zombie omie jay
Banned
HOUSEHOLDS are pouring half their weekly budget into housing, food and transport.
Health, education, home-loan and food costs have raced ahead of general inflation in recent years in a hip-pocket hit on essential spending.
But the most detailed study of the nation's spending habits also reveals we are not content with only basics, are technology addicts, and reward ourselves with recreation and creature comforts, The Herald Sun reports.
Almost 10,000 households were involved in the survey.
The Australian reports one in four households relies on welfare benefits while one in seven is spending more than it earns, as increasing cost-of-living pressures bear down on families.
Of the nation's poorest households, one in 10 went without meals and 7.3 per cent could not afford to heat their homes in winter during 2009-10.
The "financial stress" also afflicted some of the nation's wealthiest people, with almost one in seven high-earning households failing to pay bills on time and 8.8 per cent seeking financial help from friends and family.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' Household Expenditure Survey, released every six years, shows households nationwide spent an average $1236 a week on goods and services in the year to June 2010.
Key money grabbers include mortgage interest payments ($80.96), rent ($78.18), car purchase ($45.39), petrol ($36.66), meals out ($31.97) and fast food ($30.50).
CommSec chief economist Craig James said an interest-rate cut would be the best way to ease budget pressures.
However, overall people are financially better off and The Sydney Morning Herald reports that household income has climbed 50 per cent since 2003-04, while prices were up 19 per cent.
We are devoting less share of our overall budget to clothes, household appliances and food. Instead, a greater chunk is being directed to recreation, transport and booze.
"It is clear that Australians have continued to get richer over time and thus are spending a greater proportion of their incomes on non-essential goods and services," Mr James said.
Spending on internet charges is up a massive 152 per cent, education 107 per cent, pay TV 95 per cent, childcare 84 per cent, home-loan interest 75 per cent and rent 68 per cent.
Brisbane property consultant Stephen Parker, 49, told The Australian his family, with an annual income of about $150,000 and three children, had to budget carefully.
"Six or seven years ago, you'd have one or two mobile phones per family; now every member's got one," he said.
"We're all hooked up to the internet. It used to be a couple of hundred dollars per month for a family, now it's $1000 for telecommunications . . . Insurance bills - life insurance, motor-vehicle and house and contents - have also gone up by about 30 per cent."
Average weekly spending shot up $343, or 38 per cent, over the six years compared with the inflation rise of 19 per cent. Couples with children spent an average $1748 a week, almost four times as much as elderly singles.
Canberra had the highest spend at $1526.28, compared with $1304.29 in Melbourne. Average household wealth was $729,442, or $285,000 per person, dominated by the value of the family home and superannuation.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/money/money-...nd/story-e6frfmd9-1226131038178#ixzz1XDXe7xLe
this pdf outlines the growth in household costs since 2003-04 and the increase in average salary since then
http://resources.news.com.au/files/2011/09/06/1226130/968629-110907-household-spending.pdf
also
http://www.smh.com.au/business/spen...an-we-think-20110906-1jw1z.html#ixzz1XCbu2QTi
Spending survey shows we are better off than we think
You would not believe it if you listened to our politicians, but household fuel and power bills eat up no more of our wallets than they did six years ago. And petrol eats up less.
The only comprehensive survey of household spending - conducted once every six years by the Bureau of Statistics - finds domestic fuel and power accounted for 2.6 per cent of household spending in 2009-10, 2.6 per cent in 2003-04 and 2.6 per cent two decades earlier in 1988-89.
Petrol, another impost about which we often complain, costs us relatively less, accounting for 3.09 per cent of spending, down from 3.36 per cent.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Household income has climbed 50 per cent since 2003-04, way ahead of prices which have climbed 19 per cent.
We have not spent all the extra income, we have tucked some away. Spending grew 38 per cent.
Most of the staples cited as causes of concern at the last election are easier to buy. During a pre-election debate, Tony Abbott said he was worried about the price of groceries, particularly bread. Bread accounts for less of our spending than it did, sliding from 0.67 per cent to 0.57 per cent; food has slipped from 17.1 to 16.5 per cent.
The big unavoidable expense that is costing us more is housing, whether paid for by a rent or mortgage. Housing now accounts for 18 per cent of total spending, up from 16 per cent six years ago and a new record high. School fees are also biting harder along with childcare fees.
Other increased spending reflects changed lifestyles. We are spending more of our wallet at cafes and restaurants than six years ago, up from 2.1 per cent to 2.6 per cent. We spend more at hairdressers, and more on pay TV and internet connections.
Lower prices mean we are spending much less on clothes and shoes - down from 4 per cent to 3.6 per cent and also much less on household furnishings.
While alcohol is just as important to us as before - accounting for 2.6 per cent of our budgets, the same proportion as household energy - tobacco is much less important, slipping from 1.3 to 1 per cent of total spending.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/spen...an-we-think-20110906-1jw1z.html#ixzz1XDYVO9rb
Health, education, home-loan and food costs have raced ahead of general inflation in recent years in a hip-pocket hit on essential spending.
