How to Manage Your Money When Costs Rise Faster Than Your Pay

Nomzamo Khosa · Elevate Finance Partners · 13 October 2026 · 9 minute read

The minimum wage rose R1.44 an hour in March. Petrol has risen nearly R10 a litre at the coast since. This isn’t a post about blame. It’s about knowing your numbers, checking every interest rate, growing your income on purpose, and why a bigger salary only helps once you can manage your money.

I did a quick sum this week that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. The national minimum wage is R30.23 an hour, before deductions. A litre of 95 petrol now costs R30.25 inland. One hour of work, one litre of fuel. Whatever you earn, that comparison says something about how quickly the ground can move under a budget, and what actually protects you when it does.

A Personal Note

I’ve had seasons where my income went up and I still felt behind, and seasons where it was interrupted and I discovered how little room I had built into my life. In both, what decided how I came through wasn’t the number on the payslip. It was whether I actually knew my numbers: what came in, what was committed, what interest I was paying, and what was left.

For a stretch of my working life I lived in Polokwane and travelled to Mokopane and back every day for work, and I was paying a lot more for travel because of it. There are still plenty of people who commute like that every single day, between towns, and for them a fuel increase isn’t a headline. It’s a monthly line item that just got heavier.

I’m not writing this from above anyone’s situation. Fuel at this price lands differently depending on where you stand, and I’d rather be honest about that than pretend one set of tips fits everyone. What I can offer is a way of thinking that holds up whether you earn the minimum wage, the average, or well beyond it.

“Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.” Proverbs 27:23 (ESV)

Knowing the condition of what you’ve been entrusted with comes before growing it. That’s the order of this whole post.

One Hour of Work, One Litre of Petrol

Here are the numbers, side by side:

• National minimum wage: R30.23 an hour (since 1 March 2026), or R1,360.35 for a 45-hour week, before deductions
• 95 petrol: R30.25 a litre inland, R29.38 at the coast (since 7 October)
• A 45-litre tank at R30.25: R1,361.25

That last line is the one that stopped me. A single tank now costs about the same as a full week of minimum-wage pay, before deductions. How often you fill up depends on how far you drive and in what traffic, so here’s the range. A tank every three weeks comes to roughly R1,960 a month, a tank every two weeks about R2,950, and a tank a week about R5,445. Against a month’s minimum wage (around R5,895), that’s about a third at the lighter end and about 92% at the heavier end. The heavier end isn’t hypothetical. Polokwane to Mokopane is roughly 60 km each way, so a daily round trip of about 120 km adds up to around 2,600 km a month, which is close to a tank a week.

Move up the income scale and the picture changes, though it doesn’t disappear. Stats SA’s latest figures put average monthly earnings at R30,611, up 4.1% on a year ago. That’s a little over five times the minimum wage. On a rough conversion, it works out to around R157 an hour, so the same tank costs just under nine hours of work instead of a full week. But a tank every two to three weeks is still roughly 6–10% of that average salary, before the instalment, insurance, or maintenance, and about 18% if you fill up weekly. Earlier this month I shared a guideline of keeping total vehicle costs to roughly 15–20% of take-home pay. Fuel is only one line inside that, and the guideline is measured against take-home, which is lower than gross.

What the Averages Do and Don’t Tell You

Two honest caveats about that R30,611. First, it’s an average, and averages are pulled upward by higher earners, so many people in formal employment earn less than that figure. Second, even where pay is growing, the pressure on it is uneven. The minimum wage rose R1.44 an hour in March. Since then, 95 petrol at the coast has gone from R19.92 to R29.38 a litre, almost R10 more, or about 47%. Average earnings grew 4.1% over the whole year. Those are different time frames, but the direction of the squeeze is the same, and it’s the reason “wait and see” isn’t a strategy right now.

A Higher Salary Isn’t a Solution to What You Can’t Yet Manage

This is the part I most want you to sit with, because it applies at every income level. A raise is a multiplier. It multiplies whatever is already true about how you handle money.

