Surviving the Greater Depression - if your domestic worker can survive on a shoestring (and the average student) so can you

We don’t have many old people who remember the Great Depression to share their experiences with us. But if you really want to know how to live off the smell of an oil rag, before you fire the domestic help ask them how they manage on the miserable salary they have been receiving from you. - Jim Jones

clipped from www.thetimes.co.za So let’s be practical. None of this is your fault, and the people who got you into the mess in the first place have a responsibility to help you out. Remember, there are all sorts of inessentials that you don’t need — a television licence for example. The television doesn’t stop working if you don’t have a licence and if you do not buy one you will be in the company of millions of other South African and will avoid detection for years. Then, when the demands come from the debt collectors, simply deny that you have a TV. As for the taxman, why not try the line that he should allow the domestic servant’s wages as an off-set against your tax liability. You can always point out that failure to agree could, with the best will in the world, lead to the maid and gardener being put out on the street and dependent on the UIF. Sars is very busy at the moment putting on a kindly face for taxpayers.