I had a reaction similar to most comments in here, when I read the article. These people are in bad situations of their own doing. An actual international student would have funds to support themselves until they can return home after their education. The couple on an 800p/w bondi apartment? I know people on 425k+ a year that don't spend that much on housing. How can they not have savings? Why do we need to have sympathy for these people, when they live so outrageously outside their means? What kind of out of touch agenda is being pushed here? *Who writes this?*
But when i looked up the journalist that wrote this..... piece, it turned out this she has an MBA. She clearly isn't a moron. So upon reading the article again, I can now see that the goal is not so much to garner sympathy, but to inform people who made bad financial decisions that there are options and resources out there.
I assume that out of respect for the people they interviewed, the journalist didn't completely roast their poor decision making in the publication. The result is that is seems the Journalist is trying to make you feel sorry for these people, instead of educating the public. I feel like better writing could have prevented this.
In the end, the tone of this article shows a publisher and journalist completely out of touch with my, and this subreddits view on common sense with money. But that's okay because we were never the target audience.
It could have been a very different article at the outset by the journo but then got spun by the editor who wanted moar human interest appeal (i.e clicks) and/or avoiding a reputation of being the media that 'vilifies poor people'.
How about the fact that she chose to use this couple as an example of pandemic financial hardship when she could have used any one of the thousands of workers who made good choices and are still struggling. It frames the narrative as though the people who are struggling now are not living within their means.
So, it's done on purpose? interesting. You're not the only one pointing that out. I understand why some media would do that, but wouldn't ABC be the last to push such an agenda?
I'm not too familiar with the political leanings of Australian media.
Check out who's on the board of the ABC. Liberal party donors, mining industry execs, ex channel 7, property industry etc. If you play close attention to the ABC you'll see they are socially liberal and economically liberal.
Completely agree. They made a terrible financial decision but I don’t think anyone should get roasted on a newspaper. If the journalist had written it “properly”, others might have threaten to boycott their paper for attacking people who already hit rock bottom. It’s a delicate balance between trying to be sensitive and writing objectively.
The article is designed to make you upset. 95% of people aren't stupid, but you select and find outliers and make people think that they are all like this.
ACA did it in the early 90s. They found the dumbest family of dole bludgers in the country, people so irrisponsible it bordered on mental illness. Then gave them loads of opportunities like they were on their side, which they fucked up. This was then used to make the population hostile to the unemployed.
> I can now see that the goal is not so much to garner sympathy, but to inform people who made bad financial decisions that there are options and resources out there.
mmm sort of clear from the headline: "Here's how to pay the rent if you've lost your income"
This is a great take on this.
They really could’ve picked anyone else. If they really wanted to talk about international students who are struggling there are many who are stuck here because, even though they initially could support themselves, their families are struggling to support them because they aren’t making income back home due to the pandemic and they’ve lost their jobs.
It’s really convenient that the journalist chose the most financially irresponsible international student possible.
I get it’s Bondi but $800 dollars for a one bedroom apartment is crazy. To then not have a sufficient emergency fund also seems crazy to me but these are crazy times.
> I get it’s Bondi but $800 dollars for a one bedroom apartment is crazy.
I guarantee you that was added to make you feel angry about it.
I once did some IT work for a very well known online publication. That's as much as I can reveal under NDA.
Trust me, these sort of articles are *purposely* manufactured to incite all sorts of negative emotions. They put out pieces like that and add contention points that they know people will pull apart, share on social media, etc. All for clicks for advertising with zero input on the ethics/morality behind putting out such an article.
Once you know the formula, you will read these articles differently. Not to mention they also have a "schedule" to do this regularly every few months.
Edit - Someone asked me what sort of other examples. Here are a couple I saw off the top of my head:
* **anything millennial vs boomer related:** *"i go on cheap holidays but I still can't afford a house!"* (cue everyone saying the millennial should save and/or boomer should shut up about not enjoying life)
* **manufacturing an outrage when there is none:** *"poll of international students (insert picture of a asian student) in australia showing locals are unhelpful"* (cue everyone with a negative experience airing their grievances on university education)
* **purposely choosing contention topics and putting out articles on both sides:** *"real estate guaranteed to go up!" & *"houses in suburbs in x are expected to drop 50% in value!"*
Edward Bernays wrote the book on Propaganda in 1928 and a lot of his tricks are used, even today.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda\_(book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book))
>"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of."
Damn.. I’m such a sheep.. I am the kinda person that goes on and on that the media is always clickbaiting us however when I was reading the examples that you provided, I literally got triggered.
So where do we get our news that's not deliberately fucking with us? This is the ABC. In theory it should be pretty neutral in all respects but it's clearly not.
It annoys the shit out of me how bare faced a lot of this is, but people just seem to go along with it. Those trashy morning shows we have on free to air TV will run stuff like 'area primary school banning sports' to get angry boomers yelling about political correctness gone mad, but it seems \*so fucking obvious\*.
Because Bondi is so “cool”!
Seriously, that’s a crazy fucking waste of money even if you are well off. Why not get somewhere cheaper and save for a mortgage deposit? Blowing $800 on rent for a couple is just stupid people living a flashy life above their means.
Because you can live next to a surf beach and only 15mins from the CBD. You don’t need to go away for weekends, the lifestyle is great compared to regional suburbs
Exactly. People spend $100+ a week on holidays $100+ a week on 2nd cars gym memberships etc what's wrong with spending "x" on a place that means you might not need any of this. Biggest issue is I bet they choose to spend 100% of what they earned each week.
Having said that very few people could survive if their household income halved.
I have lived both close to the beach and about half hour away, but closer to work, and it sounds kinda dumb but I’d take living close to the beach any day. It allows a lifestyle which just doesn’t happen if you have to make a trip to get to the beach, it’s harder to recharge when you’re coming home to some dull suburb you have no love for. Just my two cents but I’d pay more ..
You pay for it if you have the money, these people don't have savings. I'd pay for flying to paris every weekend, that would be a fun lifestyle but I obviously don't have money for that.
I think that the point that needs to be made is that the couple in the article do not fit your or, for that matter, most people's definition of living within one's means.
The rental yield in Bondi is pretty low, so it's cheaper to rent than to buy there. If you save a mortgage deposit there and buy, there is a huge opportunity cost because that money can go into higher yielding investments.
from a quick search thats actually cheap by bondis standards and most Australian cities. [https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-in-bondi,+nsw+2026/list-1?activeSort=price-asc&source=refinement](https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-in-bondi,+nsw+2026/list-1?activeSort=price-asc&source=refinement)
The only way to get cheaper is apartments and share houses.
actually is pretty standard in towns and cities, especially along the coast. Its a house not an apartment after all.
[https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-in-bondi,+nsw+2026/list-1?activeSort=price-asc&source=refinement](https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-in-bondi,+nsw+2026/list-1?activeSort=price-asc&source=refinement)
I'll likely be downvoted for being a judgmental prick, but I wouldn't start a family with such tenuous income stability. Dad is a car wash attendant and restaurant worker. Mum is a student, moonlighting as a florist. It's hardly a firm foundation to grow on.
