Cost of Living is all relative to your perspective

Someone told me that the price of living had gone up 5%. And according to the Australian Treasury it did

So the average cost of living in Australia went up 5%. I wonder how this would change now as Sept saw us at 95c USD and petrol at $1.45+ a liter. Now it's 94c p/L. Transportation went up 8.4% for that very reason. Same with housing up 7.3% with interest rates for home loans going as high as 9.4%. They are now 4.5 and tipped to go as low as 3% soon.

In fact there's lots of stats on the Treasury site to delve into. I wish they provided the raw data though.

The example of the price increase was "lamb chops are $xx now!" I forgot to ask if he did the shopping every week. Ervi likes to shop 3 days a week (annoying!) but I know the price of most things and I haven't noticed much of an increase. But 4.9% is hard to notice on the price of meat as you buy by price not weight.

I noticed it most when I went to McDonalds. My head was still in 1995 when I worked there and a Big Mac was $2.50. It's now $4.25!!

The only thing that is still the same price is the 30c cone. After 13 years the price of the simple cone is still 30c. That's awesome and probably shows you how much McDonald's mark up their prices. I remember being told a large drink was 17c inc straw, cup and lid cost. The large drink at the time sold for $1.80 or so. To make it even funnier when I worked "close" at Maccas they used to give us a free drink at the end of shift. Oh but no straw or lid. Just to save money. Fucking tight wads. I also heard managers setting the computer timer forward in the morning and back 5 min every day to reduce wages by 5-10min across the board

But back to lamb chops. I was told that the price had increased a lot and that was an indicator of how the cost of living had gone up. He's probably right but the lamb was from the butcher not Coles or Wollies. Their aggressive pricing has pushed the price of food down. Look at 2L of milk. It's cheaper than it used to be as Cole and Wollies fight the little guys. if I buy my milk just from the corner store I'm screwed though it's $4.20 in some places.

Take pizza for instance. I can say the cost of pizza is very expensive. It's around $20+ for a pizza in Glebe. But that's gourmet, mmm lamb and baby spinach from E Lounge. I had a Dominos pizza the other day that was $6.50 pick up! $6.50! From what I remember back in high school this was the same price if not more expensive back then.

So my counter argument is that yes prices have gone up but so have people's salaries and attitudes to money.

The more you earn the more you spend.

I know people who live with their parents that say they don't have enough cash. I know people who live by the beach and complain about high rent. No matter what the persons predicament some people will always have problems with money no matter how much they earn.

It's all about perspective if your perspective changes (larger salary) you lose the perspective of someone with a lesser salary.

The secret is to keep the same perspective and with that sacrifice occasionally.

That's a weird concept for some people who have always got what they wanted. Go go without. To want something and then think no I don't need.

I'm over hearing people complain about having no money but they do little to save or curb their spending. "It sucks having no money... I can hardly afford to get my brand new car washed weekly"

I've also learnt to never talk to people directly about this topic. People love money but friends and money don't mix.

Oh and I don't mean living like this guy in 2009. hehe that's a little too extreme!

Someone told me that the price of living had gone up 5%. And according to the Australian Treasury it did So the average cost of living in Australia went up 5%. I wonder how this would change now as Sept saw us at 95c USD and petrol at $1.45+ a liter. Now it's 94c p/L. Transportation went up 8.4% for that very reason. Same with housing up 7.3% with interest rates for home loans going as high as 9.4%. They are now 4.5 and tipped to go as low as 3% soon. In fact there's lots of stats on the Treasury site to delve into. I wish they provided the raw data though. The example of the price increase was "lamb chops are $xx now!" I forgot to ask if he did the shopping every week. Ervi likes to shop 3 days a week (annoying!) but I know the price of most things and I haven't noticed much of an increase. But 4.9% is hard to notice on the price of meat as you buy by price not weight. I noticed it most when I went to McDonalds. My head was still in 1995 when I worked there and a Big Mac was $2.50. It's now $4.25!! The only thing that is still the same price is the 30c cone. After 13 years the price of the simple cone is still 30c. That's awesome and probably shows you how much McDonald's mark up their prices. I remember being told a large drink was 17c inc straw, cup and lid cost. The large drink at the time sold for $1.80 or so. To make it even funnier when I worked "close" at Maccas they used to give us a free drink at the end of shift. Oh but no straw or lid. Just to save money. Fucking tight wads. I also heard managers setting the computer timer forward in the morning and back 5 min every day to reduce wages by 5-10min across the board But back to lamb chops. I was told that the price had increased a lot and that was an indicator of how the cost of living had gone up. He's probably right but the lamb was from the butcher not Coles or Wollies. Their aggressive pricing has pushed the price of food down. Look at 2L of milk. It's cheaper than it used to be as Cole and Wollies fight the little guys. if I buy my milk just from the corner store I'm screwed though it's $4.20 in some places. Take pizza for instance. I can say the cost of pizza is very expensive. It's around $20+ for a pizza in Glebe. But that's gourmet, mmm lamb and baby spinach from E Lounge. I had a Dominos pizza the other day that was $6.50 pick up! $6.50! From what I remember back in high school this was the same price if not more expensive back then. So my counter argument is that yes prices have gone up but so have people's salaries and attitudes to money. The more you earn the more you spend. I know people who live with their parents that say they don't have enough cash. I know people who live by the beach and complain about high rent. No matter what the persons predicament some people will always have problems with money no matter how much they earn. It's all about perspective if your perspective changes (larger salary) you lose the perspective of someone with a lesser salary. The secret is to keep the same perspective and with that sacrifice occasionally. That's a weird concept for some people who have always got what they wanted. Go go without. To want something and then think no I don't need. I'm over hearing people complain about having no money but they do little to save or curb their spending. "It sucks having no money... I can hardly afford to get my brand new car washed weekly" I've also learnt to never talk to people directly about this topic. People love money but friends and money don't mix. Oh and I don't mean living like this guy in 2009. hehe that's a little too extreme!