But the most detailed study of the nation's spending habits also reveals we are not content with only basics, are technology addicts, and reward ourselves with recreation and creature comforts, The Herald Sun reports.
Almost 10,000 households were involved in the survey.
The Australian reports one in four households relies on welfare benefits while one in seven is spending more than it earns, as increasing cost-of-living pressures bear down on families.
Of the nation's poorest households, one in 10 went without meals and 7.3 per cent could not afford to heat their homes in winter during 2009-10.
The "financial stress" also afflicted some of the nation's wealthiest people, with almost one in seven high-earning households failing to pay bills on time and 8.8 per cent seeking financial help from friends and family.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' Household Expenditure Survey, released every six years, shows households nationwide spent an average $1236 a week on goods and services in the year to June 2010.
Key money grabbers include mortgage interest payments ($80.96), rent ($78.18), car purchase ($45.39), petrol ($36.66), meals out ($31.97) and fast food ($30.50).
CommSec chief economist Craig James said an interest-rate cut would be the best way to ease budget pressures.
However, overall people are financially better off and The Sydney Morning Herald reports that household income has climbed 50 per cent since 2003-04, while prices were up 19 per cent.
We are devoting less share of our overall budget to clothes, household appliances and food. Instead, a greater chunk is being directed to recreation, transport and booze.
"It is clear that Australians have continued to get richer over time and thus are spending a greater proportion of their incomes on non-essential goods and services," Mr James said.
Spending on internet charges is up a massive 152 per cent, education 107 per cent, pay TV 95 per cent, childcare 84 per cent, home-loan interest 75 per cent and rent 68 per cent.
Brisbane property consultant Stephen Parker, 49, told The Australian his family, with an annual income of about $150,000 and three children, had to budget carefully.
"Six or seven years ago, you'd have one or two mobile phones per family; now every member's got one," he said.
"We're all hooked up to the internet. It used to be a couple of hundred dollars per month for a family, now it's $1000 for telecommunications . . . Insurance bills - life insurance, motor-vehicle and house and contents - have also gone up by about 30 per cent."
Average weekly spending shot up $343, or 38 per cent, over the six years compared with the inflation rise of 19 per cent. Couples with children spent an average $1748 a week, almost four times as much as elderly singles.
Canberra had the highest spend at $1526.28, compared with $1304.29 in Melbourne. Average household wealth was $729,442, or $285,000 per person, dominated by the value of the family home and superannuation.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/money/money-...nd/story-e6frfmd9-1226131038178#ixzz1XDXe7xLe
this pdf outlines the growth in household costs since 2003-04 and the increase in average salary since then
http://resources.news.com.au/files/2011/09/06/1226130/968629-110907-household-spending.pdf
also
http://www.smh.com.au/business/spen...an-we-think-20110906-1jw1z.html#ixzz1XCbu2QTi
Spending survey shows we are better off than we think
You would not believe it if you listened to our politicians, but household fuel and power bills eat up no more of our wallets than they did six years ago. And petrol eats up less.
The only comprehensive survey of household spending - conducted once every six years by the Bureau of Statistics - finds domestic fuel and power accounted for 2.6 per cent of household spending in 2009-10, 2.6 per cent in 2003-04 and 2.6 per cent two decades earlier in 1988-89.
Petrol, another impost about which we often complain, costs us relatively less, accounting for 3.09 per cent of spending, down from 3.36 per cent.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Household income has climbed 50 per cent since 2003-04, way ahead of prices which have climbed 19 per cent.
We have not spent all the extra income, we have tucked some away. Spending grew 38 per cent.
Most of the staples cited as causes of concern at the last election are easier to buy. During a pre-election debate, Tony Abbott said he was worried about the price of groceries, particularly bread. Bread accounts for less of our spending than it did, sliding from 0.67 per cent to 0.57 per cent; food has slipped from 17.1 to 16.5 per cent.
The big unavoidable expense that is costing us more is housing, whether paid for by a rent or mortgage. Housing now accounts for 18 per cent of total spending, up from 16 per cent six years ago and a new record high. School fees are also biting harder along with childcare fees.
Other increased spending reflects changed lifestyles. We are spending more of our wallet at cafes and restaurants than six years ago, up from 2.1 per cent to 2.6 per cent. We spend more at hairdressers, and more on pay TV and internet connections.
Lower prices mean we are spending much less on clothes and shoes - down from 4 per cent to 3.6 per cent and also much less on household furnishings.
While alcohol is just as important to us as before - accounting for 2.6 per cent of our budgets, the same proportion as household energy - tobacco is much less important, slipping from 1.3 to 1 per cent of total spending.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/spen...an-we-think-20110906-1jw1z.html#ixzz1XDYVO9rb