And the couple - seemingly no kids - renting a $800 per week property in Sydney? Had to move back to Adelaide to live with family within a few weeks of losing a job and renewing their lease for a year. $800 per week just to rent a 1BR joint at Bondi? Living the dream, hey?
These are examples of people living beyond their means, making unsound financial choices.
1400 per month (for the first scenario) isn't completely outlandish
the two children is not ideal.. but it is possible on a double-income (albeit both at minimum wage)
the second scenario is unlucky (losing an income), but if you're only getting by while paying 800pw with 2 incomes, then maybe you need to reconsider the choice to rent there (heck, even in Melbourne CBD, a 2bd is generally sub700pw)
and renewing the lease doesn't take into account any changes in scenario, you can just sign the paper and be done with it... I chose to renew my lease, and all I had to do was sign the contract saying yep - there wasn't the "rigorous checks" that I saw when I originally applied for it
A year ago I was living in Newtown for $350 a week for a bedroom in the two bedroom house. Housemate paid $450.
I’m 30, a tradie and lived there for the lifestyle for a year or so. She was 40 and worked in hospitality and lived week to week. Complained that she couldn’t save for a house. Hell, she couldn’t afford to replace a washing machine when it broke. But she definitely had enough money to go out drinking 3 times a week. Some people have no idea about budgeting or sacrifice.
I thought about how she’d be going at the moment with this pandemic effecting her employment. Might be a good wake up call.
Yeah I had a colleague that lived by himself in Newtown, 1 bedder unit $570. Complained that he could never save, complained he would never get promoted. Refused to live anywhere else and to share. Some people just can't be helped. Not saying we all have to "suffer" but there are simple choices that one could make to up their savings. Newtown is an expensive place to live in, everyone in Sydney knows this.
Whilst I agree, the question is really then who should be paying $800/week for a 1br apartment
You have a massively over inflated market. If there aren't people like this out there making these mistakes then you have a market that'll crash at every minute.
Bad financial decisions are priced into the market.
Young professionals and couples with high paying jobs can afford $800pw rent pretty sensibly. If you’re bringing home $2500pw in your household then it’s under 30% of your income which is generally considered the recommended cap for housing costs.
whilst that is correct, that couple would need to be prepared to downgrade significantly if they need to drop down to 1 income - ie. they have a child.
i mean, obviously circumstances change and rent allows people to make those adjustments without having to do anything drastic like sell and buy a new house, but people who are paying $800 a week in rent might have trouble making those adjustments down to a $400-500/week
Of course, it’s a huge chunk of money but I would hope anybody earning that sort of income would have a large chunk of savings and income protection insurance. With 70% of their post-tax salary left after rent these are both feasible and would protect against any unforeseen income disruptions. Plus, having a child would give them likely at least 6 months after confirming the pregnancy to relocate if needed.
unfortunately income protection doesnt always provide the appropriate protection.
In theory it's nice, but insurance companies are blood sucking scum. I've been trying to push a claim through for my wife for 18 months.
Saving the deposit. I rented for years in a number of Capital cities and was always paying for convenience (don't have a car) but it's bloody hard to save when you are also paying rent. That said, I would never have paid that much for convenience. I also wouldn't live in Sydney, Melbourne etc.
I have finally managed to save enough to buy my own home in a town about an hour from the capital. The auction was tough though as the capital city folk are now looking to buy out here for their investment properties. I am pretty sure I only got my place as I was bidding against investors and I could afford the lack of stamp duty because it was my first home (at the age of 48!)
Basically, I agree with your statements about lifestyle choices and a mortgage being cheaper than rent. The real killer is saving up the 20% deposit so that you don't have to pay mortgage insurance.
> Saving the deposit. I rented for years in a number of Capital cities and was always paying for convenience (don't have a car) but it's bloody hard to save when you are also paying rent. That said, I would never have paid that much for convenience. I also wouldn't live in Sydney, Melbourne etc.
It is hard to save in general but if rent is more than 30% of your income it is time to downscale if saving is your goal.
Absolutely agree. If you look at the ABS' figures for poverty it shows some interesting stats:
https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/6523.0~2013-14~Feature%20Article~Wealth%20of%20Low%20Income%20Households%20(Feature%20Article)~
I think that 30% cap is true up to a point. IE 30% of 60k but a household on 125k (as suggested) could choose to afford 40% or even 50%. I mean once they've paid their groceries/power/etc like everyone else the high income households have a lot more freedom than low income. They choose $800 a week in Bondi rather than financial security.
Yeah, I am in the upper Blue Mountains and average rent up here is over $400 when not sharing a place. Places below about $340 are fairly rare (by that I mean like maybe 10% of the market?) and I haven't seen anywhere below $300 that was within 4km of a town centre in the last 2 years.
https://www.domain.com.au/rent/meadowbank-nsw-2114/
Domain says the median rent for a 1br in Meadowbank is $460. I doubt the place you found is that great.
Maybe if the place has dirt floors and a squat toilet? $350 for Meadowbank is absurdly cheap and far, far from the norm. Also in no world is Meadowbank considered inner west, even across the water Rhodes isn't inner west, no matter how much REAs try to convince people it is. It's a hot topic for debate but it's usually agreed Cooks River is the south boundary that cuts up east of Burwood to Hen and Chicken Bay then east along the shore.
There's a big difference between living in Bondi and living in Ashfield.
I mean, I have zero love for Bondi - I think it's the Jersey Shore of Australia. But gotta call a spade a spade. Ashfield is far from being right in the heart of the city and a stone's throw from one of the most iconic beaches in the world.
Of course. However I wasn’t making that point. The poster you responded to was saying that the couple should live within their means, and I was pointing out that it’s possible to do this in Sydney and not be “waaaay out”.
I can now see I’ve ignored a key lifestyle factor with the proximity to a beach. So hey, if they really want to, they could move to a shitbox in Maroubra and still be near a beach, and not too far from the CBD.
And why are they called “Australians” in the article? They are not, they are international students who had to prove they had sufficient funds before getting their visas. Trying to cheat the system, if you want to come to actually work follow the right process by applying for a skilled visa..
Before you downvote, I studied in Germany and had to show I had €10000 a year minimum to support myself and was allowed to work 20hrs a week only (which unlike in Australia are strictly enforced).
There are so many Australians who can’t pay their rent, why there should be any handouts to foreigners (specifically in this case who aren’t refugees or similar)..
ABC is one of the biggest population ponzi fluffers in the country.
I do feel sorry for the people from other countries who are now struggling in Oz but they must have been asleep when the PM explicitly informed all temps who were unable to support themselves (some still are, they landed supermarket jobs etc) that now would be a good time to go home.
Now we're being pressured, emotionally blackmailed, into supporting people who quite frankly are not Australians.
I know whats going to be said next. "Immigration supports the economy" Wrong. The economy supports immigration.
We've all been supporting immigration for ten years through stagnant wages and reduced services. It didnt work during the good times, its going to be very damaging during bad.
It's worse really. We have entire industries that have been poleaxed. Imagine an Aussie from tourism going to woolies and begging for a job because their kids need school stuff and their morgage needs paying, but there are no places because of all the temps.
Will we get to the stage where the temps will be removed from those positions so that citizens can have them? It's could get hot politically.
