prices rose faster than pay. The cost-of-living squeeze in the United Kingdom in 2022 and 2023 is one widely reported example. People in different places have developed different ways of keeping track, and a few are worth knowing about, without any suggestion that one is better than another:

Kakeibo (Japan) is a handwritten household ledger created in 1904 by Hani Motoko, often described as Japan’s first female journalist. Spending is recorded under four headings: needs, wants, culture, and unexpected extras, and the month closes with four reflective questions about what came in, what was set aside, what was spent, and what could improve.
Envelope budgeting assigns a set amount of cash to each category and spends only from that envelope.
The 50/30/20 framework, popularised in the United States, splits take-home pay roughly into needs, wants, and savings or debt repayment. It was built around US costs, so the percentages are a starting point to test, not a rule.
Rotating savings groups exist under many names: stokvels in South Africa, chamas in Kenya, susu in West Africa, tandas in Mexico, and chit funds in India.

Each of these is a way of looking at the same money. Readers can try one for a month and see what it shows them.

Needs, Wants and Wishes

Kakeibo’s first step is sorting spending into needs and wants, and it’s a step many households recognise. There’s a third list I’ve found worth adding, and it’s the one I’ve learned the most from: wishes.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6 (ESV)

Needs are the non-negotiables, the things I’m trusting God to supply. Wants are what I’d like and can plan towards. Wishes are the dreams I bring before God and hold loosely. Writing all three down is a way of being honest about what’s on my heart and about what’s on the page. It isn’t a formula that guarantees any particular outcome, and trusting God for provision sits alongside, rather than instead of, handling carefully what’s already in our hands.

I’ve put the three lists on a printable page, along with a space to record the numbers before payday. It’s linked below.

Ten Swaps to Test Before Payday

None of these is a recommendation. Each is a comparison, and the result belongs to the person running it. A swap only saves money if the alternative meets the same need for your household, and one that doesn’t suit your life isn’t a saving.

#	Swap to test	What to compare
1	House brands in place of name brands	Price per 100 g, 100 ml or unit, and whether the product does the same job for your household
2	Bulk packs in place of smaller packs	Price per unit, and whether everything gets used before it spoils or expires
3	Home-prepared meals in place of takeaways	Cost per meal across one week, including groceries and time
4	Airtime and data: contract, prepaid, SIM-only or Wi-Fi	Cost per GB and per minute, plus out-of-bundle rates, using your last three months of use
5	Bank account packages	Monthly fee plus per-transaction charges, using each bank’s published fee schedule and your own statement
6	Insurance quotes at renewal	Premium, excess and what’s covered, since two quotes compare fairly only when the cover matches
7	Generic medicines in place of branded ones	The price of the generic equivalent, which a pharmacist can identify, against the branded product
8	Electricity use	Prepaid units or kWh used per week before and after changes such as LED bulbs, timers or switching appliances off at the wall
9	Own vehicle, lift club, taxi or e-hailing for specific trips	Cost per trip, including parking and time, for the trips you make most often
10	Subscriptions and one-off purchases	What was actually used last month, and whether a pre-owned, refurbished, shared or borrowed option exists for items used only occasionally

A simple way to run any of them

Write down what you currently pay, for the same period you’ll be testing.
Write down what the alternative would cost.
Try it for a month and note anything it changed: time, quality, convenience.
Mark the result as keep, not for me, or retest later.

The printable includes a table for exactly this, with the ten swaps already listed.

Download the free Payday Planner →

Planning It in One Place

Everything above comes down to the same thing: seeing your own numbers and deciding what to do with what’s within your control. That’s what Elevate My Finance was built for. The 360° Financial Check-Up gives you the full picture, the Budget Planner lays out needs and wants against your real income, the Debt Freedom calculator shows what each debt is costing, the vehicle finance calculator models a deal before you sign anything, and the Wealth Builder tracks your tax-free savings. It doesn’t steer you towards any fund or product. It lets you test your own numbers before you decide anything.

I’ve opened 30 free lifetime spots for early users, and there are still spots open. Start your 360° Financial Check-Up and claim yours here: checkup.elevatefinancepartners.online

Talking It Through

Some people find that numbers only make sense once they’ve said their thoughts out loud. A Financial Clarity Consultation is a conversation for drawing those thoughts out: what’s on your list of needs, wants and wishes, and where the numbers sit against it. To book, WhatsApp 073 509 8750.

A Closing Word

An average can’t tell you what your month looks like, and a median can’t either. Only your own numbers can, and you’re free to look at them with honesty, with prayer, and without hurry.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink… Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25 (ESV)

Reduce what you owe. Grow what you own.

Blessings & Abundance,

Nomzamo

Elevate Finance Partners

NCA for F&Is · RE5 · COB 1/2/3 · National Certificate: Banking Services Advice

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Nomzamo Khosa is a financial educator, not a financial advisor. The content shared on Elevate Finance Partners is intended for general educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Figures cited: average monthly earnings per Stats SA’s Quarterly Employment Statistics (May 2026); consumer price inflation per Stats SA’s Consumer Price Index (May and August 2026); median earnings per Stats SA’s “Monthly earnings in South Africa 2017-2022”. The hypothetical example is for illustration only. For personalised guidance, WhatsApp 073 509 8750.

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