“R100K a Month Is Not Enough”: Cape Town Mom Breaks Down Her Family’s Budget in Viral Instagram Clip

A social media strategist from Somerset West has sparked widespread conversation online after posting an Instagram video breaking down exactly why a R100,000 monthly salary is no longer enough for a family to live comfortably in Mzansi. She used her own household as the example.

Magriet Groenewald posted the clip on 29 April 2026, citing a report by the Daily Investor that examined the budget of a household earning R100,000 a month.

According to Groenewald, the single biggest expense on that budget is SARS. She then walked her followers through her own family’s monthly expenses, a mom, dad, and two teenage daughters based in Somerset West in the Western Cape:

• Tax (SARS): R30,000
• Housing: R30,000
• Vehicles: R15,000
• Medical aid: R10,000
• Water and electricity: R10,000
• Education: R7,000
• Fuel: R5,000 - Lower than average because the family works from home.
• Groceries: R6,000–R8,000
• Insurance: R6,000
• DSTV: R799
• Phones: R1,800
• Internet: R1,000
• Gym: R700

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When added up, Groenewald calculates total expenses at approximately R86,000. This leaves the family in the red once tax is factored in, with no provision for savings.

“There you see, a salary of R100,000, you’re only going to have R70,000 for expenses. So we would be over that budget. And I didn’t even include savings,” she said.

She noted that costs vary depending on where in the country a family lives, and encouraged her followers to share what they’re paying for housing.

See the breakdown in the Instagram clip below:

Source: Briefly News