These stories are quiet interesting….
I cant believe these people are doing what they do. Maybe they havent heard of ozbargains?
http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/feeling-the-pinch-take-…
Feeling the pinch, struggling people trying to survive
Turd on 08/09/2014 - 11:43
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If you are holidaying in Hawaii you are not "feeling the pinch" nor "struggling".
She purchased tickets during the Jetstar launch sale and is staying for free at a timeshare resort in exchange for attending a 4 hour presentation.
Anddddd…. that's the same cost as staying at home in Aussie? I don't think so. So no, IMHO not struggling.
Hawaii for Christmas?
Her "struggle" sure sounds luxurious.
at christmas it is winter in Hawaii…
… and?
Winter or not, Hawaii is not the divey motel down the road.Christmas is the most expensive time to visit Hawaii (despite it being the poor weather season). Hotels / Condos are double the price of any other time of year.
She is not 'struggling'.
I've been there around Christmas myself and the weather in Hawaii is perfect, around 32-35c - sunshine every day. It's also by far the most expensive period.
Like the aussie battler who won keno but just came back from overseas holidays.
Affluenza?
She's ridiculous and makes me angry.
She's already paying too much for food and rent in my opinion, claims she's struggling. Also goes out for drinks, and Hawaii… And doesn't pay even pay for electricity.
She's living the high life compared to many people like me.
Insulting.
Why read anything from news.com.au?
"news" - now there is a misnomer for that site
Well it's where news is made (up).
exactly, they are feature interest articles to get more "clicks"
I love ABC news, informative and freeYou sound just like my mother. She refuses to watch ANY program on ABC channels, too.
lolol
"I love ABC news, informative and free"
That's why Abbott wants to kill it. He can't control it!
Having a quick read of the profiles, I don't think any of these people are really struggling. For example with the first lady, I know living in Sydney is expensive, but surely she could find another modest shared apartment for less than $300/week?
They all need @realfamilyman to coach them!
+1 for realfamilyman!
He should have his own reality show. Instead of queer eye for the straight guy it would be tight arse for the spend fast.
I would watch.
“The reality is if we save half our monthly disposable cash, it will be 40 years until we can afford a 5 per cent deposit to buy a house at the average Sydney house price."
That's indicative right there that you should reduce your outgoings.
None of these people are genuinely struggling, they are just living beyond their means, plain and simple. Why don't they do an article on real strugglers, the people living on disability support (legitimately) or the pension.
Because that would be just downright depressing now wouldn't it. The news is for entertainment these days, not any useful information.
I honestly don't know how some people manage and think that long term support payments (for things like disability) should be increased.
I've found that the genuine people struggling tend to whinge about their circumstances less than all the rich 'battlers'. The people in that article sounded ridiculous, it sounded like satire.
I've actually heard rich people sitting whinging to real battlers.
No matter what peoples situation is they will always include a reason why certain groups should get more money and it usually happens that those people happen to fit into that category
e.g: one lady pensioner 80 years old thinks that all the deceased estates (houses particularly) should go into a lottery for pensioners, and she should be included (she who owns a house in a prime location with a pool and a granny flat, and a new car) thanks to some generous schemes available to her over the years that are no longer available and using a lot of charity still to this day)
her reason is that worked hard to do the "right thing" and buy a house and work her butt off to do it, saving scrimping and doing odd jobs for people (so not paying tax)
I see a lot of seniors that whinge about young people and give their donations only to seniors charities because they only feel empathy to their own age group (or otherwords their own circumstance),
Likely to be a trolling post? I can't see how people with
- Christmas holidays in Hawaii,
- single guy with 6-figure income eating out $200 a week
- family with $245k income a year (but $55k credit card loan)
are struggling. Looks like they need better financial planning than cheaper living cost.
On the other hand, there are indeed people struggling in our society that don't get reported in news article like this. The homeless. The disabled. Students paying hefty Sydney rent who struggling to find part time job.
Maybe a bit harsh, these were people she could interview while having her inner-city latte, she didnt have time to go further from the coffee shop.
Reads like an article from The Onion..
