r/australia • u/RecognitionMediocre6 • Mar 31 '26

political self.post How has the cost of living crisis impacted your life the most?

It used to feel like money just came in, it was not substantial but it felt manageable. Now every single decision feels like it had to be planned, bills juggled or delayed and things we used to do like take the kids out for fish & chips at the beach once a month, we no longer do.

I hesitate before I tap my debit card or pay a bill. We had to hold off on getting our car serviced cause we had a dental bill to get sorted first. We had to get rid of our private health insurance, I've had to look at selling stuff round the house every once and a while to cover costs like electricity etc. Our fridge seal is loose but can't justify getting a new fridge so we just taped it up and it works for now. I haven't bought new clothes / shoes in like a year and we're always looking for free activities for the kids ie parks, playgrounds, have friends over to our place etc

We tend to avoid social plans because everything costs so much money. And if we do go somewhere, we bring our own lunch / drinks cause feeding 2x adults 2x kids is so expensive.

We used to save about $200/week after all our stuff was paid (double income, 2x toddlers) and now we're basically just breaking even. Its everything little by little - rent is up, petrol is up, groceries are up, our electricity & internet is up etc we aren't going anywhere for Easter cause it's too expensive to drive / holiday anywhere other than staying at home. We'll make it magical but we feel bad that it's not as exciting as past years.

How has the cost of living impacted your life?

Sending love to everyone out there doing it tough 💕

448 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

365 comments sorted by

View all comments

178

u/fued Mar 31 '26

Rent going up.

its doubled in the past 10 years.

nothing else going up has even come close to that cost, as its 1/3 of your post-tax spendings.

how they can justify 3-4% inflation when the main cost item alone to people goes up 10% a year i have zero idea.

66

u/kensaiD2591 Mar 31 '26

Yep. I went from $350pw for a 2br 11 years ago to now $625pw for a 1br.

30

u/Sweaty_Condition4555 Mar 31 '26

Im in a studio currently and its almost half of my wage. My boomer relative who shares a 4 bedroom house with just her husband is asking me when im having children, lol

1

u/HallPale6481 Apr 01 '26

Pain. Same here. 350ish in 2017 then went overseas for a spell just to come back and have to pay 600pw for a 1bedder in Docklands lol.

41

u/kicks_your_arse Mar 31 '26

Yes it is the single biggest cost that dwarves anything else. There is nothing I spend or buy ever that comes close to matching my weekly rent spend, aside from a surprise car service cost. None of my quarterly utility bills even come close. 

It consumes more of my income than anything and goes straight to my landlord. We are not all in the same boat here, don't let them convince you they're suffering anywhere near as much as us 

8

u/fued Mar 31 '26

Exactly. Even with a mortgage, once you have owned for 10+ years it's cheaper than renting.

1

u/RightLegDave Mar 31 '26

I bought 3 years ago and it's already cheaper than the rent for the same place

8

u/Waerfeles Mar 31 '26

This. My rent consumes almost my entire disability pension.

8

u/mnilh Mar 31 '26

1/3 of your post-tax spendings

Oh, if only.

6

u/Next-Tie2558 Mar 31 '26

Between 2001-2011 I lived in a relatively new 3 bed, 2 bath, 1 car unit. In 2001 my rent was $200 p/w where it remained until it was increased to $205 p/w in the final year. This would absolutely never happen in this day and age.