If you know where every rand goes, an extra R2,000 a month can clear a debt, build a buffer, or fund something that matters. If you don’t, the same R2,000 tends to vanish into a higher card limit, a bigger instalment, a nicer phone contract, and a fuel bill that quietly grew, and a year later you’re earning more and feeling exactly as stretched. That isn’t a character flaw. It’s what happens when income grows faster than clarity.

It’s the same principle I wrote about at the end of September: how you handle R100 is how you’ll handle R100,000. A bigger number doesn’t build the habit. It just makes the gaps more expensive.

Step One: Know Your Numbers

Before you try to earn more or cut anything, get an honest picture of what you have:

• Your real take-home pay, from your bank statements, not your memory
• Every fixed commitment: rent or bond, insurance, debit orders, school fees
• Your actual transport cost at today’s fuel price
• Every debt, with its balance and its interest rate
• What’s left, if anything, once those are covered

If that list feels uncomfortable, good. It means you’re looking at the thing that matters. The 360° Financial Check-Up in Elevate My Finance walks you through exactly this, in one place.

Step Two: Check Every Interest Rate, and Ask

Interest is the quietest drain in most budgets, and it’s the one place where simply asking can change the number. Go through every account that charges you interest: credit cards, personal loans, store accounts, vehicle finance. Write down the rate on each. Then compare it against what your idle savings earn. It’s common to find money sitting in an account paying very little while a debt elsewhere charges far more.

Then call and ask for a rate review. Something as plain as this is enough:

“I’ve been a customer for [X] years and my payments are up to date. Can you review the interest rate on my account?”

There’s no guarantee of a yes, and some providers won’t move. But a clean payment record is a genuine reason to ask, and it costs you one phone call. To see why it’s worth the effort, take a R40,000 balance. At 24% versus 18%, the difference is about R200 a month, money you’re not collecting right now. Some economists are also warning that sustained high oil prices could keep interest rates elevated for longer, which makes knowing and negotiating your rates more important, not less.

Step Three: Grow Your Income on Purpose

Cutting costs only goes so far, and the October fuel increase alone adds roughly R600 a month for someone who fills a 45-litre tank weekly. So income matters too. None of what follows is a promise of a number. These are the places worth looking:

Prepare your case for a pay review. Don’t ask in general terms. Document what you’ve contributed, find out what the market pays for your role, and choose your timing. If salary is capped, ask about other value: a travel allowance, flexible hours, or training.

Build a skill the market pays more for. Ask whether your employer funds training, including SETA-funded learnerships. A recognised qualification is one of the most reliable ways to move up a pay scale over time.

Turn an existing skill into a small second income. Start with something you already know how to do, one offer and one client. Keep records, and remember that extra income needs to be declared for tax.

Sell what you no longer use. It isn’t income, but a one-off sale can plug a gap this month without touching a debt payment.

Claim what’s already yours. Keep a travel logbook if you claim for business travel, and make sure you’re using the tax credits and deductions you’re entitled to, such as medical scheme credits and retirement contributions. That’s money you’ve already earned.

Whatever you add, decide in advance what each extra rand is for. Income with no assignment tends to disappear.

Three Ways to Get Around, One Honest Comparison

Whether you already have a vehicle or you’re deciding if you need one, it helps to see your options side by side before you decide. Here’s an illustrative comparison for a 20 km daily round trip, over roughly 22 working days a month:

Illustrative estimates only. Actual costs vary by city, route, vehicle, and time of day. The own-car figure assumes about 26 litres a month (roughly 6 litres per 100 km) at R30.25 a litre. For longer commutes, whether in metros such as Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town or between towns, like Polokwane to Mokopane and back, every line in this table grows, so price your own route rather than relying on any average.