When prices for groceries go up because locals want more money for the jobs that the temps are willing to take out of desperation, then majority will apply sufficient pressure to keep the temps where they are.
And this is before the whole China situation absolutely blows up. National income is on the rocks. The generosity is about to become impossible not matter how humanitarian we want to be.
The argument is that the presence of temporary residents grows the economy enough that it compensates for any jobs they take. In some cases it could grow it more with the really rich international students.
Though obviously that's leaving aside issues on infrastructure, social cohesion, entry level jobs and our gdp per capita stagnation.
I can see where you're coming from and re rent but the article doesn't go into much and how can they now move with no savings. Who will give them a new lease in their present circumstances? It's a bit rough to criticise their situation as entirely a choice if they did have regular battling jobs but they've both lost jobs because of the pandemic.
I do wonder when it became the Australian thing to be so judgemental about strangers based on so little info.
They'd be living in bondi for the surrounding schools more than likely.
It's still mind boggling they choose a school and insane rent over being in a position to pay bills. In any case, i'm with you. HOW people feel comfortable earning minimum wages and having kids is beyond me, i'm scared to even have kids, let alone afford them.
It's not the exact same one, but the kids clothes look to be worth about $800 new. Coupled with the expensive Iphone, I'm starting to get a picture of how they spend their money.
https://www.gucci.com/au/en_au/pr/children/boy/boys-4-12m/activewear-for-boy/childrens-sweatshirt-with-gucci-jacquard-trim-p-497307X9L524275
https://www.gucci.com/au/en_au/pr/children/boy/boys-4-12m/activewear-for-boy/childrens-pant-with-gucci-jacquard-trim-p-497950X9L524275
OMG he does... this is embarrassing. I can see Mum making sure he was nicely dressed for the journalist knowing they were taking photos, without quite thinking through how it might play out in the context of the article.
This family should consider putting aside some savings to cover them for shocks when they occur, and ABC should know better than running this type of article.
How do? If it’s a student visa the requirement for 12 months living expenses is only for the initial point of entry.
I don’t believe it is checked every year.
Not saying that it is right, just that it’s likely not a breach.
Again ABC being really weird and illogical in their reporting when it has anything at all to do with property. Every new article about somebody just makes me thing “wow everybody is terrible with their money, no wonder I feel poor, I’m not spending way beyond my means”.
It’s like it’s written for some specific audience, not anybody with a functioning brain.
I think it's because it's popular at the moment to take the angle that if you're in poverty it's because you're a victim of the abuse of power and so on. While this certainly can be part of the problem, it can also just as often be an emotional or educational issue. Education is an easier one to fix. When you're trying to impress others, and part of a subculture that reinforces that kind of behaviour, it is very difficult for people to stop because it is a psychological and emotional issue.
In this case it appears to be the educational angle, I think the ABC were hoping we would raise our pitchforks against the corporate machine or the government though?
EXACTLY - Even if this magical abuse of power was so prominent (as they reckon it is), WHY NOT TRY AND AVOID IT?
Min wage, 2 kids and rent i'd be scared to death of paying...
I'll gladly be kid free and debt free.
ABC has been running way too many shitty opinion pieces and awful "analysis" pieces. They have moved so far away from reporting facts. I am so sad at what it has become this last few years.
The couple in the story had 3 jobs and 1 was also investing themselves by pursuing higher study. Then in a short space of time lose all 3 jobs. On what basis are you accusing them of being financially irresponsible?
She's an international student with kids that she brought over with her which is tenuous at best. Obviously she doesn't have 12 months of funds required by her visa; either this was falsified or it spent on something else, the article decides to just not talk about that.
It doesn't talk about her husband, all we really know about him is that he's on casual employment. We don't know if she met him after moving and then they decided to get married, or if they were married beforehand and they came over together. But let's be generous and assume that he's not also an international student with the required 12 months of funds.
So now we have someone with two children who moved to Sydney as a student with no savings, or who spent away their savings while here- if the latter, it means their employed situation was also unsustainable or they were just irresponsible.
It's a requirement for international students to have 12 months of expenses. So pretty much all international students who abide by their visa conditions would have an emergency fund.
These people live in a prosperity doctrine fantasy land. Where everyone has the means to suck it up and build an emergency fund. And if you don’t then there must be something wrong with you. A quick google would show how many people live hand to mouth in Australia. But it’s the immigrants fault for not having enough savings to pay down the landlords mortgage
simple don’t live somewhere you can’t afford.
I moved from Noosa to Melbourne at 18 and don’t receive help from parents.
I came here with no job just some savings and worked my ass off hard. I’m in uni and working as much as I can. I did drop to 32 hours but I’m going to look for something else on the side I can do from home. Spending as little as I can saving as much as I can.
I get they have kids, but if you have kids then you have to reassess your situation. Go get a real stable job.
Don’t pursue study full time if you can’t work full time. Just work full time or close too and study part-time if you honestly think you can’t handle the limited time study requires.
If you choose to have kids and can’t afford them then you have to let the kids understand that they may not be living like other kids.
It’s honestly not that hard to be frugal. It’s just people think they have to live a certain way and then that causes people to live beyond their means.
Why doesn’t dad go mow lawns and mom make candles on the side.
Why doesn’t dad go get a job 9-5 mon-fri.
People need to be accountable for their own actions and choices.
If someone truly wants something and they’re able-bodied/minded, then there’s no barriers to them succeeding other than themselves. Sometimes you just have to work harder and smarter and longer than others to achieve something.
I know there are plenty of people in a tough financial position right now with nothing they can do about it, or could have done to avoid it in the first place. Which does make me why the media, ABC especially, keeps giving us questionable examples like these. It only serves to undermine the argument they're trying to make. Are these really the best stories of hardship they could find?
Maybe they are. Limited time limited resources at a cash strapped media organisation, and most people probably don't want to air their financial dramas in the media and have random Facebook/Twitter/Reddit users tearing them apart.
Forty minutes on the phone with their local neighbourhood house and thirty with their local social worker would give them far more material. They could conceal identities. This is lazy work in my opinion.
How are they being illogical and doing a sob story? They're doing an informative piece about what can happen in the current climate, your responsibilities and your options. They're using some worst case scenarios and cast no judgement as to whether those people are victims or not. They're showing what can happen when you don't have a safety net and that even in this unprecedented time you still have to pay your dues, and what options you have to do that.
It's been like this for at least a year. I kid you not around election time they interviewed a woman on the verandah of her waterfront property who was sobbing about franking credits.
“they're just one example of the many Australians who simply can't scrape enough together to pay rent”
But also
“Saini, an international student living in Wantirna South”
It's bullshit, it's not so bad right now but 3 years ago I was working casually labouring and I could barely afford to rent a bungalow in someone's backyard in a worse suburb than Wantirna.
The problem isn't house prices, its wages. They haven't gone up in a decade while everything else has.
Is the solution to increase wages to compete with international money and increased demand from immigration a good one though? Seems like a very poor way to put a bandaid over a problem caused by other sources. Similar things are happening in HK at the moment. Raising wages is not sustainable in the long term and ironically can stifle our economy and reduce employment through reduced exports.
