Comfortable · 9/10
You can afford it — but it'll cost you more than you think.
Can I actually afford this?
Put the month you already have next to the thing you want. Take-home pay, expenses, the debt you already repay, and what you still want to save. Then see cash, credit, or finance in rands, including what the interest really adds.
The month you already have
What should still be saved after this purchase, every month.
The thing
An instalment sale or personal loan. The starting rate is an illustrative 17.75%, not a quote.
September 2026 prime is 10.75%. Replace this with the rate on the quote.
Amount financed
R18,000
a new laptop
Comfortable
You can afford it — but it'll cost you more than you think.
After expenses and current debt, R10,000 is left before this purchase. The repayment is R896, the savings goal still fits, and interest takes the true cost to R21,515.
Affordability score
9/10
Purchase price
R18,000
True cost with credit
R21,515
Monthly payment
R896
Left in the month
R9,104
Left in the month is take-home, minus expenses and the debt you already repay, minus this repayment.
If you saved R896/month instead, you could buy it in 21 months without debt, and skip about R3,515 in interest.
Left after expenses
R14,000
Current debt repayments
R4,000
Left before this purchase
R10,000
Savings goal
R2,500
Left after the savings goal
R6,604
Same purchase, other terms
Price, deposit, and rate stay put. Only the term changes. A longer term lowers the debit order and raises the interest.
| Term | Repayment | True cost | Interest | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 mo | R3,157 | R18,943 | R943 | 8/10 | Yes |
| 12 mo | R1,648 | R19,777 | R1,777 | 9/10 | Yes |
| 24 mo | R896 | R21,515 | R3,515 | 9/10 | Yes, costly |
| 36 mo | R648 | R23,346 | R5,346 | 9/10 | Yes, costly |
| 48 mo | R526 | R25,267 | R7,267 | 9/10 | Yes, costly |
| 60 mo | R455 | R27,278 | R9,278 | 9/10 | Yes, costly |
Before you decide
- Keep an emergency fund you can reach without selling the thing. Then clear expensive debt, such as a credit card or store account, before taking on a new one. The debt payoff calculator compares those balances.
- A car is not just the instalment. Insurance, fuel, and a service still arrive. The car affordability calculator adds those lines.
- If the whole lifestyle, this purchase included, needs a different salary, the salary calculator turns the month into a gross figure after PAYE.
- The guide Can I actually afford this? walks through the same score, including why a repayment that fits can still be the expensive way to buy.
FinWise
See the purchase inside the rest of the month
FinWise keeps the debit orders, the expenses, and what you actually saved, in rands. This calculator is a sketch. Your transactions are the record.
Explore related resources
Can I actually afford this?
Why the sticker price is the wrong number, and what the score is looking at before you sign.
Can I afford this car?
A car is a purchase plus insurance, fuel, and maintenance. Run that month separately.
Debt payoff calculator
If a card or store account already costs more than this purchase, start there.
Salary you actually need
Turn the whole month, including this purchase, into a gross salary after PAYE.
Assumptions
- Default illustration: take-home R32,000, expenses R18,000, current debt R4,000, savings goal R2,500, and a new laptop at R18,000 on finance, no deposit, 24 months, 17.75% a year.
- Comfortable means the new repayment is at or under 10% of take-home and the savings goal still fits. Over 10% and at or under 20%, or a goal you have to skip, is a stretch. Over 20%, or a repayment the leftover cannot cover, is not on these numbers. That is a household rule of thumb, not a bank score and not a National Credit Act calculation.
- The score is out of 10: headroom after the purchase and the savings goal, how heavy the new payment is, existing debt plus the new payment, and whether interest adds more than 10% to the price. It is then kept inside the verdict band. 8 to 10 is comfortable, 5 to 7 is a stretch, and 4 or under is not on these numbers.
- Credit and finance use a nominal annual rate, compounded monthly. September 2026 prime in the worked examples on this site is 10.75%. The credit default of 22.5% is that prime plus 11.75 points. The finance default of 17.75% is prime plus 7 points. Neither is a quote. A linked rate will move when prime moves.
- "If you saved instead" puts the same monthly repayment toward the cash price, with no interest. Initiation fees, monthly admin fees, and VAT on those fees are not itemised. Put them in the price.
- This is a planning aid, not financial, credit, or tax advice. Replace the rate with the figure on the quote before you sign.
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