From the list you gave me, you have about R2,300 left a month which is not bad at all. The first thing to do is to try and see if this is all your expenses and if there are any other hidden expenses that you forget of or that may be more one month than it is another month.

The R2,300 that is left after this list of expenses is a very decent amount of money to be able to save. You don't mention if you have any debt or accounts that you are paying. Is the R2,300 going for clothes or furniture of perhaps medicine? If you can write again to answer my questions, I can give you more detailed help on your budget.

The groceries look like little to me if you have a child and perhaps you can keep your slips for about three months to see what your really spend on groceries.

Your phone is more than the groceries which I think is a bit high. Find out when your phone is up for an upgrade because then you can also downgrade your contract. Get detailed lists of your calls and see who you phone and perhaps how long you talk to try and cut it down to a more realistic amount each month than R600. R600 is almost 10% of your salary after deductions and it is too much.

What is the R900 for going off on debit order? If they are policies, look at each policy individually and ask for a second opinion if necessary. Are there any group fund benefits at work that is deducted from your salary before you earn the R8,500 in your bank account?

Remember that your bank also has costs each month and also if you have internet banking. Make sure that is also budgeted for.

Look at three months' bank statements and see how much cash you draw a month at the ATM. Then make a list of what you pay cash each month of what you gave me. Compare the two. If you pay about R3,000 in cash to the nanny or for food or whatever else but you draw R4,000 from the ATM then it means there is R1,000 that is not really accounted for.

I'm not sure what policies you have but what can also help is if you open up a 32 day fixed deposit account. It is a savings account but you earn better interest than a normal savings account and you cannot access your money at an ATM. Each time you want to draw money from the account, you give a month's notice on the amount you need and it is paid in your normal account your salary is paid into. This means you have access but not easy access and it will help you save. You can arrange with your bank to transfer a fixed amount of money each month right after your salary has been paid in to the 32 day savings account. You don't have to do it yourself each month. You can also change the amount if you see you want to save more or less.

I hope this gets you going in the right direction.