It’s kind of frustrating, as the ABC could report on students - who have a 6-8 week wait for centerlink, and no possible income during that time.
It’s happening to so many of us, but instead we get a news story about international students who are trying to rent in Bondi?
Like fuck.
Melbourne's very asymmetrical. It's there's not much past it if you keep going that way out of Melbourne.
Deer Park is on the outskirts of Melbourne, but Clayton isn't even though Deer Park is closer to the CBD.
>It’s kind of frustrating, as the ABC could report on students - who have a 6-8 week wait for centerlink, and no possible income during that time.
They have
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-09/covid-19-tension-between-students-landlords-in-housing-sector/12224442
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-29/uni-students-falling-through-the-cracks/12194056
>It’s happening to so many of us, but instead we get a news story about international students who are trying to rent in Bondi? Like fuck.
The ABC is capable of writing more than one story. It would also help if you read the article before commenting.
Personally I'm struggling to make payments on my 3 Lamborghini's and 5 Ferrari's, oh and the Bentley... I think I'm going to have to get rid of some of the servants... Oh ABC, tell people to be sorry and sympathetic towards me...
This is permanent residency manipulation 101. One parent goes on a student visa for max term, then the other partner if they’re not able to apply for PR yet.
Works like a charm.
Emergency fund, don't live in an area you can't afford for Instagram, don't have kids if you can't afford them. These people were in trouble before corona. I hope this virus is a wake up call to a lot of people spending all their money like they are Kanye West.
I can't tell what model it is, but assuming it's an iPhone X, she might get somewhere between $200 and $500 for that if it's in decent condition. If it's the iPhone 11, she might get a bit more, but still not $1000. If it's an older model she'd get fuck all.
Now she's got no phone, so she's gotta buy a new phone or she'll be unable to apply for jobs. Sure, she can get a cheap one, but that's still got a cost. On a net basis, she might come out a few hundred dollars ahead, if it's in good condition and one of the more recent models. That's not going to get a family very far.
Selling phones is not really the solution a lot of people seem to think it is.
She could’ve covered a couple more weeks rent just with that top of the line phone. Why do we always need to feel sorry for people who can’t manage their own affairs and be sensible with money?
I am the same! 6 plus in my case, been using this phone since 5 and half years now, i can easily afford a new iphone but my current phone works fine and i just dont see the need
" With no income at all, they're just one example of the many Australians who simply can't scrape enough together to pay rent right now. "
No, they aren't Australians. It literally said the paragraph up she's an international student. Nobody made them come here to study. If Australia is too hard for them then they should leave.
There are already enough people born here who are genuinely struggling for us to listen to sob stories of foreigners.
The story was about two different couples. The ones paying $800 per week were an Australian couple living in Bondi. The international student couple were living in Wantirna South paying a lot less rent. Did you read the article?
>Saini, an international student
Was required to have funds to support themselves when they were granted this application. ABC intentionally vague on the husband, sounds like they were Visa scaming. Evict them not only from the house but the country.
Assumptions. Sounds to me that even though they are on $0 income that they are still keen to chuck in for rent, just a reduction. So they mist be using savings for that.
So when are they going to pack up and head home to the in-laws?
If you don't have a sturdy buffer or can't get access to welfare then bail. There is nothing wrong with being an economic migrant, but Australia has never been a soft touch.
It's hard country so you only come here if you have applicable skills that they want in the near future and can speak English. You have got to make sound choices, going crying to people who have for decades been locked out of housing choices by people who think that they will magically be looked after, what did you expect? Don't make it about race or ethnicity. It's about cold hard mathematical facts of stale wages, gig economy, unsustainable rents, and boomers gouging.
The lifestyle is expensive and you can't afford it. Move cheaper, or go to a cheaper lifestyle else where. NZ is a soft touch, try there after all so many Indian migrants are now trying to speak Maori just be ok with earthquakes. OR Tonga even.
***
Reading this later I also wanted to point out to Australians that influence their society by voting. IF you make it so unappealing to live here - they won't. Keep up this crappy yearly change the goal posts and there won't be enough people left working to support the aging boomers or support the local economy.
Why on earth would you pay that high rent? Honestly the Australian property market is so far overvalued it's not even funny. With out International investors there is no reason for such high prices.
Welcome to ausfinance, where anyone not wealthy or financially literate in a system designed to fuck you over is a fucking idiot who should have been more careful.
Wow so little empathy. The family had 3 jobs between the two parents. I bet if they could, they would’ve had better more secure jobs, but sometimes life doesn’t work that way and you got to make ends meet. We have a gig economy, and just had a pandemic and people are dissing them because they lost their jobs? Wtf.
Remember folks, if you're a landlord with hard earned savings due to prudent financial management, it's your responsibility to take the loss if a tenant hasn't been diligent in their own life...
> Saini, an international student
>
> they're just one example of the many Australians who simply can't scrape enough together to pay rent right now.
>
> Saini, an international student
>
> they're just one example of the many Australians who simply can't scrape enough together to pay rent right now.
I had a reaction similar to most comments in here, when I read the article. These people are in bad situations of their own doing. An actual international student would have funds to support themselves until they can return home after their education. The couple on an 800p/w bondi apartment? I know people on 425k+ a year that don't spend that much on housing. How can they not have savings? Why do we need to have sympathy for these people, when they live so outrageously outside their means? What kind of out of touch agenda is being pushed here? *Who writes this?* But when i looked up the journalist that wrote this..... piece, it turned out this she has an MBA. She clearly isn't a moron. So upon reading the article again, I can now see that the goal is not so much to garner sympathy, but to inform people who made bad financial decisions that there are options and resources out there. I assume that out of respect for the people they interviewed, the journalist didn't completely roast their poor decision making in the publication. The result is that is seems the Journalist is trying to make you feel sorry for these people, instead of educating the public. I feel like better writing could have prevented this. In the end, the tone of this article shows a publisher and journalist completely out of touch with my, and this subreddits view on common sense with money. But that's okay because we were never the target audience.
It could have been a very different article at the outset by the journo but then got spun by the editor who wanted moar human interest appeal (i.e clicks) and/or avoiding a reputation of being the media that 'vilifies poor people'.
How about the fact that she chose to use this couple as an example of pandemic financial hardship when she could have used any one of the thousands of workers who made good choices and are still struggling. It frames the narrative as though the people who are struggling now are not living within their means.
So, it's done on purpose? interesting. You're not the only one pointing that out. I understand why some media would do that, but wouldn't ABC be the last to push such an agenda? I'm not too familiar with the political leanings of Australian media.
Check out who's on the board of the ABC. Liberal party donors, mining industry execs, ex channel 7, property industry etc. If you play close attention to the ABC you'll see they are socially liberal and economically liberal.
Slowly things are changing at the ABC too.
Completely agree. They made a terrible financial decision but I don’t think anyone should get roasted on a newspaper. If the journalist had written it “properly”, others might have threaten to boycott their paper for attacking people who already hit rock bottom. It’s a delicate balance between trying to be sensitive and writing objectively.
The article is designed to make you upset. 95% of people aren't stupid, but you select and find outliers and make people think that they are all like this. ACA did it in the early 90s. They found the dumbest family of dole bludgers in the country, people so irrisponsible it bordered on mental illness. Then gave them loads of opportunities like they were on their side, which they fucked up. This was then used to make the population hostile to the unemployed.
