We have a brand new innovation this week: you can also listen to the newsletter click here. For a podcast on last week’s Thought on Budgeting, click here. How are you getting on with drawing up your budget and keeping track of expenses? I have an excel file on my computer named “My money”. It now runs from July 2014 … 24 March 2025 – Managing Money 2: Good Debt, Bad Debt

This week and for the rest of this month we’re talking money. You probably think you have so little, there’s no point in thinking about “managing” it. Only rich people do that, right? Wrong. Smart money principles will help you to stretch your money now, and if you manage it well, you will enter the working world … 17 March 2025 – Managing Money 1: Make a Budget

We are revisiting some of the stuff we talked about in our first letters in September, so this will be familiar to those of you who’ve been receiving it since then. It is the basic building blocks for finding order in your life, for the rest of your life. Worth thinking about again, or for … 10 March 2025 – What to do First

We all find ourselves exclaiming about how time flies. Heavens, it’s March already! Here’s a comment from a first-year student a few years ago: “The majority of students complain about time and we are the ones who always misuse ‘this little time’ we have by sitting around complaining about the accent of that lecturer and … 3 March 2025 – Getting Control of Time

The academic year has started. Classes are running. You’re getting the hang of what is where and how to get there. Other things have been sorted out, or are in process. Accommodation. Books. Food. So many things to pay attention to, much of it new, especially if you’re a first year. It can feel totally … 24 February 2025 – Managing Time and Money

For some of you, this may be the first time that you have had to look after yourself when it comes to food. This can be very stressful, especially on a small budget. Here are some pointers from other students who have walked this road:Try to eat more fruit and vegetables than anything else. A slice of … 17 February 2025 – Feeding Yourself on a Small Budget

Three weeks ago, on 20 January, we sent you a slightly longer newsletter titled “It’s up to me … and I can.” That was based on interviews for a podcast series called Change in One Generation – the stories of people just like you, who came from difficult circumstances and found their way to success. They all … 10 February 2025 – Yes You Can

The beginning of the year is a topsy-turvy time, full of excitement and a little bit of fear, full of people and events and busyness. First years are independent for the first time, free to make your own choices. It may be the first time that you have some money in an account that you … 3 February 2025 – The Double-Edged Sword of Freedom

Universities and colleges across the country are gearing up for the start of the 2025 academic year. For new first-year students, admission to a tertiary institution is a reward for all the hard work in matric—a gate pass to a new future. But returning students are also in for another transition. Whether you’re new or … 27 January 2025 – Where are you going? Setting clear goals

In December and January we’re doing something different in this newsletter. We’re bringing you inspiration, pure and simple. In 2023, life insurer BrightRock commissioned an 8-part podcast series called “Change in one Generation”. It tells the stories of South Africans who grew up in difficult circumstances, but managed to change the trajectory of their lives dramatically, succeeding far … 20 January 2025 – It’s up to me … and I can