This post should really be called #firstworldproblems
I dont feel sorry for any of the people in the 3 scenarios. I think it is a trolling article.
There are people out there actually struggling. Try telling a real struggler that there are individuals on $100k or couples on $250k and see their reaction.
Maybe Rohit and Robyn should move in together.
He spends $200 a week eating out and up to $200 on groveries
Maybe he can buy the groceries and Robyn can cook for him. She saves on all her groceries and he gets all his meals and saves $200 on eating out.The last woman I have no time for - she chooses to live in the city on massive income but wants taxpayers to pay for her child care? Also, they live in the city but spend up to $600 on fuel etc. WTF? If they need to be out of the city that much maybe they should live outside the CBD!!
Also she said they would have to SAVE for 40 years to get just a 5% DEPOSIT on an AVERAGE sydney house.Avg house right now is about $750k.
5% = $37500.If she saved just 10% per month or cut other expenses, she's be there in 2 years, not 40.
Makes you wonder about people's mentality and how people like that get high income jobsWhat's a trolling article. Does the site publish to provoke people?
The 600 pm is probably the car repayment, with minimal spent on fuel…
That was probably for her new Audi
It definitely feels like a trolling article that is written to enrage readers (it sure worked on me).
You're seriously defending $60k a year on childcare for 2 kids? That is beyond ridiculous. Tax payers shouldn't be paying that but neither should she or anyone else!!!
People "choose" to live in the city because the jobs they're qualified for don't exist in the country.
The really tragic thing is single income dads on just over $150k. If they're doing overtime and long hours for their wage, they'd be better off on $149,999 and getting Family Tax Benefit B. They're actually doing those extra hours and missing out on time for themselves and for their family so that they can earn less. If wife can't work for any reason or heck is just busy raising the kids instead of letting strangers do it, they get to work themselves into the ground and hardly see their family. And businesses are just squeezing staff more and more so don't tell me dad should just work less. No one can afford to throw away a job anymore.
There was a time when working hard meant you had something to show for it.
Hmmm you have described me… I need to find out about this family tax b.
I probably one feel a little sorry for Robyn, 52, single, on an average wage but not an average life. People often underestimate how much enjoyment comes from being part of a family, and older singles would have more outgoings due to the extra time they have to kill, and the economies of scale don't work for them as well as families.
The others can seriously get f*****
On the other hand, there are indeed people struggling in our society that don't get reported in news article like this. The homeless. The disabled.
One Direction fans.
Justin Bieber fans more likely (if he has many left….)
I would be ashamed to tell anyone that I am struggling if I can afford to go to Hawaii for holiday.
Jessica said when she took parental leave to have her second child, she wasn’t entitled to any leave entitlements because she had been on a contract. As a result, her family took out loans to maintain their standard of living which saw their personal and credit debt spiral to almost $55,000.
Didnt think to tone down the lifestyle to your reduced income level? Seriously… facepalm
childcare is setting her back $5000 a month.
get an au pair.
The whole leave entitlements thing is crap.
She would have been entitled to the exact same things (baby bonus, parental leave payments etc) as any other working person. Not all employers offer extra maternity leave, and those that do don't usually offer that much in the grand scheme of things - certainly not enough to cover her '$55K needs'. She would have been paid at contractual rates - ridiculously high compared to 'regular' employees for a reason…all the benefits you 'miss out on' are built into your pay. Yet despite this, she still couldn't manage. You get about 8 months warning that you are going to have a baby…plenty of time to adjust your spending and save some of your contract-rate-pay for when you don't have as much coming in. Seriously, where do they dig these people up?
Yes that's what I hated the most. "took out loans to "MAINTAIN" their standard of living". FFS idiots.
Those are the sort of people who can't be bothered to even think about to reorganise their finances. Struggling my arse. Take away their income for a few months, their four walls and let them live on the street. They would shut up for the rest of their lives. Reminds me that I need to install news corp blocker
News Ltd. are notorious for these sorts of articles.
The median full time wage in Australia was $57k in August 2011, wages haven't gone up much since then. An individual on $104k is in the top 10% of income earners, and a household on $245k is in the top 5% of households.