Excellent take away
Great take/comment on the article. Agree completely
> I can now see that the goal is not so much to garner sympathy, but to inform people who made bad financial decisions that there are options and resources out there. mmm sort of clear from the headline: "Here's how to pay the rent if you've lost your income"
This is a great take on this. They really could’ve picked anyone else. If they really wanted to talk about international students who are struggling there are many who are stuck here because, even though they initially could support themselves, their families are struggling to support them because they aren’t making income back home due to the pandemic and they’ve lost their jobs. It’s really convenient that the journalist chose the most financially irresponsible international student possible.
I get it’s Bondi but $800 dollars for a one bedroom apartment is crazy. To then not have a sufficient emergency fund also seems crazy to me but these are crazy times.
> I get it’s Bondi but $800 dollars for a one bedroom apartment is crazy. I guarantee you that was added to make you feel angry about it. I once did some IT work for a very well known online publication. That's as much as I can reveal under NDA. Trust me, these sort of articles are *purposely* manufactured to incite all sorts of negative emotions. They put out pieces like that and add contention points that they know people will pull apart, share on social media, etc. All for clicks for advertising with zero input on the ethics/morality behind putting out such an article. Once you know the formula, you will read these articles differently. Not to mention they also have a "schedule" to do this regularly every few months. Edit - Someone asked me what sort of other examples. Here are a couple I saw off the top of my head: * **anything millennial vs boomer related:** *"i go on cheap holidays but I still can't afford a house!"* (cue everyone saying the millennial should save and/or boomer should shut up about not enjoying life) * **manufacturing an outrage when there is none:** *"poll of international students (insert picture of a asian student) in australia showing locals are unhelpful"* (cue everyone with a negative experience airing their grievances on university education) * **purposely choosing contention topics and putting out articles on both sides:** *"real estate guaranteed to go up!" & *"houses in suburbs in x are expected to drop 50% in value!"*
This needs to be more widely understood. It would save so many venomous Facebook threads.
So we effectively paying the media to troll us.
Edward Bernays wrote the book on Propaganda in 1928 and a lot of his tricks are used, even today. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda\_(book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book)) >"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of."
Damn.. I’m such a sheep.. I am the kinda person that goes on and on that the media is always clickbaiting us however when I was reading the examples that you provided, I literally got triggered.
So where do we get our news that's not deliberately fucking with us? This is the ABC. In theory it should be pretty neutral in all respects but it's clearly not.
It annoys the shit out of me how bare faced a lot of this is, but people just seem to go along with it. Those trashy morning shows we have on free to air TV will run stuff like 'area primary school banning sports' to get angry boomers yelling about political correctness gone mad, but it seems \*so fucking obvious\*.
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Because Bondi is so “cool”! Seriously, that’s a crazy fucking waste of money even if you are well off. Why not get somewhere cheaper and save for a mortgage deposit? Blowing $800 on rent for a couple is just stupid people living a flashy life above their means.
Because you can live next to a surf beach and only 15mins from the CBD. You don’t need to go away for weekends, the lifestyle is great compared to regional suburbs
is it a similar price point at Waverley/Clovelly/Tamarama/Dover Heights (or other nearby suburbs), or is it "Bondi Beach tax"
Exactly. People spend $100+ a week on holidays $100+ a week on 2nd cars gym memberships etc what's wrong with spending "x" on a place that means you might not need any of this. Biggest issue is I bet they choose to spend 100% of what they earned each week. Having said that very few people could survive if their household income halved.
I'd rather just spend 30-45min travelling to beach/cbd and save money but that's just me.
I have lived both close to the beach and about half hour away, but closer to work, and it sounds kinda dumb but I’d take living close to the beach any day. It allows a lifestyle which just doesn’t happen if you have to make a trip to get to the beach, it’s harder to recharge when you’re coming home to some dull suburb you have no love for. Just my two cents but I’d pay more ..
You pay for it if you have the money, these people don't have savings. I'd pay for flying to paris every weekend, that would be a fun lifestyle but I obviously don't have money for that.
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I think that the point that needs to be made is that the couple in the article do not fit your or, for that matter, most people's definition of living within one's means.
The rental yield in Bondi is pretty low, so it's cheaper to rent than to buy there. If you save a mortgage deposit there and buy, there is a huge opportunity cost because that money can go into higher yielding investments.
you can get 1 bedroom in bondi for $500. For 800 a week you are looking at a designer luxury apartment. Its just an ego thing.
from a quick search thats actually cheap by bondis standards and most Australian cities. [https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-in-bondi,+nsw+2026/list-1?activeSort=price-asc&source=refinement](https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-in-bondi,+nsw+2026/list-1?activeSort=price-asc&source=refinement) The only way to get cheaper is apartments and share houses.
... crazy people
800 per week is high omg
actually is pretty standard in towns and cities, especially along the coast. Its a house not an apartment after all. [https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-in-bondi,+nsw+2026/list-1?activeSort=price-asc&source=refinement](https://www.realestate.com.au/rent/property-house-in-bondi,+nsw+2026/list-1?activeSort=price-asc&source=refinement)
Then it’s justified
I'll likely be downvoted for being a judgmental prick, but I wouldn't start a family with such tenuous income stability. Dad is a car wash attendant and restaurant worker. Mum is a student, moonlighting as a florist. It's hardly a firm foundation to grow on. And the couple - seemingly no kids - renting a $800 per week property in Sydney? Had to move back to Adelaide to live with family within a few weeks of losing a job and renewing their lease for a year. $800 per week just to rent a 1BR joint at Bondi? Living the dream, hey? These are examples of people living beyond their means, making unsound financial choices.
How they managed to secure a lease with such non-existent financials is beyond me.
Probably because they were willing to pay $800 for a one bedder.
1400 per month (for the first scenario) isn't completely outlandish the two children is not ideal.. but it is possible on a double-income (albeit both at minimum wage) the second scenario is unlucky (losing an income), but if you're only getting by while paying 800pw with 2 incomes, then maybe you need to reconsider the choice to rent there (heck, even in Melbourne CBD, a 2bd is generally sub700pw) and renewing the lease doesn't take into account any changes in scenario, you can just sign the paper and be done with it... I chose to renew my lease, and all I had to do was sign the contract saying yep - there wasn't the "rigorous checks" that I saw when I originally applied for it
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Yeah but too late. People didn't use them Jimmy's
but but i gotta have ma kids so i feel valid in this world!!!!!!!!!!!!!! waa waa
Spot on. $800 a week like why live in Bondi. You can rent for $300 further out.
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This has just blown my mind.
This is how you get ahead. They may also complain that its impossible to save for a deposit
A year ago I was living in Newtown for $350 a week for a bedroom in the two bedroom house. Housemate paid $450. I’m 30, a tradie and lived there for the lifestyle for a year or so. She was 40 and worked in hospitality and lived week to week. Complained that she couldn’t save for a house. Hell, she couldn’t afford to replace a washing machine when it broke. But she definitely had enough money to go out drinking 3 times a week. Some people have no idea about budgeting or sacrifice. I thought about how she’d be going at the moment with this pandemic effecting her employment. Might be a good wake up call.
