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Cape Town – With five R1 coins to his name on the last day of July, OneRandMan had a sense of success, because although it was only R5, it was the first time he had ended the month in the black. “I think I will frame these coins,” he said in the final episode.
“You come to the realisation that you’re not borrowing money from your bank, you’re borrowing money from your future,” the OneRandMan said after he was offered R1 000 on loan.
The amount on the right in the below photo is the loan and, on the left, what he would have paid back with interest. “I used to do that, but I certainly won’t be doing it in the future.”
OneRandMan received plenty of support and encouragement from friends and experts, according to Sanlam. One close friend commented: “You need to start thinking about a normal month, and how you can start making your money work for you.”
With a savings mentality and passion for the future, OneRandMan is once again single and far more eligible than ever before.
Watch the final episode:
Expert advice
Expert Johan van der Merwe, CEO of Sanlam Investments, is full of respect – and wise words – for OneRandMan’s brave participation in the experiment.
“The OneRandMan deserves a pat on the back,” he said. “It is very admirable that he has done it this way.
“Millennials are all about early gratification and maybe one needs to look at a little bit of delayed gratification,” he said. “Not take away all the nice things in life, but maybe just compromise on a few things, and start saving – today.
“A while ago I did a little calculation. If you put R1 000 away per month and earn 1% interest on it per month, which is 12% a year; after five years, you will have R82 000, after 10 years, R232 000, after 20 years, you will have just short of R1m. If you borrow money, and you have to pay back that compound interest, that is how much you will be in the red.
“He really is teaching every one of us, including myself, a big lesson in life about what the value of money is.
“You can’t say at the end of the month, this is what I have left to save, let me put that away. You have to put your money away first, and then make sure that you spend only what is left.”
Cognitive psychologist David Rosenstein sheds some light on how living R1 at a time has affected OneRandMan’s spending habit. He ends off with a parting message on how we can use this social experiment in our life.
Watch:
OneRandMan was a social experiment by Sanlam where an ordinary South African lived entirely on R1 coins for the month of July. The aim was to discover how far removed we have grown from our hard earned cash.
The project was linked to National Savings Month, an annual event on the South African calendar designed to highlight the importance of savings for the long-term financial health of the nation and its individuals.
Plastic money isn't your money. Now that I have my cards back, I shouldn't go back to crazy spending. #OneRandMan pic.twitter.com/W5BrozxAbV
— OneRandMan (@OneRandMan) August 1, 2014Day 1: lots of R1 coins. Day 31: 5 R1 coins. #OneRandMan pic.twitter.com/CSFoI3tzbK
— OneRandMan (@OneRandMan) July 31, 2014The #onerandman exemplifies the difference between merely pushing a product and telling a story #contentmarketing: http://t.co/EssnSfrnqo
— Design Indaba (@designindaba) August 2, 2014Video | One rand man http://t.co/8tJz1nYGtD
— SABC News Online (@SABCNewsOnline) July 30, 2014As promised, here's my interview with the very entertaining @OneRandMan: http://t.co/QtE7ZZFZ5Z
— Jerusha SukhdeoRaath (@JerushaRaath) July 17, 2014
Missed our special Savings Month Issue? You can still access it.
