r/PersonalFinanceZA • u/Mr_last_minute_ • 5d ago

Budgeting Trying to recover financially after bad decisions in my 20s need advice

Hi, first time posting here.

A bit of background: in my early 20s I had around R700k invested, but bad financial decisions and impulsive spending wiped it out completely.

I’m now 31, earning R38k per month, and trying to rebuild properly. I currently invest R3k/month split between:

Tax-free investment account

Index fund

Rainy day fund in an Allan Gray balanced fund

I bought a house 2 years ago at what I thought was a good price, but I massively underestimated the actual cost of owning a large property.

My monthly costs are roughly:

Bond: R11k (I pay R14k)

Rates/taxes + electricity: ~R6k

Insurance: ~R1.2k

So housing alone costs me about R21.2k/month before general living expenses, fuel, insurance, DIY repairs, etc. Most of the rest of my salary has been disappearing into maintaining the house.

I’m considering relocating back to my hometown, but decent medium-sized houses there are around R1.7m, which doesn’t seem affordable for me right now.

Current financial position:

Investments: ~R10k

Interest-free debt: R280k

I’m trying to figure out the smartest move financially:

Rent out my current house and rent/buy in the new town

Sell the house and buy another one

Sell the house and rent a flat for a few years while rebuilding financially

Would appreciate any advice from people who’ve been in a similar situation.

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u/Straight-Contest91 4d ago

You clearly can't afford to own the house you own dude, more than half your salary is gone after just your housing?? just sell and rent until you can actually afford to own a place like that.

3

u/Mr_last_minute_ 4d ago

Yeah to be fair its more about the freedom it provided In terms of hobbies and dogs however now I know the true costs

10

u/Consistent-Annual268 4d ago

There's no freedom without financial freedom. You've tied concrete blocks to your feet and think it's a life preserver. You're even further away from affording hobbies and dogs than you were before the house.