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Heard on the street

Johannesburg - Heard on the streets this week:

Incomes hit by food, transport cost

According to FNB, consumers spend a substantial amount of their salaries on transport and food. The bank looked at the spending habits of FNB Gold account holders who earn between R7 000 and R25 000 a month. The data were collected between May and October last year.

Of their total spend, Gold account holders dedicate about 28% to food and beverages, while up to 13% goes to transportation.

Khathu Ramoliko, the head of FNB Gold sub-segment, says: “Unsurprisingly, food constitutes the biggest expenditure for most consumers, which means that, after spending money on food, whatever is left is spread across other essentials such as healthcare (1.86%) and clothing (8.10%). While the price of petrol has gone down, expenditure on transport is likely to remain one of the biggest expenses for households.”

FNB says that consumers are also spending a lot of money on airtime and data, with Gold customers spending an average of R262 a month. The bank says the frequency of purchases suggests that consumers spend on impulse instead of using properly structured telecommunications packages, which could help them.

Emotions could influence car accident rates 

According to Discovery Insure, driving when you are experiencing any form of emotional high or low can have a similar effect as driving when fatigued.

To help you stay calm, avoid accidents and reduce the need to claim from insurers, Discovery Insure provides these tips to improve your focus:

. Make sure you have enough time for your trip by leaving earlier to avoid unexpected traffic issues.

. Turn off message notifications on your phone as these can cause further anxiety.

. To calm yourself, take deep, slow breaths, and count to five as you inhale and exhale.

. Don’t dwell on the actions of other drivers as this can arouse your anger and make things worse.

. Be courteous. Cutting in front of other drivers, changing lanes erratically and speeding will, at best, save you a few seconds of travel time, but could land you and others in hospital or jail.

. Pull over at a safe location when you are overwhelmed by emotions such as anger or grief. Get out of the car, go for a short walk or get yourself a drink of water. Try to hold any disturbing emotions at bay until your journey is over.

Consumers are cautious about secondary home buying

There may have been a time when owning a second home for holidays or to rent out was normal and affordable, but homeowners are increasingly becoming wary of this luxury. According to FNB’s Estate Agent Survey for the fourth quarter of last year, the secondary home demand percentage was mildly lower than in the previous quarter, which represents a third successive quarter of decline.

FNB put this decline down to weak levels of business, consumer and investor confidence late in the year as a result of the country’s weak economic growth. Homeowners were also hesitant to make any moves until the ANC’s elective conference had run its course and produced results in December.

“One category of second home buying that has declined to almost insignificant levels is the percentage of buyers buying a home for use as a primary residence by a family member,” said FNB’s report.

“Whereas this category reached a multiyear high of 2.32% of total home buying in the third quarter of 2015, this percentage was significantly lower in 2017, averaging only 0.7% for the year.”

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