Stress impacts us all in different ways. For me, it’s insomnia. I tend to be able to fall asleep easily most nights, but when I’m stressed I wake up at about 4am with my mind already racing before my eyes adjust to the dark. Stress is a cruel alarm clock; it makes it impossible to fall back asleep as my mind starts ruminating. Then come the cold sores – a tell-tale sign of a suppressed immune system. Then the irritability triggered by the smallest provocations – spilled coffee or a slow Uber drive.
Work stress does this to me. But it’s now a familiar beast with its quarterly deadlines and office politics. I know the playbook: hit the gym, go for a run, skip the wine, chase more sleep. Exercise dulls the edge; sobriety keeps me steady. But financial stress? That’s a different monster, one that no amount of time on the trails will subdue.
Financial stress is a constant threat, a dark cloud then doesn’t go away. It’s the dread of checking your bank balance, or the constant mental gymnastics to stretch your monthly income, or the looming anxiety of an unpaid bill. Unlike a bad day at the office, it doesn’t fade with a run or a good night’s rest. It’s a persistent, oppressive weight that settles in your bones.
While I was a doctoral student in Oxford, I got myself into some bad credit card debt. It was my first credit card and one that I didn’t really ask for. HSBC invariably deemed Rhodes Scholars low risk, with a regular monthly stipend and a proverbial big brother, in the Rhodes Trust, to bail out as a last resort.
Things started off innocently enough. The occasional big purchase or flight here and there. At first I was diligent, paying off the monthly amount outstanding with prudent regularity. Spotting a winner, HSBC increased my spending limit from £2,000 to £20,000 and before I knew it, I was over my head. Unable to pay off what was owed with compounding interest swallowing more and more of my stipend. I couldn’t go out with friends; I couldn’t even eat in the subsidised dining hall. I lived off oats and pasta pesto. The £2 sandwiches from the acerbic deli proprietor on North Parade were the culinary highlight of my day.
I’m not alone in this. South Africa is facing a severe personal debt crisis, with household debt surpassing R2.5-trillion and the average debt-to-income ratio sitting at about 65%. I’ve spoken to some of our users who are spending up to 80% of their income on debt repayments. Invariably they need to keep borrowing to stay afloat.
Earned wage access (EWA) platforms like Paymenow and PayCurve have been a lifeline for many as an affordable alternative to personal loans and loan sharks. EWA allows employees to access a portion of their earned but unpaid wages before payday. Unsurprisingly, these platforms have seen tremendous growth, with Paymenow alone going from processing R20,000 in 2020 to nearly R250m in early 2025.
The problem is, as the 12-million over-indebted South Africans will tell you: once you’re on the treadmill it’s very hard to get off.
What’s worse, financial stress often becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. Sleep deprivation leads to poor decision-making, affecting job performance or forcing you to miss work, which threatens job security, which amplifies anxiety about money – making a bad financial situation worse. The constant fight-or-flight response that financial stress triggers actually impairs the cognitive functions – planning, problem-solving, impulse control – most needed to navigate financial challenges effectively.
Getting out of the hole
So how do you wrestle with a problem that feels so intractable? The first step is to face it head on, with no sugarcoating. Assess your situation with brutal honesty. Gather your bank statements, credit card bills, store receipts. Lay it all out like a crime scene. What’s coming in? What’s going out? Where’s the bleed?
You have to know exactly how much money comes in each month and exactly where it goes. It means listing every debt, every interest rate, every minimum payment. It means confronting the gap between income and expenses without the self-deceiving narratives we tell ourselves.
This isn’t about self-flagellation; it’s about clarity and facing the often-uncomfortable truth of one’s spending habits. It is an exercise in radical honesty. Denial only tightens the noose.
Next, build a budget that’s realistic, not aspirational. Forget the influencer spreadsheets promising financial freedom in six months. Map out your essentials – rent, utilities, groceries and minimum debt payments. Then allocate what’s left to debt reduction and, if you can, start building an emergency savings fund with the ambition of building up to at least three months of your monthly expenses stashed away in a money market fund you can access quickly if need be.
A budget isn’t a punishment; it’s a battle plan. The key is consistency – check in weekly and adjust as needed.
Debt is often the heaviest anchor. Tackle it strategically. Financial advisers speak of two primary methods: the “snowball” method (clearing the smaller balances for quick wins) and the “avalanche” (paying off high-interest debt first). Pick whichever works best for you. If you’re drowning, consider options like debt counselling or working with service providers like Empowerfin, which specialises in identifying and tackling predatory lending.
Cutting expenses is the next frontier. This doesn’t mean monastic deprivation. Start with the low-hanging fruit: cancel unused subscriptions, cook more meals at home, shop second hand. Question every “necessity”. Do you need that streaming service? Can you carpool or bike to work? Take lunch to work instead of a buying that R50 takeout. Small cuts compound. Then redirect those savings to your debt payments or emergency fund.
Increasing income is harder, but worth exploring. Side hustles – freelancing, tutoring or driving for a rideshare app – can help plug gaps, though they come with their own stress. Ask for a raise if you’ve earned it; the worst answer is no. Upskilling through online courses or certifications can open doors to better-paying roles. It’s not instant, but it’s an investment in future relief.
None of this is a cure-all. The path out of financial stress isn’t paved with positive thinking or breathing exercises, neither does it vanish with a spreadsheet or a side hustle. It requires discipline and hard-fought steady progress that gives you space to breathe, to sleep past 4am, to let the cold sores heal. And in that space, you find something close to control – not over the numbers, but over how they define you.
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