Basically I'm just curious as to what other people think they would do if the cost of housing keeps going up. Currently I rent because my kids visit twice a week but I wonder as to whether I should just live out of my car for a year or two to save enough for a deposit? The way I see it after child support, HECS, power, fuel, food, internet, phone and other bills, my rent eats up all of my possible savings to get a house.
A year ago I had an old run-down rental with 3 bedrooms for $350 a week which I accepted because I was running out of time to find somewhere to live and I couldn't find anywhere cheaper. They told me they were going to raise the rent to $370 a week which I thought was just crazy so I ended the lease then and moved into a small 2 bedroom duplex for $320 a week. The rent increased to $350 throughout the year and now they want to increase it again to $380.
I have a full time job working for the government so I don't understand how/why I find myself in a struggling situation financially. I'd move out to the sticks if I could but the ex has decided they'll live on the north side of Brisbane so any local options are very limited and I'm not going to abandon my kids just because of where she's chosen to live. I don't think I can allow housing costs to reach 50% of my income though, at that point I'm just surviving to fund the cash out of those who have decided that housing should be an investment pyramid scheme and I just flat out refuse to be taken advantage of like that.
Can anyone suggest how I might be able to solve this? i.e. find someone on acreage who doesn't mind a year long tent city in their back yard lol. Who knows, maybe disconnecting for a few years while my kids are young could turn out to be a great decision as no one will just be disconnecting from the family and escaping into TV/phone/computer?
Regardless of what you earn, what would be your breaking point be in regards to how much of your income you would be willing to part with to keep a roof over your head and your kids?
I don't go to cafe's or smoke or drink or dine out. While I could pay less than $350 a week for rent currently, any savings in rent would just be replaced by costs in fuel.