Yeah I had a colleague that lived by himself in Newtown, 1 bedder unit $570. Complained that he could never save, complained he would never get promoted. Refused to live anywhere else and to share. Some people just can't be helped. Not saying we all have to "suffer" but there are simple choices that one could make to up their savings. Newtown is an expensive place to live in, everyone in Sydney knows this.
some people would rather short term gain, long term pain over short term pain long term gain, but eh, people refuse to listen i guess.
Whilst I agree, the question is really then who should be paying $800/week for a 1br apartment You have a massively over inflated market. If there aren't people like this out there making these mistakes then you have a market that'll crash at every minute. Bad financial decisions are priced into the market.
Young professionals and couples with high paying jobs can afford $800pw rent pretty sensibly. If you’re bringing home $2500pw in your household then it’s under 30% of your income which is generally considered the recommended cap for housing costs.
whilst that is correct, that couple would need to be prepared to downgrade significantly if they need to drop down to 1 income - ie. they have a child. i mean, obviously circumstances change and rent allows people to make those adjustments without having to do anything drastic like sell and buy a new house, but people who are paying $800 a week in rent might have trouble making those adjustments down to a $400-500/week
Of course, it’s a huge chunk of money but I would hope anybody earning that sort of income would have a large chunk of savings and income protection insurance. With 70% of their post-tax salary left after rent these are both feasible and would protect against any unforeseen income disruptions. Plus, having a child would give them likely at least 6 months after confirming the pregnancy to relocate if needed.
unfortunately income protection doesnt always provide the appropriate protection. In theory it's nice, but insurance companies are blood sucking scum. I've been trying to push a claim through for my wife for 18 months.
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>why not have a mortgage on the same type of property? Because buying one of those apartments is even worse than renting it for 800pw
Saving the deposit. I rented for years in a number of Capital cities and was always paying for convenience (don't have a car) but it's bloody hard to save when you are also paying rent. That said, I would never have paid that much for convenience. I also wouldn't live in Sydney, Melbourne etc. I have finally managed to save enough to buy my own home in a town about an hour from the capital. The auction was tough though as the capital city folk are now looking to buy out here for their investment properties. I am pretty sure I only got my place as I was bidding against investors and I could afford the lack of stamp duty because it was my first home (at the age of 48!) Basically, I agree with your statements about lifestyle choices and a mortgage being cheaper than rent. The real killer is saving up the 20% deposit so that you don't have to pay mortgage insurance.
> Saving the deposit. I rented for years in a number of Capital cities and was always paying for convenience (don't have a car) but it's bloody hard to save when you are also paying rent. That said, I would never have paid that much for convenience. I also wouldn't live in Sydney, Melbourne etc. It is hard to save in general but if rent is more than 30% of your income it is time to downscale if saving is your goal.
Absolutely agree. If you look at the ABS' figures for poverty it shows some interesting stats: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/6523.0~2013-14~Feature%20Article~Wealth%20of%20Low%20Income%20Households%20(Feature%20Article)~
I think that 30% cap is true up to a point. IE 30% of 60k but a household on 125k (as suggested) could choose to afford 40% or even 50%. I mean once they've paid their groceries/power/etc like everyone else the high income households have a lot more freedom than low income. They choose $800 a week in Bondi rather than financial security.
>who should be paying $800/week for a 1br apartment International students, duh.
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I imagine they've seen a few grams.
For $300 you'd have to be waaaaaaay out.
Lol yeah.. this sub sometimes forgets living in nicer places often costs more $800 pw is insanity though
Yeah, I am in the upper Blue Mountains and average rent up here is over $400 when not sharing a place. Places below about $340 are fairly rare (by that I mean like maybe 10% of the market?) and I haven't seen anywhere below $300 that was within 4km of a town centre in the last 2 years.
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Two bedroom apartments are $350 in Meadowbank. Still considered the inner west of Sydney. I also found two bedroom apartments in Leichhardt for $400.
https://www.domain.com.au/rent/meadowbank-nsw-2114/ Domain says the median rent for a 1br in Meadowbank is $460. I doubt the place you found is that great.
Maybe if the place has dirt floors and a squat toilet? $350 for Meadowbank is absurdly cheap and far, far from the norm. Also in no world is Meadowbank considered inner west, even across the water Rhodes isn't inner west, no matter how much REAs try to convince people it is. It's a hot topic for debate but it's usually agreed Cooks River is the south boundary that cuts up east of Burwood to Hen and Chicken Bay then east along the shore.
There’s one bedders going for $300/wk in Ashfield. Not far at all.
There's a big difference between living in Bondi and living in Ashfield. I mean, I have zero love for Bondi - I think it's the Jersey Shore of Australia. But gotta call a spade a spade. Ashfield is far from being right in the heart of the city and a stone's throw from one of the most iconic beaches in the world.
Of course. However I wasn’t making that point. The poster you responded to was saying that the couple should live within their means, and I was pointing out that it’s possible to do this in Sydney and not be “waaaay out”. I can now see I’ve ignored a key lifestyle factor with the proximity to a beach. So hey, if they really want to, they could move to a shitbox in Maroubra and still be near a beach, and not too far from the CBD.
And why are they called “Australians” in the article? They are not, they are international students who had to prove they had sufficient funds before getting their visas. Trying to cheat the system, if you want to come to actually work follow the right process by applying for a skilled visa.. Before you downvote, I studied in Germany and had to show I had €10000 a year minimum to support myself and was allowed to work 20hrs a week only (which unlike in Australia are strictly enforced). There are so many Australians who can’t pay their rent, why there should be any handouts to foreigners (specifically in this case who aren’t refugees or similar)..
ABC is one of the biggest population ponzi fluffers in the country. I do feel sorry for the people from other countries who are now struggling in Oz but they must have been asleep when the PM explicitly informed all temps who were unable to support themselves (some still are, they landed supermarket jobs etc) that now would be a good time to go home. Now we're being pressured, emotionally blackmailed, into supporting people who quite frankly are not Australians. I know whats going to be said next. "Immigration supports the economy" Wrong. The economy supports immigration. We've all been supporting immigration for ten years through stagnant wages and reduced services. It didnt work during the good times, its going to be very damaging during bad.
It's worse really. We have entire industries that have been poleaxed. Imagine an Aussie from tourism going to woolies and begging for a job because their kids need school stuff and their morgage needs paying, but there are no places because of all the temps. Will we get to the stage where the temps will be removed from those positions so that citizens can have them? It's could get hot politically.
When prices for groceries go up because locals want more money for the jobs that the temps are willing to take out of desperation, then majority will apply sufficient pressure to keep the temps where they are.
And this is before the whole China situation absolutely blows up. National income is on the rocks. The generosity is about to become impossible not matter how humanitarian we want to be.
The argument is that the presence of temporary residents grows the economy enough that it compensates for any jobs they take. In some cases it could grow it more with the really rich international students. Though obviously that's leaving aside issues on infrastructure, social cohesion, entry level jobs and our gdp per capita stagnation.
$800 fucking dollars a week is how much I spend on all my expenses. Why does a family need to live in Bondi?
