Inflation

[farmerge]

Any of you with a HECS debt, now is the time to give it a hit.

Students have just nine days to pay uni debt before indexation kicks in

Time is running out for millions of university graduates to slash their HECS debts before they increase by 7 per cent.

www.abc.net.au

From the article:

On June 1, in nine days' time, $74 billion worth of HECS/HELP debt will go up by 7 per cent — an increase of more than $5 billion.

However, the budget papers put the hike at just $3.6 billion.

Kate Andersson completed an arts degree, a law degree, and a diploma in legal practice at the University of Queensland.

Her HECS/HELP is currently sitting at $67,000, and with indexation, that will jump by $4,700 to over $70,000.

I wonder how many actually do repay the HCS debt in their working life.
Young females becomes mothers and perhaps never re-enter the workforce. Debt not repayed.
Young bloke wants to get another and another and another degree. Then low and behold its retirement age.
Been a professional student for doneys years and never worked. Debt not repayed.
Our youngest son who is now a skilled vet and surgeon, scrimped and went without so he never had a HECS debt, even though we offered to pay it for him.
But he wanted to do it on his own. Knows the value of a dollar and hard work.

 

[qldfrog]

I wonder how many actually do repay the HCS debt in their working life.
Young females becomes mothers and perhaps never re-enter the workforce. Debt not repayed.
Young bloke wants to get another and another and another degree. Then low and behold its retirement age.
Been a professional student for doneys years and never worked. Debt not repayed.
Our youngest son who is now a skilled vet and surgeon, scrimped and went without so he never had a HECS debt, even though we offered to pay it for him.
But he wanted to do it on his own. Knows the value of a dollar and hard work.

Same here, son civil engineer, we paid his uni fees for first yearand then he got part time job and paid as soon as it could. No debt..but it will not be long before the left decides to erase the HECS IMHO..next election?

 

[qldfrog]

Same here, son civil engineer, we paid his uni fees for first yearand then he got part time job and paid as soon as it could. No debt..but it will not be long before the left decides to erase the HECS IMHO..next election?

But I think we are out of the thread subject gentlemen, let's go back to inflation.still no cheap wholegrain mustard in yesterday shopping.
Coles cheapest $2.9 a pot is still empty.next cheapest is $4.
Which is 38% more
Lack of supply... Australia can not crush or grow mustard seed?
Better half made our own in the kitchen.strong but good.
from our garden mustard.. usually eaten as leaf in salad
Let's blame it on Putin or Covid ?
But fact is the price of a given good is now 38% higher.aldi and Woolies have empty shelves too

 

[Smurf1976]

let's go back to inflation

Having bought quite a few things over the past few days, my observations:

Fuel far cheaper than expected. Petrol (91) is down as low as 159.9 and diesel 175.9

Clothing cost far more than I was expecting. Last time I bought some cheap jeans just for wearing around home they were $25 at Target. Just bought another pair for $45. Similar increases for other items.

New car battery cost me $149 and that's with a $30 discount and it's a small (4 cyl) car. Go back a few years and that was the full price for a battery for a large car.

 

[over9k]

Tell you one thing, a lot of flights are fcuking cheap at the moment. This is for tues the 30th, less than a week from now :



1900 bucks to london, qantas the whole way (no codeshare) and leaving around midday so you're not running for 24+ hours without sleep before you get onto your connecting flight and actually close your eyes so the flights are actually in line with your circadian rhythm. I mean I know it's only economy/pleb class but still, that's pretty bloody good for 1900 bucks.

If you want to move up to premium economy you can even score yourself an evening departure that stops off in dubai for cheap (for what it is) if you're cool with flying emirates instead:



Again, that's about as cheap as this class of fare gets and it's both actually flying at times that are in line with an AEST sleep schedule and doesn't even have a several hour layover, only two, which is the perfect amount of time to stretch your legs/shower(if you have lounge access)/eat before you get back on the connecting flight. Normally you have to fly QF9 via perth for about $6500 to get that:



Quite the deal for the price.

 

[wayneL]

Tell you one thing, a lot of flights are fcuking cheap at the moment. This is for tues the 30th, less than a week from now :

View attachment 157266

1900 bucks to london, qantas the whole way (no codeshare) and leaving around midday so you're not running for 24+ hours without sleep before you get onto your connecting flight and actually close your eyes so the flights are actually in line with your circadian rhythm. I mean I know it's only economy/pleb class but still, that's pretty bloody good for 1900 bucks.

If you want to move up to premium economy you can even score yourself an evening departure that stops off in dubai for cheap (for what it is) if you're cool with flying emirates instead:

View attachment 157267

Again, that's about as cheap as this class of fare gets and it's both actually flying at times that are in line with an AEST sleep schedule and doesn't even have a several hour layover, only two, which is the perfect amount of time to stretch your legs/shower(if you have lounge access)/eat before you get back on the connecting flight. Normally you have to fly QF9 via perth for about $6500 to get that:

View attachment 157270

Quite the deal for the price.

Yeah but it's Qantarse, you'd have to pay me to fly with those turds.

