How Is Everyone Doing? Is The Economic Pressure Affecting You?

moo on 07/04/2019 - 18:17

Keen to start a bit of a conversation to ascertain how fellow OzBargainers are doing in the current economic climate. Personally I’ve noticed that the cost of daily essentials and groceries have gone up a lot on price although albeit covertly (e.g. same price but less quantity/quality). Also noticed that a lot of things which were made locally, is now being manufactured in Asia, for example Huggies nappies which is now either made in a China or Singapore. If the supply chain of businesses are being leaned and optimised (well more than usual anyways), is this a sign that we may we moving to tougher times?

I can’t imagine what it would be like for smaller retailers and restaurant owners, it must be pretty tough? I also can’t help but wonder the impact (and influence) OzBargain has on the sustainability of smaller businesses… are we actually doing them a disservice in the long run? Plus OzBargain also tends to also drive consumers to purchase things which they typically wouldn’t have…

So yea.. just a bit of a reflection post. Keen to hear your thoughts, retailers and consumers alike.

General Discussion

Comments

  • Ti94 on 09/04/2019 - 21:25
    -2

    I feel the slow down in business but got a 100% increase in salary as I switched job last year. It is slow yes but still feel secure within my job and still plenty of work out here in Sydney at least to keep us going till the next boom.

    TLDR If you work hard enough and look hard enough you will not have to worry about struggling with cost of living as here in Aus we have the best of suppliers from everywhere in the world (price lower due to competition).

    • netjock on 09/04/2019 - 21:53
      +2

      Wow someone lives in a bubble.

      • Ti94 on 09/04/2019 - 22:39
        +1

        no not really as I just see the real true cost of living which is not much at all if you can cut out all the unnecessary luxury things.

        As with the salary it is because I started off my 1st job with a very low salary and work my ass off to improve my own situation after that.

        • WhyAmICommenting on 10/04/2019 - 11:43
          +1

          Ever heard of the Australia tax?

          • Ti94 on 10/04/2019 - 13:52

            @WhyAmICommenting: What do you mean?

            • gimme on 10/04/2019 - 14:57
              +2

              @Ti94: He/She means as Australians we pay a premium to live in a country that has many many perks over the majority of the rest of the world. So the net effect is in most cases in your favour.
              At an Ozber level, other than obviously the relatively high taxation rate most of us have the opportunity to make a lot of smart(er) choices and circumvent the proverbial Australia Tax. Just need the right mindset, effort and creativity. My total expenditure has actually reduced over the last 5 years while improving quality of life. I put it down to the Ozbargain* mentality. *I'm only talking about maybe 5% of the community here based on my experience on the forums. The rest are mostly a source of entertainment, surprise, amusement or cringe.

    • misu p on 10/04/2019 - 16:42
      +7

      Did you just TLDR yourself with exactly the same about of text except for 1 char?

      • WhyAmICommenting on 10/04/2019 - 16:51

        Powers of observation > 9000!

      • Ti94 on 10/04/2019 - 20:06

        Lol just realised that too yep I just did that

  • wonderboy on 10/04/2019 - 08:03
    +2

    Making $20k more since I switched jobs last year but I've stopped spending my money on frivolous things. Only big purchase this year will a new phone and maybe PC because they are 5-6 years old.

    • amazonaddict on 10/04/2019 - 20:06

      But $10k is not yours to spend right? Gotta give it to the tax man.

      • serpserpserp on 10/04/2019 - 22:53

        Gotta give it to the tax man.

        Not if he went from 70k to 80k etc.

        Plus all the tax write offs he'll get on his phone and computer purchases!

  • db1709 on 10/04/2019 - 11:38
    +6

    Financially I'm doing relatively well by the sounds of things and this is due to a combination of hard work, luck and family support (I was able to live at home longer to save up a deposit for my apartment). I earn a decent wage and make extra repayments to my mortgage, go out most weeks, and travel overseas once a year. I bought a nicer one bedroom apartment instead of an average two bedder so I didn't take on massive debt which would restrict my lifestyle. It's a constant balancing act between being disciplined and throwing every spare dollar onto my mortgage whilst still making sure I enjoy myself by booking a holiday or buying something that pops up on here!

    I'm more concerned about the social changes in this country rather than the economy right now, however I can see why people are concerned and there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that GDP per capita (more important than overall GDP in my opinion) hasn't done anything and has in fact gone backwards (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-03/households-living-sta…).

    I think the reason we're all pissed off is that our parents' generation could buy a larger property and pay it off within a decade if they worked their asses off, regardless of the type of job they had, whilst our generation has been conned into thinking university is the be all and end all and ended up with huge debt and the opportunity costs of taking longer to earn a decent salary when you could have been better off doing a trade from the age of 18, at least from a financial perspective.

    I'd be interested to know what it's like in other countries - it seems to me that the entire Western world is experiencing this, and it's only Asia (China mainly) who is actually experiencing rising wealth and living standards across the world.