The article is about two cases. The bondi case was a couple not a family
They weren't. Read the article.
$800 a week? Sounds excessive
Where are you reading $800/wk? It says they live in wantirna south and pay $1400/mo (so ~$350/wk) That's about the best it gets.
You're talking about the Melbourne couple - not the Bondi couple.
He's talking about both.
Ha I read it again and I see how it can be read that way.
This guy gets it
This is the harsh reality of life. Good comments.
Imagine not starting from a middle class base! It’s just so financially irresponsible a park bench is more than they deserve
They basically have the employment of high school kids and are trying to live as adults when it comes down to it.
I can see where you're coming from and re rent but the article doesn't go into much and how can they now move with no savings. Who will give them a new lease in their present circumstances? It's a bit rough to criticise their situation as entirely a choice if they did have regular battling jobs but they've both lost jobs because of the pandemic. I do wonder when it became the Australian thing to be so judgemental about strangers based on so little info.
They'd be living in bondi for the surrounding schools more than likely. It's still mind boggling they choose a school and insane rent over being in a position to pay bills. In any case, i'm with you. HOW people feel comfortable earning minimum wages and having kids is beyond me, i'm scared to even have kids, let alone afford them.
Different couple. There were two detailed in the article
Lmao does that kid have a gucci tracksuit
It's not the exact same one, but the kids clothes look to be worth about $800 new. Coupled with the expensive Iphone, I'm starting to get a picture of how they spend their money. https://www.gucci.com/au/en_au/pr/children/boy/boys-4-12m/activewear-for-boy/childrens-sweatshirt-with-gucci-jacquard-trim-p-497307X9L524275 https://www.gucci.com/au/en_au/pr/children/boy/boys-4-12m/activewear-for-boy/childrens-pant-with-gucci-jacquard-trim-p-497950X9L524275
OMG he does... this is embarrassing. I can see Mum making sure he was nicely dressed for the journalist knowing they were taking photos, without quite thinking through how it might play out in the context of the article. This family should consider putting aside some savings to cover them for shocks when they occur, and ABC should know better than running this type of article.
To be fair it's probably a knock off which is dirt cheap
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Similar situation but in regional Australia renting a large 4 bedder for ~400. The Bondi life, whatever it is, definitely not for me.
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Don't need to grow up poor to know that spending anything more than liveable on housing may not be the best use of cash.....
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It’s only a once off show of proof for the first 12 months. You don’t have to do it every year
Maybe she’s been in Australia for a while and spent those savings already?
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How do? If it’s a student visa the requirement for 12 months living expenses is only for the initial point of entry. I don’t believe it is checked every year. Not saying that it is right, just that it’s likely not a breach.
Again ABC being really weird and illogical in their reporting when it has anything at all to do with property. Every new article about somebody just makes me thing “wow everybody is terrible with their money, no wonder I feel poor, I’m not spending way beyond my means”. It’s like it’s written for some specific audience, not anybody with a functioning brain.
I think it's because it's popular at the moment to take the angle that if you're in poverty it's because you're a victim of the abuse of power and so on. While this certainly can be part of the problem, it can also just as often be an emotional or educational issue. Education is an easier one to fix. When you're trying to impress others, and part of a subculture that reinforces that kind of behaviour, it is very difficult for people to stop because it is a psychological and emotional issue. In this case it appears to be the educational angle, I think the ABC were hoping we would raise our pitchforks against the corporate machine or the government though?
EXACTLY - Even if this magical abuse of power was so prominent (as they reckon it is), WHY NOT TRY AND AVOID IT? Min wage, 2 kids and rent i'd be scared to death of paying... I'll gladly be kid free and debt free.
ABC has been running way too many shitty opinion pieces and awful "analysis" pieces. They have moved so far away from reporting facts. I am so sad at what it has become this last few years.
The couple in the story had 3 jobs and 1 was also investing themselves by pursuing higher study. Then in a short space of time lose all 3 jobs. On what basis are you accusing them of being financially irresponsible?
She's an international student with kids that she brought over with her which is tenuous at best. Obviously she doesn't have 12 months of funds required by her visa; either this was falsified or it spent on something else, the article decides to just not talk about that. It doesn't talk about her husband, all we really know about him is that he's on casual employment. We don't know if she met him after moving and then they decided to get married, or if they were married beforehand and they came over together. But let's be generous and assume that he's not also an international student with the required 12 months of funds. So now we have someone with two children who moved to Sydney as a student with no savings, or who spent away their savings while here- if the latter, it means their employed situation was also unsustainable or they were just irresponsible.
Edit : made a mistake.
We're obviously talking about the international student living with her husband and children in melbourne
Savings? Having an emergency fund?
They had an emergency fund and it was sucked up paying the rent in April.
I mean, how many students do you know that have an emergency fund or the capability of setting one up?
It's a requirement for international students to have 12 months of expenses. So pretty much all international students who abide by their visa conditions would have an emergency fund.
But she isn't an ordinary student, she isn't some teen/early 20 something who doesnt know better,
These people live in a prosperity doctrine fantasy land. Where everyone has the means to suck it up and build an emergency fund. And if you don’t then there must be something wrong with you. A quick google would show how many people live hand to mouth in Australia. But it’s the immigrants fault for not having enough savings to pay down the landlords mortgage
It literally is their fault in this case given that 12 months of living expenses is a requirement of a student visa
simple don’t live somewhere you can’t afford. I moved from Noosa to Melbourne at 18 and don’t receive help from parents. I came here with no job just some savings and worked my ass off hard. I’m in uni and working as much as I can. I did drop to 32 hours but I’m going to look for something else on the side I can do from home. Spending as little as I can saving as much as I can. I get they have kids, but if you have kids then you have to reassess your situation. Go get a real stable job. Don’t pursue study full time if you can’t work full time. Just work full time or close too and study part-time if you honestly think you can’t handle the limited time study requires. If you choose to have kids and can’t afford them then you have to let the kids understand that they may not be living like other kids. It’s honestly not that hard to be frugal. It’s just people think they have to live a certain way and then that causes people to live beyond their means. Why doesn’t dad go mow lawns and mom make candles on the side. Why doesn’t dad go get a job 9-5 mon-fri. People need to be accountable for their own actions and choices. If someone truly wants something and they’re able-bodied/minded, then there’s no barriers to them succeeding other than themselves. Sometimes you just have to work harder and smarter and longer than others to achieve something.
I know there are plenty of people in a tough financial position right now with nothing they can do about it, or could have done to avoid it in the first place. Which does make me why the media, ABC especially, keeps giving us questionable examples like these. It only serves to undermine the argument they're trying to make. Are these really the best stories of hardship they could find?
Maybe they are. Limited time limited resources at a cash strapped media organisation, and most people probably don't want to air their financial dramas in the media and have random Facebook/Twitter/Reddit users tearing them apart.
Forty minutes on the phone with their local neighbourhood house and thirty with their local social worker would give them far more material. They could conceal identities. This is lazy work in my opinion.
How are they being illogical and doing a sob story? They're doing an informative piece about what can happen in the current climate, your responsibilities and your options. They're using some worst case scenarios and cast no judgement as to whether those people are victims or not. They're showing what can happen when you don't have a safety net and that even in this unprecedented time you still have to pay your dues, and what options you have to do that.
