SPENDING habits of consumers have changed significantly over the last century," says Octogen director Paul Slot. "In the 1900s, food and housing took up 60% of household income and virtually nothing was spent on transportation. Fast-forward to 2016, and a different picture emerges; in a modern economy lifestyle aspirations influence consumer spending far more than in the 1900s."Octogen, which specialises in financial wellbeing, have monitored the spending patterns of South African consumers in the past 15 years, "during which time the capacity to spend has improved, but the spending mix has changed", says Slot, who breaks consumer spending down into three categories: household expenditure; risk expenditure — including insurance, medical aid, pension saving and own saving for retirement — and rent and debt repayments.Based on the model developed by Octogen, financial security tends to be achieved by those consumers who spend in the region of 35% of their after-tax income on household...
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