The only reason why those people are 'struggling' is because they're financially illiterate and live way above their means.
EDIT: I'll add, I think it's those sorts of attitudes that have led to the growth of 'entitlement' culture and middle class welfare in this country.
Welfare payments are supposed to be for those truly in need, as a safety net so people don't fall into poverty, not to subsidise the lifestyles of rich and middle class at taxpayer expense.
Struggling people my ass i have firend on 100,000 plus tell this all the time. if eat out every night live like a king you will be poor for rest of your life.
Single on 6 figure income eating out on $200 per week? Jesus.
Whilst at uni I ate instant noodles every day which cost $15/week. If I wanted to eat out I'd go down to the local Dominos near closing time and ask if they have any orders nobody came to pick up, sometimes nabbing 2 large pizzas for $5.
At work I managed to fund 1 whole month of lunches for about $19 (20 days/Mon-Fri) by only buying loaves of reduced to clear bread (~1.50/loaf and lasts 3 or 4 days) and dipping it in Homebrand chicken flavoured cup-soup ($1/pack of 4).
Sounds ghetto, sacrifice your health so you can afford material possessions when you are older. Students are just lazy when they buy the cheap mi-goreng packets , they subsequently have higher risk of various cancers when older. You can buy bulk meat and freeze it or cheap veges with rice, why wouldn't you have a balanced diet. Students tend to be time rich and cash poor, unless they have a well paying part time job( therefore not need to budget as extremely), thus have the means to cook in bulk but choose not to because of laziness. They mask this as the skill to be "frugal" or thrifty when they are simply neglecting their health.
You do realise that a lot of asians in particular eat instant noodles, if it were to cause cancer I'm sure the asian population would decline significantly. I actually don't know what sort of noodles you're buying that costs ~$2 a packet. You can get them generally for 50cents or so? Others buy in bulk and it's significantly cheaper
No not cancer, but it increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/south-koreans-defend-instant-no…You really think the rich Han Chinese in Beijing or Hong kong eat instant noodles. They consider that to be poverty level of food.
Mi goreng is the sh*t though, love that stuff
@mmd: Yup its mostly the salt content that gets to you. Think about it, its almost preservative free (just dried noodles) compared to the chemicals that go into sausages and other processed/preserved food.
Yes the ocassional instant noodle or junky style food won't kill you. The people who tend to just eat mi goreng by itself for weeks on end to be white lazy stoners. People need to get out of their head this stereotype that all Asian people eat is packet noodles.
msg + other chemical flavor enhancers are just as bad as preservatives .. heart killing rancid oil's taste great but isnt doing your body any good at all
plus the noodles are pre-deep fried in oil
"Students tend to be time rich and cash poor, unless they have a well paying part time job"
What about people with unwell-paying part time jobs? Many students I knew were time poor and cash poor. Those who were time rich and cash poor would probably want a job to help make ends meet…"They mask this as the skill to be "frugal" or thrifty when they are simply neglecting their health."
Those two things have almost nothing to do with each other. You can be both, neither, or either.Yes, a poor diet can have life long consequences. But it seems to me like you are making assumptions about the post you replied to. The guy could have been genuinely poor in both time and money. Alternatively, he could just have shitty eating habits and once he gets more money he'll pay for pizzas full price… no 'masking' going on.
Agree with Davo93, it's largely laziness and lack of care for ones health. Things like supermarket brand frozen vegetables, brown rice and tuna aren't that expensive and a heap healthier / tastier than those carb-loaded noodles with chemical sauce.
I've done that, used to call them 'burn offs'
dunno the source of this quote, but it goes something like:
"The cost of living is not raising, however, the cost of lifestyle is"
I think it summaries this article pretty well (seriously, $55k loan to "maintain living standards"? $5000/month in child care? holiday in Hawaii? regular small holidays to Melbourne and Gold Coast?)
anyway, I don't think News Ltd was trolling, but rather, simply pandering to their usual reader base.
I don't think News Ltd was trolling, but rather, simply pandering to their usual reader base.