Read that table carefully, because the fuel line is the smallest part of the story. The own-car figure covers fuel only. In the example I shared earlier this month, a car with a R6,500 instalment cost about R10,550 a month once insurance, fuel, the tracker fee, and maintenance were added, and fuel was R1,600 of that. So the real comparison isn’t R786 against R600. It’s your true total cost of ownership against the alternatives, along with what your time, safety, and flexibility are worth to you.

None of these is the “right” answer. A taxi can be the most economical choice on a fixed route. A car can be the most practical for someone juggling errands, school runs, or work that involves travel. E-hailing can fill the gaps, and plenty of people mix two or three of these. What matters is that the decision is made on your numbers, not on habit or on the instalment alone.

For people who commute between towns, the distance itself can be the biggest lever. Lift clubs, flexible or remote days where the job allows, a travel allowance, or, over time, living closer to work or finding work closer to home are all worth putting numbers against, because a daily commute is a cost you pay every working day.

That’s the management part. Know the full cost of how you currently get around, know what the alternatives would cost, and decide on purpose. You can run that comparison in the Budget Planner and the vehicle finance calculator inside Elevate My Finance, and if a purchase on finance is part of the decision, this is exactly where a session fits, which brings us to the next step.

If You’re Buying a Vehicle on Finance, Let’s Get You Ready

If a vehicle purchase is on your horizon, this is the most expensive moment to walk in unprepared. The instalment is only part of what a car costs you, and the table above is a reminder that there are always other ways to get from A to B. My approach is simple: be ready before you shop, not after. Know what you can carry, know what to ask, and know what each structure, balloon or standard, would mean for your budget. A balloon payment isn’t the problem and neither is a standard instalment. Walking in without your numbers is.

A Vehicle Finance Guidance Session (R750) is built for exactly this. It’s independent, with no bank or dealership affiliation. We map your real commute, compare the true cost of the options you’re considering, and go through your numbers, so that whatever comes back, an approval, several, or a decline, you’re prepared for it. If you’re planning to buy on finance, call or WhatsApp 073 509 8750, and let’s get you ready.

Your Know-Your-Numbers Checklist

☐ Written down your real take-home pay and fixed costs, from bank statements ☐ Recalculated your transport cost at today’s fuel price ☐ Listed every debt with its balance and interest rate ☐ Asked each provider to review your rate, and checked what idle savings earn ☐ Prepared your case for a pay review: contribution, market rate, timing ☐ Identified one skill that could earn a small second income ☐ Claimed what’s already yours: logbook, medical credits, retirement contributions ☐ If buying on finance: got ready before shopping, not after

Download the free checklist →

Know Your Numbers in One Place

This is what Elevate My Finance was built for. The 360° Financial Check-Up gives you the honest picture, the Budget Planner rebuilds your budget around real costs like fuel, the Debt Freedom calculator shows what each debt actually costs you, the vehicle finance calculator models a deal before you sign anything, and the Business Tools (cash flow forecasting and runway) help if you’re building a second income. It doesn’t steer you toward any fund or product. It lets you test your own numbers before you decide anything.

Start your 360° Financial Check-Up here: checkup.elevatefinancepartners.online

A Closing Word

You can’t control the price at the pump or the size of the next raise. You can control whether you know your numbers, whether you’ve asked about every interest rate, whether your income is growing on purpose, and whether you walk into a big decision ready. Be strategic in all of it, starting with the one rand you can account for today.

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

Related Reads

• Petrol Just Crossed R30 a Litre — Here’s What Actually Helps
• How to Know If a Balloon Payment Is Right for You
• How to Choose Between Debt Snowball and Avalanche in South Africa

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: national minimum wage of R30.23 per hour effective 1 March 2026; fuel prices per the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources effective 7 October 2026; average monthly earnings per Stats SA’s latest release. Worked examples are illustrative and will differ from your own situation. For personalised guidance, WhatsApp 073 509 8750.

Minimum Wage Fuel Prices Budgeting Vehicle Finance