I personally think inflation is goin to kick in hard this year in Australia, even more than last year. Coupled with Supply problems out of QLD it will hit my Silver purchases hard. I dont agree with the way CPI is calculated (who really does), and i have decided to monitor my personal price rises. Like most people i dont buy a new car, TV, any Electronic good, House, furniture, etc every quarter or year. but i buy food, pay utilities, buy petrol, get services (jims mowing, etc) many times over. So whether or not cars, TV, etc fall in price (or rise in price but get more efficient :/ ) has no bearing on how inflation in Australia affects me. I have started recording every purchase i make with very detailed descriptions including where i get the good from to make sure its as least corrupted as possible (this is made quite easy as i am a creature of habit). As i get results i'll post them up. Has anyone else done this, or doing this? how did you go or how are you going?
Good plan, I'm sure plenty here will be interested in the results. There's another thread about a doubling of the Aus money supply since 2006(?) which certainly adds weight to your premise. Mark.
Ive just paid some bills so did a little research. All referenced from the same period last year. Council rates: 9% increase. Water: 20% increase Electricity: Kwh charge 0% increase. Standing charge 32% increase. AND diesel has just jumped up by 10c/Litre But... My wife informs me that the weekly grocery bill is coming down somewhat. So, bearing in mind we spend more dollars on groceries than on rates, electricity etc, maybe the CPI isn't too inaccurate after all??
Electricity: Kwh charge 0% increase. Standing charge 32% increase. This is very interesting as I am looking at either wind or solar for my power. Lots of pros & cons for both. Wind power does not really had any industry guidelines or Australian Standards to meet. Solar power is better in summer, but in Hobart I would be using more power in winter..... Got solar hot water & never looked back. I keep paper copies of my past water/electric/rates & do notice it gets more $$$$ every bill. Got my solar hot water connected 4 months ago. Federal gov rebate $1000 should have kicked in after 8 weeks. after 4 months, no rebate!!!!! Been on the phone listening to excuses from call cente staff. Today I sent a message ( via fed gov website ) to my local fed member.................. WHOA!!!!!!! Got a phone call ( from helper)within 1 hour saying thanks & others have complained & will get back to me by the end of the week. Will let you all know the outcome.
I think many could benefit from tracking costs like you're suggesting. It needn't be a chore either, it can be a hobby, however, misers are not too popular in our culture. Some possible ways to minimise ongoing costs: Food = buy in bulk either online or at markets. Prices per kilo in local markets for most grains, pulses, etc. are usually significantly lower. Utilities = reduce consumption of water, gas and electricity (consider solar, insulation, watertanks, etc.) Car: Walk, bike and drive less. If it's not possible, consider moving or buying a more efficient car. Services = With regard to lawn mowing - do it yourself, or better yet get rid of the lawn. You are probably paying for the council to keep grass well tended just around the corner in the park. Most people derive very little benefit from either front or backyard lawns. Especially considering the cost in dry Australia. People with a small courtyard across from a public park are usually in a far superior situation to those tending their very own Par 3. Same is true for many other services like cleaning, gym memberships - few people get their money's worth. Most would be better off investing in some good shoes or a bicycle, canoe, etc for exercise. The latter two have resale value even if you never touch them!
My GF received an increase in prices notice from AGL the other day, all prices went up between 12-16%. This is for a 6 month period since last increase.
my purpose for this is not to see how much i am wasting (quite aware of where is should cut back), but just price increases. I rent and have a back injury so i have to pay for things that most people have the luxury of deciding whether or not to do it them selves
With the recent cyclone and flood disaster in QLD the RBA will probably be forced to print the money for repairation. Or the worst alternative is to borrow from IMF!
They just introduce new taxes and levies under the guise of altruism to fleece the tax paying public instead. The unemployed, the rich, those with claimable tax deductions and those who will get the direct benefit of those levies and taxes will not be forced to pay for it which means the burden to support will (as usual) fall upon the minority who are the most productive in society. Real intelligent. I am personally not that worried about inflation for a few reasons actually. 1 - I rent & don't own. In a falling property market and with increased local rental competition my LL cannot afford to put our rents up. There's just too many 'for lease' and 'for sale' signs popping up around here, so our rent remains flat whilst the increased costs to maintain and hold fall on the LL. We have one unit here that's been on the market for 8 months so far, no buyers. 2 - We live in a unit, not on a block of land. We pay no rates. No maintenance costs. No water rates (included in the rent). If something is stuffed, we're only a phone call away of getting it fixed with no out of pocket expenses. Renting in Australia is seen as 2nd class, but in a competitive rental market with inflating increasing costs, it's actually a pretty intelligent solution that because of social conditioning, many frown on. 3 - We buy in bulk when and where we can. I read the Alpha Strategy some time back and adopted it as my lifestyle option and bugger me, it saves us a SHITLOAD of cash each year when we tally receipts! ie Even in a unit, we can still afford to do this as you'd be surprised how much space you can find under stairs, hall cupboards etc. 4 - I don't buy pointless crap. I actually own very few things, but all of high quality. As a self confessed advocate of Gerald Celente's 20% solution, I refuse to be a consumer whore instead buying only a few items at a time and all at high quality! I have private health insurace, but don't have pay tv - it's all about choices that make sense in the end and the old adage can still ring very true in that Less is More if you are doing it right. 5 - I save in PMs (like all of us). I refuse to let the banks and taxman take any more of my wealth. I'm already being taxed two or three times before I can even get my wealth stored and that's far more than many in this country pay. My yearly tax bill alone could keep a family running on welfare, so I refuse to give the leeches one drop more of my blood. Fucking vampires! 6 - I don't drive to work, I catch public transport. Living in Sydney, we love to hate our public transport system, but it's actually not as bad as the roads here. Whether you want to talk about congestion, tolls or the state of the roads, it's an absolute shambles compared to the cost of taking a bus or a train each day. I travel less than 5,000 km per year by car by choice and my waistline thanks me for it. So ultimately, I know that inflation is out of control and will get worse. So many debtors in Australia are on a razor's edge, I have no doubt the rapidly rising inflation will bury many of them and whilst they can scream and protest loudly over being screwed out of their ridiculous mortgages, the fact is this is the result of years of living high on the hog in a consumerist society. We live in the age of the quickening people, the exponential function of reality is absolutely real and until people start to think about downsizing on a massive scale and take action to this end by choice, they'll continue to feel the pain of their decisions and expectations as they're dragged kicking and screaming to that end anyway. Those who are not stupid are already planning ahead of the inevitable, the rest will just have their hand out (as always) and use their vote to demand others pay to maintain the standard of living they've come to expect and demand. Such is the way of things.
