“You Saved 2 Years of Your Book Allowance for Braces”: Woman Shows Transformation Journey

• A university student shared her journey of getting braces after saving her National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) book allowance for two years instead of buying textbooks
• The content creator revealed that her braces cost R27,000 in total, including extractions, and she managed to pay it through a combination of saved allowance and monthly instalments
• South Africans flooded the comment section with admiration for her determination, while some were curious about how she managed to save her book allowance while still studying

A young university student decided to invest in her smile by saving her book allowance for two years to afford braces. Content creator @sssweetie shared her transformation journey on TikTok, showing a series of slides where she turns from side to side displaying the progress of her orthodontic treatment.

Watch the TikTok clip below.

The saving journey

In the video captioned:

"POV: You saved 2 years of your book allowance for braces," the young woman can be seen proudly showcasing her smile transformation. She included a heartfelt message with her post explaining her journey: "Day 781 with braces. I had a rough time with dark spots last year so please be kind, I was hesitant to post this because of the condition of my skin and teeth🙏🏽"

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When questioned about how she managed to save up for the expensive dental treatment, @sssweetie revealed that she had access to all her textbooks at the university library, which allowed her to save her NSFAS book allowance instead of purchasing books. NSFAS typically provides students with a book allowance of R5,200 per year, which means she managed to save approximately R10,400 over two years.

When asked how she got to save and pay the complete amount, she explained that she used her saved book allowance as a deposit and covered the remainder through monthly instalments, which she completed paying off last year.

SA reactions

South Africans were impressed by the young woman's determination and financial planning, with many asking questions about her experience and sharing their own braces journeys.

@Leon advised:

"When you get them off, WEAR YOUR RETAINER!!!"

@stop_shop gushed:

"You look amazing doll, both your teeth and skin. How much were the braces?"

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@Nomfundo_M🇿🇦 replied:

"Thank you so much!!! My total was R27k including extractions."

@ROMEO🇳🇦 complimented:

"Only person I've seen thus far that actually used braces for the right reason."

@Maisha inquired:

"How did you save🥺"

@Nomfundo_M🇿🇦 explained:

"For the first 2 years I noticed that for my course I have access to all of my textbooks at our university library so I decided to save my book allowance and not use it😅"

@Katlego questioned:

"Total of 24k for braces. And she saved 2 years worth of book allowance...kanti nithola book allowance every month?"

@Nomfundo_M🇿🇦 clarified:

"It was R27k I forgot to include the price for extractions. The R10k I saved from 2 years book allowance was the deposit and I paid the rest in monthly installments. I finished paying last year✨"

Other student stories

• Briefly News recently reported on a young lady at a campus who came up with an interesting way to generate income at her residence.
• In another inspiring story, Kabelo Motaphi Kekana, South Africa's top-performing special needs matric student from 2024, is pursuing a law degree at the University of the Witwatersrand despite initial concerns about navigating university life with a disability.
• A self-funded Emergency Medical Care student took to social media with a unique fundraising approach, asking 17,000 people to donate R10 each towards her university fees of over R177,470.

Source: Briefly News