It's been like this for at least a year. I kid you not around election time they interviewed a woman on the verandah of her waterfront property who was sobbing about franking credits.
I won't forget this old fart and his boat https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/the-fury-over-franking-credits/11064834
>International student >Australian yeah ima dip out
Yeah this is some poor journalism.
THIS!! If you can’t afford it... maybe go home? Ffs
abc..............
“they're just one example of the many Australians who simply can't scrape enough together to pay rent” But also “Saini, an international student living in Wantirna South”
It's bullshit, it's not so bad right now but 3 years ago I was working casually labouring and I could barely afford to rent a bungalow in someone's backyard in a worse suburb than Wantirna. The problem isn't house prices, its wages. They haven't gone up in a decade while everything else has.
It’s both.
Is the solution to increase wages to compete with international money and increased demand from immigration a good one though? Seems like a very poor way to put a bandaid over a problem caused by other sources. Similar things are happening in HK at the moment. Raising wages is not sustainable in the long term and ironically can stifle our economy and reduce employment through reduced exports.
Is this even an Australian?
It’s kind of frustrating, as the ABC could report on students - who have a 6-8 week wait for centerlink, and no possible income during that time. It’s happening to so many of us, but instead we get a news story about international students who are trying to rent in Bondi? Like fuck.
Different people, Wantirna south is in the outskirts of Melbourne. Bondi people were a couple who both lost their jobs.
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Melbourne's very asymmetrical. It's there's not much past it if you keep going that way out of Melbourne. Deer Park is on the outskirts of Melbourne, but Clayton isn't even though Deer Park is closer to the CBD.
Thank you
>It’s kind of frustrating, as the ABC could report on students - who have a 6-8 week wait for centerlink, and no possible income during that time. They have https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-09/covid-19-tension-between-students-landlords-in-housing-sector/12224442 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-29/uni-students-falling-through-the-cracks/12194056 >It’s happening to so many of us, but instead we get a news story about international students who are trying to rent in Bondi? Like fuck. The ABC is capable of writing more than one story. It would also help if you read the article before commenting.
Personally I'm struggling to make payments on my 3 Lamborghini's and 5 Ferrari's, oh and the Bentley... I think I'm going to have to get rid of some of the servants... Oh ABC, tell people to be sorry and sympathetic towards me...
This is permanent residency manipulation 101. One parent goes on a student visa for max term, then the other partner if they’re not able to apply for PR yet. Works like a charm.
Can we ban abc pity articles
Emergency fund, don't live in an area you can't afford for Instagram, don't have kids if you can't afford them. These people were in trouble before corona. I hope this virus is a wake up call to a lot of people spending all their money like they are Kanye West.
She's holding a $1000 iphone, sell it.
I can't tell what model it is, but assuming it's an iPhone X, she might get somewhere between $200 and $500 for that if it's in decent condition. If it's the iPhone 11, she might get a bit more, but still not $1000. If it's an older model she'd get fuck all. Now she's got no phone, so she's gotta buy a new phone or she'll be unable to apply for jobs. Sure, she can get a cheap one, but that's still got a cost. On a net basis, she might come out a few hundred dollars ahead, if it's in good condition and one of the more recent models. That's not going to get a family very far. Selling phones is not really the solution a lot of people seem to think it is.
Its an iphone 11, I dont think its a pro based on the flash location on the camera.
She could’ve covered a couple more weeks rent just with that top of the line phone. Why do we always need to feel sorry for people who can’t manage their own affairs and be sensible with money?
THIS!! I have a stable income, a real job and an iPhone 6. You people are just shit with money
I am the same! 6 plus in my case, been using this phone since 5 and half years now, i can easily afford a new iphone but my current phone works fine and i just dont see the need
Owning an iphone 6 doesn't mean you're good with money though.
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Hookers and coke included on the yacht
kid is wearing a gucci tracksuit and mum is holding a $1000 phone woe is me, someone start a go fund me for them
I own 200 dollar leggings, they cost me $2 at the local op shop. I take your point but it's amazing what you can get second hand.
" With no income at all, they're just one example of the many Australians who simply can't scrape enough together to pay rent right now. " No, they aren't Australians. It literally said the paragraph up she's an international student. Nobody made them come here to study. If Australia is too hard for them then they should leave. There are already enough people born here who are genuinely struggling for us to listen to sob stories of foreigners.
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The story was about two different couples. The ones paying $800 per week were an Australian couple living in Bondi. The international student couple were living in Wantirna South paying a lot less rent. Did you read the article?
>Saini, an international student Was required to have funds to support themselves when they were granted this application. ABC intentionally vague on the husband, sounds like they were Visa scaming. Evict them not only from the house but the country.
Assumptions. Sounds to me that even though they are on $0 income that they are still keen to chuck in for rent, just a reduction. So they mist be using savings for that.
Why jump to the visa scamming assumption and calling for them to be evicted from the country? A little bit of sympathy doesn't hurt...
So when are they going to pack up and head home to the in-laws? If you don't have a sturdy buffer or can't get access to welfare then bail. There is nothing wrong with being an economic migrant, but Australia has never been a soft touch. It's hard country so you only come here if you have applicable skills that they want in the near future and can speak English. You have got to make sound choices, going crying to people who have for decades been locked out of housing choices by people who think that they will magically be looked after, what did you expect? Don't make it about race or ethnicity. It's about cold hard mathematical facts of stale wages, gig economy, unsustainable rents, and boomers gouging. The lifestyle is expensive and you can't afford it. Move cheaper, or go to a cheaper lifestyle else where. NZ is a soft touch, try there after all so many Indian migrants are now trying to speak Maori just be ok with earthquakes. OR Tonga even. *** Reading this later I also wanted to point out to Australians that influence their society by voting. IF you make it so unappealing to live here - they won't. Keep up this crappy yearly change the goal posts and there won't be enough people left working to support the aging boomers or support the local economy.
Why on earth would you pay that high rent? Honestly the Australian property market is so far overvalued it's not even funny. With out International investors there is no reason for such high prices.
She should go home. Why on earth is she here on a student visa with two children?
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It is fake.
Welcome to ausfinance, where anyone not wealthy or financially literate in a system designed to fuck you over is a fucking idiot who should have been more careful.
yes
bondi...
Holy fuck this thread really brought out the psychopaths.
A lot of racists too. If those international students were British or Canadian, I don't think we'd be seeing the sorts of comments we're seeing.
Wow so little empathy. The family had 3 jobs between the two parents. I bet if they could, they would’ve had better more secure jobs, but sometimes life doesn’t work that way and you got to make ends meet. We have a gig economy, and just had a pandemic and people are dissing them because they lost their jobs? Wtf.
Remember folks, if you're a landlord with hard earned savings due to prudent financial management, it's your responsibility to take the loss if a tenant hasn't been diligent in their own life...
r/loveforlandlords
> Saini, an international student > > they're just one example of the many Australians who simply can't scrape enough together to pay rent right now. > > Saini, an international student > > they're just one example of the many Australians who simply can't scrape enough together to pay rent right now.
Yeah this has been the case for hundreds of years