They surely are — just see how fired up OzBargainers are condemning the people interviewed in this article. Many of us probably visited that link multiple times and share it with our other struggling friends. We are certainly trolled :)
lol nothing new for News Ltd really, these kind of articles pops up every couple of months.
iirc the last one was about a couple complaining about how they were struggling on a $150k income, I guess the bar has now been raised to $245k………
when will we start seeing Gina Rhinehart complaining? oh wait………
IS childcare really $230 a day? Thats ridiculous. Either way, that is almost half the income, why not one of them just stay at home and cancel out the daycare cost. Some people are just so dumb.
Childcare without any rebates, for us is about $100 a day. Some rebates etc are income tested.
With 4 kids, $230 is not unrealistic.according to the article, that couple have two kids.
Sorry, I misunderstood "JESSICA, 31, family on four on $245,000" as family with 4 kids… :/
Having said that, $100/day childcare is in VIC.
Inner-city in Pyrmont, @ $115 per kid still sounds "normal". Childcare in the Melbourne CBD is just as high, if not more.Again, pinch is greater, without the childcare benefit and rebates, if they don't qualify for it. Factually, the numbers make sense, but of course, in their scenario, it's also a lifestyle choice.
that is almost half the income, why not one of them just stay at home and cancel out the daycare cost. Some people are just so dumb.
probably more then half, at $5k/month or $60k/year, at a rough guess it will probably be around $85k to $90k of pre-tax income, if they both make $120k each that is 2/3 of one person's pay check, eitherway surely you can hire a full time 9-5 nanny for less then $60k/year?
again, lifestyle choice there, if childcare is expensive at the posh inner city suburb they are living in, then move to somewhere that is cheaper, it is quite simple really…………
WOW what are those people wasting money on?
Article is a joke! These people need a good budget.
These are the sorts of people politicians have to pander to these days in order to get elected. It's no wonder government handouts are out of control. We'll never get any meaningful economic reform while idiots like these whinge and carry on about being "struggling" and wanting the government to give them middle class welfare.
Looks like you have falling for News Limited's BS.
Subsidies to big mining companies and big business are worth billions of dollars and hurt the Australian quality of life more than a struggling pensioner on $200 a week.
"Right now, the federal government spends around $10 billion a year as handouts – in the form of subsidies, cash, tax breaks and infrastructure - to big polluters.
The average Australian pays 38 cents of tax per litre of fuel. But big mining companies operating in Australia pay just 6c a litre."
$245k per year on household income yet they cant afford the bills? You must be kidding me. If I got that household income I would be able to travel oversea every year and got my own house not renting…. wondering how true the article is.
I managed to do that on less than half that income, but I was smart enough to move from Sydney to somewhere much more affordable.
This is absolute rubbish.
My wife an I survived as students almost entirely on CENTRELINK payments (about 30k a year) for almost 3 years! We paid every bill on time and not only that, our savings INCREASED in that time.And we had a comfortable lifestyle. We went out for dinner once a month or so, cooked nutritious meals (never ate 2 minute noodles), etc.
You have got to be kidding me that a couple on 245k is "struggling". As others have said, the problem is the excessive outgoing - not the lack of income! People like this make me really mad…
Centrelink pays out 30k a year?
What have I been missing out on.
15k each, 30k total for both of them.
First world problems.
Obvious trolling, but I keep meeting people who think the same.
They have a mortgage within 10km of Sydney ($4000+ a month), they "save money" on going out by getting full Foxtel ($150mth) they get the private health insurance the government tells them they need ($300). They "need" two cars, and second hand ones might be unreliable (2 x $800mth). The negative gear an investment property ($500 month) for their retirement. They send the kids to private schools because the media says local schools are bad because everyone is taking out their kids ($2000mth or more). They have a 'simple' holiday at a rented place on the beach at Xmas ($2000wk!). They don't buy generic brands "because the quality is no good" (hundreds?).
Basically if you are an unthinking consumer of current affairs or tabloid media, you are struggling on any pay packet because the costs of things you "need" are so high.My family is lucky enough to live a better lifestyle on a fraction of the costs by thinking about what are 'needs' and what are 'wants'.
