Take advantage of free stuff

The recession might be over but that doesn't mean we're not all on a tight budget due to the effects of it. With the World Cup kicking off in just a few days, we're all going to have to pinch some pennies if we want to avoid getting a fright when our credit cards arrive at the end of the month!

Luckily there are still a few free stuff out there - all of it legal.

You don't need to make Bill Gates richer to have a handy office suite of your PC.

If you think that pirates belong in the open water and you don't have the R1000 - R2000 or so to splash out on Microsoft Office then why not opt for a free office program called Open Office?

Open Office comes complete with a word processor, spreadsheet tool, presentation program, drawing tool and a database system - most of us do not need anything more than that. Open Office is compatible with Microsoft Word so there won't be any issues sharing your documents.

Get anti-virus programs - for free

This is another common one - instead of buying an expensive anti-virus program, go with AVG's free version. It comes with anti-virus and anti-spyware and it will check to ensure that every page you visit is safe.

Check listings for free stuff

You might not know this, but there are people out there who are willing to give their stuff away for free - no catch. Browse around on websites like Gumtree, Cape Ads or FreeCycle.org and check for stuff that people are giving away or selling at a bargain. Some stuff might need a little bit of TLC, but it will definitely be worth the effort.

Cheap eats 

Lastly, with all the soccer fever going around, all of us will probably be quite keen on hitting a few pubs for the games, but this can quickly become very pricey so do have a look at the list of the restaurant specials published on iMod and take advantage of them.

If those are still out of your price range - remember that Spur runs a two-for-one burger special every Monday and Steers has their Wacky Wednesday special.