    • serpserpserp on 10/04/2019 - 22:50

      whilst our generation has been conned into thinking university is the be all and end all and ended up with huge debt

      To be fair that debt is technically free money.

      you could have been better off doing a trade from the age of 18, at least from a financial perspective.

      Probably from the age of 15 or 16. Still there are a number of tradies out there that struggle. However if you can play that game well you will do great. But tradies take risks too when they strike out on their own, or try and build up from a 1 man band to a large scale business, it isn't a super easy path and the culture for tradies isn't to everyone's taste (and women are pretty excluded from it).

    • ihbh on 12/04/2019 - 14:30

      it's only Asia (China mainly) who is actually experiencing rising wealth and living standards across the world.

      They are coming of a much lower base than you or I. Would you rather earn a couple of hundred dollars a year and get 5% pay rises each year?

      And therein lies the problem. They can add the same value as you or I, but are earning much less. So it's hard for our wages to rise strongly while theirs is still so far behind ours.

  • Spic3y on 10/04/2019 - 21:14

    While I complain about money a bit, realistically we are doing OK. Especially considering we are paying off a mortgage, have two kids under 3yo and live in one of the areas of Tasmania with the highest living expenses (rates, power, fuel and groceries).

    Luckily we have a good solar setup on our house, fairly productive veggie garden and provide our own lamb, beef and poultry because we have acreage. When our kids are young we use cloth nappies and when they get older they have 99% 'preloved' clothes and toys.

    We can still afford holidays, material expenses (gaming consoles and I bought a new motorcycle recently) and occasionally go out for dinner or brunch on weekends.

    I just get frustrated sometimes when people get things for nothing (politicians etc) when my wife and I work so damn hard for what we have (and are happy and grateful for).

    • serpserpserp on 10/04/2019 - 22:52

      live in one of the areas of Tasmania with the highest living expenses (rates, power, fuel and groceries).

      Where is this?

      I just get frustrated sometimes when people get things for nothing (politicians etc)

      Remember despite what we see on TV etc. pollies have at some point worked hard to get where they are too. But I agree some are just the worst kind of people.

      when my wife and I work so damn hard for what we have

      What are your professions?

      • Spic3y on 11/04/2019 - 06:58

        Where is this?

        One of the Bass Strait Islands. Our petrol is rarely under $2l. Obviously it's our choice to be here but it can be a bit of a financial juggling act.

        Remember despite what we see on TV etc. pollies have at some point worked hard to get where they are too. But I agree some are just the worst kind of people.

        For sure! And I can't imagine it's an easy job all the time but I can't get my head around them being paid 3x as much as I am, free travel, free car, subsidised power and internet (in their paid for offices). Surely their only financial worry is where to buy their next investment property, not how much money to squirrel away for next month's rates instalment or what the best day is to put fuel in your car to save a few dollars?

        What are your professions?

        I am a tradesperson (mechanic) and my wife is a marine scientist but is currently doing a couple of part days a week as a receptionist because of our young children and due to her profession being quite 'saturated'.

        • serpserpserp on 11/04/2019 - 09:07

          One of the Bass Strait Islands.

          I would have to say that given the remote area, $2 a litre is actually a pretty fair price! I mean you can live in Syd/Melb and you are still paying $1.50 for diesel/95 etc.

          Being a marine scientist on a remote bass straight island probably means there are zero jobs for this kind of work where you are locally. For that kind of work you really have to be prepared to move globally and work with some of those big natural resources companies to get work (which is actually great paying work with a lot of the perks those pollies get!)

  • mrvaluepack on 11/04/2019 - 06:49

    For those people complaining about low wage growth and blaming it on immigration, I say this:

    If you are stuck in a job or industry which has low wage growth. That is how much others have valued the cost of your services to the community and this world. As others have already mentioned, globalization is slowly happening and if you cant find ways to improve your value to the world (either by upskilling or moving industries/changing jobs) then you will get left behind. Survival of the fittest, it happened millions of years ago to the dinosaurs.

    • Ti94 on 11/04/2019 - 07:57

      This! I am annoyed by people that work nearly as hard as they could and them complain all the time abt the world economy going down. The worst is they blame it on people coming from overseas to take their job too. The world is not fair and you can either complain or learn to deal with it.

    • serpserpserp on 11/04/2019 - 09:09
      +2

      Survival of the fittest, it happened millions of years ago to the dinosaurs.

      You do realize that Dinosaurs didn't survive because of a cataclysmic event to the world and not because some other specie was "fitter" than them?

      • mrvaluepack on 11/04/2019 - 09:18
        -1

        Nope, their species didn't and couldn't adapt well and fast enough to changes brought about by the cataclysmic event. Other living species and organisms that we see today did.

        • serpserpserp on 11/04/2019 - 11:55

          Those living species and organisms were just lucky they could survive under such an event, they barely "adapted". You'd hardly call them the "fittest" species?