Bravo Keggs!!!
Seems ,like the old saying "live within your means' is dying out rapidly here in Aus.
I dunno about selling papers.. I have adblock and when I read that article I dont pay anything so how do these online sites get money? Traffic to the website?
only the really tech savvy people have adblock. for example at university, i study cs and all the cs people have adblock (even the lecturers lol) but my other friends who do like commerce, med etc.. they have no idea it exists (or there are such things as addons to a browser)
Wow these people earn a fortune, but living beyond their means, how typical.
Cost of living correlates to average/median pay anyway. Companies have to profit in between. The money is yours at the end of the day. You can put it in a house, a car, stocks, food or eneloop batteries. Don't blame cost of living for the consequences of your decision because the cost of living is what got you your money to begin with.
i think news limited puts out these articles to try and encourage people to spend spend spend and say its normal to spend all of your credit card limit
I'm on 39k a year, supporting a family of 4 and I don't think I'm struggling. I just live upon our means. There are genuine people out there worse off which cannot support themselve! These people are a joke!!!!
That's really amazing c2k.
Could you please provide some tips on what you do in terms of managing the finances. I don't have any kids yet but I would like to prepare myself financially when it happens and I think I could learn a lot from you. (Btw, I am genuinely interested hence asking the question; not trolling)
I am on a combined income of about 100k and we are struggling but that is simply because we made stupid mistakes/purchases for a couple of years in the beginning of our relationship plus I have a partner who loves to spend money on nothing (he is shocking but I always give in to him grrrrr). Completely our own fault and deserve to be struggling like we are.
We are slowly getting on top of our finances but its been a long road to recovery.
Dont think these people should be effectively saying "oh poor me" when its their own fault they got there in the first place.
$245k p.a still struggling just go kill yourself srsly
I almost killed myself, laughing…
Wenlei should write drama/soap scripts… rather than news articles.Robyn is going to Hawaii at Christmas… and struggling?
Rohit, a single young bloke on $104,000, $70,000 debt can be cleared sooner than expected, then the surplus cashflow is multiple times than the surplus of a low income earner with no debts. 'Coz Somebody who's debt free earning $40,000 and spending $35,000 can save only $5,000 a year. This Bloke can effectively save far more in fewer years.
Jessica, in a family on four on $245,000 (including 2 kids)… really struggle with the cost of living! cannot break the cost of living cycle!By the way, how did her editorial manager let this article get through??
Hope she spares other readers! Or gets some 'real' life experiences…News.com.au has learnt the art of trolling.
The purpose of the article is to get people to fill in the survey below it.
They have that survey on a lot of the other recent finance articles.
They should try living on 20K a year.. Now that's a-strugglin'!
I think less than 15k would be a struggle. 20k is more than sufficient to live comfortably as a single young adult in Queensland
Live comfortably? Are you serious? Survive would be a better word. You could only live comfortably on a pension level income ~$17,000 a year if you don't have to pay for housing.
“I get paid monthly and once I load my transport card, do the grocery shopping and pay my bills, it’s all gone."
Why do so many people complain about being paid monthly? It's the same amount of money, people.
And yeah, pretty sure you don't spend all your money on transport, groceries and bills. And even if you did, you certainly wouldn't spend it all immediately after receiving it (who buys groceries once a month?).
someone once told me that apparently, fortnightly pay cycle is to help people who has no self discipline/budget skills………
We use to get paid weekly, then the boffins calculated the company can make a motza in terms of interest if they took it to fortnightly… this was extended to Monthly for high income earners
Its also why they tell you to put you entire income into your loan and draw out what you need from it, instead of a normal account then transfer when required.
This tiny 0.0001% extra makes a big difference over time
Miss out on interest!
Although, it sounds like too many people max out their credit, so a fair chunk of wages probably go to paying cards and loans all with interest.
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Its a newspaper
First RULE read the story rather than the headline
Robyn, the first lady "struggling" says
Struggling with bags maybe….