Payday weekend often means living like a king or queen but come Monday, there might be little to nothing left after all those nasty debit orders have come off.

"It's not uncommon in South Africa for people to live from paycheck to paycheck or to be broke a day after payday," said Old Mutual's Head of Financial Education, John Manyike.

What's more, our debt levels have been gradually going up since 2017 and then there's the matter of the high petrol price.

The problem, as the Reserve Bank says, salaries aren't increasing at the same rate as inflation.

Manyike believes South Africans must be harder on themselves.

He says if you can't afford to eat out during the middle of the month then you can't afford it on payday either.

"On payday, people want to go buy takeaways or they want to eat out and so on, the last week before payday people will start telling you I don't like meat you know I want to eat healthy stuff. Healthy stuff could be milk and pap, what's wrong with eating pap and milk on payday.

"Don't live a high life on a loaned budget," he advises.

eNCA