Daily Freedom Number Race Against Time

Finances, Reviews, Technology, Making Money Online

Daily Freedom Number Race Against Time

Posted By: Banelihackpacker | 14 February 2025

Finances, Reviews, Technology, Making Money Online


In about 79 minutes' time, I am going to see a guy about a thing!

 

That guy is the malome who owns that internet cafe by the Debonairs Pizza, but even though my PC appears to be dying again, this time around it's not for the same reason as when it died last time. So I'm not going there, this time around, to ask to use one of his computers to create a Windows bootable USB drive with which to reinstall the OS on my machine.

 

I still have the one I made there last time, but the reason I'm going to hit him up is because when I was there that last time, he took my number on the recommendation of the fella who runs his internet cafe out of the old Vodacom-branded container in the backyard he's renting from my uncle.

 

Bra Wizba was coming straight from a funeral, so that's why he hadn't opened up his internet cafe and print shop for the day, coming to this malome's one for some stuff that had something to do with the funeral proceedings. He asked that malome if he knew me, and then proceeded to tell him about how I'm some kind of computer-guy genius, so that malome requested I leave my number with him, citing that he'd hit me up and slipping in that I could perhaps even work right there at the internet cafe.

 

So the thing I'm going to see him about is indeed that possible job, of which my eagerness to land was indeed reinforced by the clear signs that my laptop is dying. And, although I'm going to discuss my Daily Freedom Number in this video, the reality is I currently don't have any income source beyond my monthly SASSA 370 grant, which I'm definitely not getting this month having had some money come into my personal account.

 

They say, "Trying to fight the system from within eventually corrupts you," but I definitely won't let that happen to me, if of course I do indeed land this job. That means I won't raise my living standards to a level that has me spending all the money I earn and thereby falling into that cycle of having the next payday never quite coming soon enough.

 

Enough about that though, because I don't even have the job, yet...

 

Right, so the Daily Freedom Number...

 

I agree with this definition that comes up as the first search query result for Daily Freedom Number, using Firefox. It's by the CapableWealth.com blog and reads: "Your Financial Freedom number is the amount of passive income needed in order to pay for your daily living expenses."

 

So yeah, a Daily Freedom Number is indeed also known as a Financial Freedom Number.

 

Now, that means my DFN is the amount of money I need to generate passively, to live the Digital Nomad life of travelling, and I guess what would then be only checking-in on and maintaining the passive income streams I would have built-up. That amounts to R 1,334 nett, which is R 1,814.30 gross when including the taxes I'll have to pay in that subsequent personal income tax bracket of nett R 487, 243.50 and gross R 662, 673.95 per anum.

 

That's a pre-tax gross of R 55, 222.83 per month, which then works back to that R 1,814.30 per day. We'll work with the nett daily amount of R 1,334, which I came to by adding together two categories into which I've broken the daily expenses, namely the daily equivalent of what will be a monthly flight fare, and a daily living allowance.

I'll get back to the daily flight fare equivalent in a bit, which comes up to R 534. Otherwise the daily living allowance is basically for everything to do with my daily living expenses at whatever destination I'd be in.

 

So the daily living allowance is comprised out of the main components of accommodation, which I'll generally be comfortable spending around the R 500-mark for; and the remaining R 300 for transportation, food, supplies, activities, etc.

 

That adds up to R 800 for the daily living allowance, which as comfortable as it generally is in the context of the types of destinations I love to explore, has fluid boundaries between the elements it contains.

 

What I mean by that can perhaps be best explained with a practical example I've actually lived.

Having found an insanely cheap and very comfortable place to stay long in Phuket Thailand, the R 475 effectively saved from paying only R25 per night at that specific hostel could be re-directed any which way I feel, like an upgrade on the transport (perhaps renting a car or bike, or rolling in a limo for a change), an upgrade on the food, like dining at a classier joint while out on a date or just to treat myself, an upgrade on the activities, like enjoying the premium package of whatever activities I'd be intrigued by, etc.

 

The savings could also just be put away for those destinations I'd be hitting in future, which have no budget-traveller options, like how the second cheapest place I could find in the Seychelles was about R900+.

 

Merely allocating that R 800 daily budget while exploring a new destination will keep me duly occupied, along with getting lost in the activities to enjoy, and checking-in on the passive income channels to be maintained. It'll all certainly make for some great YouTube content for a viewer such as yourself to enjoy, draw inspiration from, and if you're part of the gwapsa.co.za movement, that YouTube content will ultimately have some financial value for you as well.

 

That covers the R 800 for the Daily Living Allowance allocation, bringing into focus the R 534 daily equivalent for the monthly international trip, which will indicatively typically be flight.

 

We're working with what I'll simply call "comfortable" amounts here, because the R 534 daily equivalent for the monthly international flight adds up to R 16,000 per month, which comfortably covers a monthly return flight from O.R. Tambo International to effectievely any destination in the world, applying the same aggregation or averaging as with the fluid daily living allowance expenditure.

 

So, for example, if I'm going to fly to Sao Paulo on that allocated monthly return-flight budget of R 16,000, a Google Flights fare check reveals for there to be such a round-trip flight for under R10, 000. That's effectively R 6,000+ in savings, which can be allocated to future flights that might be to a destination that costs considerably more to get to.

 

It goes even further than that though, because what if I decide I'm going to stay in Brazil for the full three months us South Africans get, visa-free? That would mean there's an accumulation of R 16,000 x 2 months that I didn't take that monthly international flight which, in in addition to the indicative savings of R 6,000, amounts to R 38,000 available for a subsequent flight ticket.

 

So yeah, that's my daily freedom number - R 1,334 nett. Now it's time to work towards realising it!

 

Stay tuned for a detailed unpacking of how I'll be doing that by making sure you're subscribed.

 

My musical playlist today:

Tom Jones - Sex Bomb

Celine Dion - Call the Man

Khadja Nin - Wale Watu

Jimmy Dludlu - Winds of Change

Enya - Dark Sky Island (Album)