          • mrvaluepack on 11/04/2019 - 13:14

            @serpserpserp: Well I'll agree with you about the hardly fittest species as I spend most of my time surfing this site on my phone, sleeping and playing computer games.

    • freakatronic on 11/04/2019 - 13:00
      +5

      Did you see the 100000 strong union march in Melbourne yesterday? They made poor career choices (100000 waitresses and shelf-stackers) and they want more money for it. They would also be the first to slavishly pander to multicultural ideologies and mass immigration. I should be done feeling surprise at the economic illiteracy of socialist morons, but it shocks me every time.

      • MementoMori on 12/04/2019 - 16:48
        +2

        Protesters: We demand a higher, livable wage!

        Also protesters: We demand you import the 3rd world who will work for cheap!

    • PaperplaneXXX on 11/04/2019 - 19:03

      a very good point btw!
      I stuck with the current job because of the comfort zone.
      I really need a change and change the Industry as well.
      Solid point !

    • MementoMori on 15/04/2019 - 09:35
      +1

      Yes and no.

      The Australia that has been created and handed down through generations is a civilisation where the average person can earn enough for a great lifestyle.

      This is something worth protecting - the attitude of 'well, we've had it good previously, so stuff it now cause globalisation' is weak and stupid.

  • nikey2k27 on 11/04/2019 - 08:09

    I personally have been fine, not easy as has been in the last few years. My big problem find work in Townsville i been in and out event work. i find make save on any bills i can a good thing.

  • Morphio25 on 11/04/2019 - 08:15
    -3

    I just got an 11% payrise so no, not feeling any pressure here :)

    Ask me in a couple of years when I've only had small pay rises and have a child or two!

  • OldBugger on 11/04/2019 - 09:50

    Over the past few years I've found … hang on…

    Does anyone read this far down in forum posts?

    • gimme on 11/04/2019 - 11:00

      I start from the back a-la sports pages.

    • MementoMori on 15/04/2019 - 09:39

      Yes

  • freakatronic on 11/04/2019 - 13:05
    +6

    They say it's a free market and that if you fall behind it's your own fault. At the same time they pay for competitors to enter your market, with your own money. Housing boomed on Chinese money but don't blame the Chinese - the government sold them your land, as a subsidy for citizenship. The third world flooded here so that even if manufacturing jobs were still around, no Australian born Australian could afford to work in one anyway. The roads are jammed, the trains are full if they're not cancelled, and the price of food keeps going up. If you blame immigration for these things, the government will call you a racist while burping and wiping the fresh taxes off its chin.

    • MementoMori on 15/04/2019 - 09:40

      Truer words have never been said.

      Let them know how you feel this election - there are only a handful of parties that address this issue.

      • freakatronic on 15/04/2019 - 12:59

        My dude, if democracy made any difference they wouldn't let you do it.

  • Buckshot on 11/04/2019 - 13:12
    +1

    We've been okay.

    Context: We're paying off our current house and a block of land we bought to build on (P&I). No other debts.

    The economy in Perth took a hit pretty badly and my job was made redundant a few of years back but the redundancy package was pretty generous and we kept a bunch on the offset. We sat down and re-did our budget, looked our all of our bills and renegotiated a couple of monthly commitments to tighten the belt a bit.
    I hit the ground running pretty soon after and started contracting which evolved into permanent work. My wife is on a good wicket with her company too so that took some pressure off.

    Last year, we had a baby. My wife went to half pay for 36 weeks (her work has great benefits) and I was stressing about the coming financial pain but we actually managed quite well. My wife got a nice performance bonus, my pay hasn't exactly kept up with inflation but we didn't really feel any pressure- that surprised me too. We had some great family support and some of the bigger baby spends were paid for by them though we had budgeted for them. Things got a bit tighter when maternity leave finished and she went unpaid for a couple of months….
    Funnily enough- we won some money recently and that's taken the pressure right off. We've used some savings to cover us for this period and not touched our winnings but now she's back at work with a first pay check inbound next week, it'll feel nice to have that income again.

  • mavis30551 on 11/04/2019 - 15:17

    I spent $13 on a burger for lunch + $3 for an extra paddy and $2 for a drink ($18)

    Then a few hours later bought a $10 burrito so I can hardly complain about my financial situation.

    My spending habits on the other hand….

    • ihbh on 11/04/2019 - 18:07
      +2

      My spending habits on the other hand…

      Not to mention eating habits long term.

  • Name on 11/04/2019 - 21:22

    Yup.. Been painful. Do you know how much insurance costs on a Ferrari, motherf…

  • DealsBoy on 17/04/2019 - 22:38

    Doing OK in QQLD but I worry about those living in expensive Sydney with expensive housing, rates etc. How is everyone getting on in Sydney?

  • DealsBoy on 17/04/2019 - 22:40

    By the way remember you can always let your politician know how you're feeling on their Facebook page. Most politicians have one.

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