jad n rich

They dont mention lettuce but...

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...8-1242,00.html


Think we are now battler class

Amazulu

Costello can be out of touch with reality at times. A lot of people have very large mortgages, so a lot of people are going to be affected. I think the biggest worry Australia has, & the rest of the world for that matter, is the oil price. I think we will be okay if it goes up say another $20-30/bbl, but more than that & staying there would really cause problems & probably cause a severe recession. The problem with rising interest rates in an unbalanced economy like ours (East v West) is that whilst it's necessary for WA, it's not necessary for NSW/Victoria.

Oil price was down sharply overnight, lets hope it keeps going down.

kiwichild

A kilogram of beef has hit $11.23 In Perth that's what we pay for decent quality mince (ground beef to our American friends). Decent steak, t-bone, rump, sirloin (porterhouse) is often well in excess of $20 a kg unless on special.

Seafood can be a real shocker, up to around $40 or so a kg for good quality fillets. I now only buy seafood at Action (now IGA) as you get a decent choice of local fresh fish and 'specials eg, I got them to fillet a 2kg cobbler for me the other day, ended up with two large fillets that will do me 3-4 meals. Cost:$11.64

kiwichild

Just cause it goes down doesn't mean those greedy bastards the oil companies will pass on the savings in any sort of hurry.

The moron who put Australia on world parity pricing should be shot! What an idiot! I notice that in Saudi its 32c a litre. Even with govt taxes if OZ wasn't tied to world parity pricing, we'd be paying closer to $3 a gallon instead of $1.50 a litre. Half the price, at least!

jad n rich

When we arrived here (2000) lamb was $3.99 a kilo, good roast lamb I mean not discount butcher shop meat which is simply worse cuts of meat with lots of fat. That now is $10.99 a kilo in the same shop, same quality.

I think petrol was 63c and land was $70,000, that now is minimum of $240,000 in same area. Medical insurance has gone up $95 a month in 3 years and airfares return to UK in school hols we just had quote for $11,100 for 3A and 1C. We dont earn bad money, (cause we have 4 jobs between us) however we find it expensive, mind you we do have teenagers.

kiwichild

It's a shocker what has happened to food prices in the last 5 yrs, and especially a concern for those who might have their hours/wages reduced if IR reforms stay in place and those on benefits.

Shellfish

adding fuel to my vegetarian arguement

Shellfish

Exactly, lots of people have large mortgages because that's what housing costs not because everyone is well off and lives extravagent lifestyles

Tom Sawyer

A lot of people chose to have very large mortgages, they weren't forced into them by Costello / Howard / banks. People got greedy and now inevitably it will turn round and bite them. When we were looking at mortgages we were offered 5.5 times our salary, which would leave us next to nothing every month. Needless to say we took a safer option of 3 times our salary, which is easily comfortable for us, and restricted ourselves on what and where we buy. House prices are still dropping in NSW and with this rate rise the market is going to cool even further. Negative equity anyone?

jad n rich

I think tho to be fair to aussies buying houses, most of them are doing it with aussie wages ( not the advantage of 2.4 most of us forum members once had on arrival) . EG, ave house price in many states now is around $350,000, so with the average wage around $50,000 most need to look at 7 times income. And most of us here know that althought thats the average price it doesnt in reality buy that much.

Also the assie old age pension is asset tested, they traditionally have been expected to pay for their retirement, the most common way was to buy a investment house.

Of course there are also those who only have selves to blame, must have 4 beds theatre room and swimming pool in first home.

Hutch

That is a cracking quote "Treasurer Peter Costello yesterday dismissed the impact the rate rise would have on ordinary homeowners, saying only those with large mortgages would be affected." - bit like saying - only air-breathing humans will be affected by the rates rise.

Shellfish

nope, I disagree. Some people take more than they can afford to pay but as I said, a lot of people have large mortgages because the housing market has gone mad

Tom Sawyer

And the reason it went mad is because people got greedy, extended their finances too far which only fueled the market. If buyers had stuck to what they could afford the market would not have got so far overpriced. We have been house hunting in Sydney for a year now and refuse to go above our budget, even if it has meant staying a rental with our furniture in storage. Yes we could go for a bigger mortgage, but at what cost? So in the long run the only people who benefit from a booming housing market are the estate agents with their huge commisions.

thebears

I have put a capital expenditure request to the wife for a boat. The way I look at it the fish I catch will pay for the boat and the running costs.
Plus it gets me out the house

thebears

That excludes most of the politicians then?

Sorry I forgot - we pay for it.