{"id":833521,"date":"2025-07-30T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=833521"},"modified":"2025-07-30T14:53:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T12:53:07","slug":"big-problem-for-south-africans-who-order-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/833521\/big-problem-for-south-africans-who-order-takeaways\/","title":{"rendered":"Big problem for South Africans who order takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Standard Bank has warned that South Africans are overspending on takeaways and fast food, with many burning through cash and having no emergency savings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of digital technology has made food delivery far easier, with ordering as easy as tapping a phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With several apps and countless franchises, spending is effortless and harder to track. Takeaways are also extremely convenient for urban households juggling 9-5 jobs and traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Standard Bank\u2019s indicators show that the spending on takeout each month would be enough to build a sizeable emergency fund.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is important as its data showed that many of its customers, even those earning a stable income, don\u2019t have immediately accessible cash savings for emergencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 45% of Standard Bank clients have no accessible emergency savings. Among Private Banking clients earning between R25,000 and R58,000 a month, more than a third have no emergency savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is concerning, especially in an uncertain economic environment where even a small buffer can make a big difference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bank’s data also showed that customers spend an average of R775 monthly on takeaways and food delivery, excluding groceries and supermarket meals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is based on transactions at 14 major fast-food franchises. Many sampled customers are multi-banked, meaning that actual spend may be higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers in their late 20s and mid-30s lead this spending. The higher the income, the more they spend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those earning roughly R60,000 spend over R1,000 monthly, which peaks at R1,300 during holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are often family meals, and this group likely views it as a time-saving trade-off,\u201d said Head of Money Management and Advisory, Doret Jooste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lower- to middle-income earners feel the pinch far more. Those earning under R20,000 spend about R472, and those earning R25,000 spend R615 monthly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average spend rises to R748 for those earning under R60,000, which accounts for about 2.5% of disposable income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These groups tend to have higher debt, and frequent low-value purchases can strain mid-month cash flow. \u201cIt feels harmless at the time, but the frequency can add up,\u201d Jooste warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the only place to cut<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Convenience spending is often unplanned and sometimes unconscious. It can hurt disposable income without a clear budget or reduced grocery spending. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jooste said households should review monthly spending, identify impulse triggers and set a cap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCapping this spend, whether as a set amount or a percentage of income, can free up money for savings,\u201d said Jooste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, cutting takeout spending from R615 to R400 could free up R2,500 annually. Invested tax-free at 10% annually, this could grow to over R41,000 in 10 years. *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subscription costs are another possible area to review. Low- and middle-income customers spend R336 and R482 monthly on subscriptions, while Privae clients spend R1,255. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halving takeout and subscription spending could free up R400 for low-income earners, R615 for emerging high-income earners and over R1,100 for banking clients, which is enough to start saving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know that growing one\u2019s income isn’t always easy because there are external factors we can’t control,\u201d said Jooste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the goal isn\u2019t to cut these convenience spending entirely, but to highlight small shifts like packing a lunch to work, which can ease cash flow and build stronger financial habits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Standard Bank warns that customers are spending too much money on takeaways and not putting enough away for emergencies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":709840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[499],"class_list":["post-833521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-standard-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833521"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":833571,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833521\/revisions\/833571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}