 

[divs4ever]

well there are two ways to beat inflation ... the banker's way ' the cure for high prices is HIGH prices '

or the way i choose , i just buy less ( in new purchases and dollars spent )

in a 'disposable ' world waiting for a better model to come along is less painful .. there will be a better one along soon

 

[divs4ever]

Yeah but it's Qantarse, you'd have to pay me to fly with those turds.

yep , i haven't flown with them since 1956 ( i was too young to have a say back then )

 

[wayneL]

well there are two ways to beat inflation ... the banker's way ' the cure for high prices is HIGH prices '

or the way i choose , i just buy less ( in new purchases and dollars spent )

in a 'disposable ' world waiting for a better model to come along is less painful .. there will be a better one along soon

Yep, we've gone into full Bohemian mode, not playing.

 

[farmerge]

Yep, we've gone into full Bohemian mode, not playing.

Only buy what's needed now Not what might be needed tomorrow

 

[divs4ever]

Only buy what's needed now Not what might be needed tomorrow

i have chosen the opposite route

spare axe handles stuff that works without fuel or power

durable stuff that might last another 100 years and still function without chips batteries etc etc ( and without 'smart-meters ' )

 

[Knobby22]

The ASX has dropped and stocks on Wall Street have been sold off as investors worry about the lack of progress on lifting the US debt ceiling, and the Commonwealth Bank has lifted interest rates on variable rate home loans.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Reserve Bank has raised official rates by 0.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent, the highest level in more than 14 years.
(source ABC)

I can't see how we will avoid at least one more rate rise, if not more.

 

[divs4ever]

I can't see how we will avoid at least one more rate rise, if not more.

neither can i but the 'smart money' seems to be betting the other way

 

[waterbottle]

RBNZ does not mince their words

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand lifted the official cash rate (OCR) during its May meeting by 25bps to 5.5%, the highest since December 2008. It was the 12th straight rate hike, in line with market consensus, as consumer inflation, at 6.7% in Q1 of 2023, remained too high with many measures of inflation expectations staying elevated. Meantime, employment indicators continued to be on an upward path, and high net immigration also added to demand in the economy. Wednesday's move brought a total of 525bps increases since October 2021. The RBNZ said it now sees borrowing costs peaking at the current level, with cuts beginning in Q3 of 2024. It noted a GDP contraction of 0.6% in Q4 of 2022 was unexpected while a mild recession is projected for Q2 and Q3 of 2023. The board was also aware that demand is slowing in parts of the economy that are most sensitive to high-interest rates, like housing. But the rebuilding work after recent floods should provide a small offset to the fall​

No cuts until q3 2024!!!!
Mild recession!

Wonder what Phil Lowe is going to do

 

[wayneL]

Wonder what Phil Lowe is going to do

Albo's thugs have a set of emasculators clasped around his nuts, therefore strongly doubt a raise.

Best bet is the (more) inflation trade.

 

[over9k]

Albo's thugs have a set of emasculators clasped around his nuts, therefore strongly doubt a raise.

Best bet is the (more) inflation trade.

Yep, the housing lobby owns this country.

 

[over9k]

Meanwhile:



Superior goods.

Quite a good bit of analysis done by some, well, analysts on this: They've taken a look at both the financials of the companies and what deals they've made with what payment providers and what percentage of their sales are being made on/with what payment methods and so on and so forth and wouldn't you know it, a lot, like a LOT of sales have been made on credit - credit cards, buy now pay later providers, all that kind of stuff, and it's THOSE sales that have plummeted in the recent quarterly results.

The "boom" we saw in so much of this frivolous BS was hugely credit driven. Classic case of the financially irresponsible (fake people) using credit to try to make themselves appear to have a lot more money than they really do. Consumerism at its core.

Now don't get me wrong, I (and plenty of others) predicted months ago that consumer goods sales would plummet and services demand (holidays, theme parks, casinos, comedy shows etc etc) would skyrocket once the world started reopening and that's *exactly* what has happened but it's just interesting to note how so much of these luxury brand sales have been made with money people just simply did not have.

It'd be very interesting to take a look at what percentage of sales of services (the aforementioned holidays, theme parks, live theatre etc etc) are being made on credit. To my mind they just aren't the kind of thing you use credit to pay for (I've only ever used credit to cover some kind of unexpected expense that's been more than what I keep in my everyday account) but you can use afterpay to buy-now-pay-later a domino's freaking pizza now so maybe I'm just underestimating how absurd this BNPL craze is actually going to get.

If they're being bought with credit too then it's only a matter of time before the demand for services, like consumer goods before it, falls off a cliff as well.

Food for thought.

 

[sptrawler]

IMO next move up 0.5%. Lol
This is going to keep going until the Govt does something to curb Sydney/Melbourne house prices IMO.

 

[farmerge]

Meanwhile:

View attachment 157294

Superior goods.

Quite a good bit of analysis done by some, well, analysts on this: They've taken a look at both the financials of the companies and what deals they've made with what payment providers and what percentage of their sales are being made on/with what payment methods and so on and so forth and wouldn't you know it, a lot, like a LOT of sales have been made on credit - credit cards, buy now pay later providers, all that kind of stuff, and it's THOSE sales that have plummeted in the recent quarterly results.

The "boom" we saw in so much of this frivolous BS was hugely credit driven. Classic case of the financially irresponsible (fake people) using credit to try to make themselves appear to have a lot more money than they really do. Consumerism at its core.

Now don't get me wrong, I (and plenty of others) predicted months ago that consumer goods sales would plummet and services demand (holidays, theme parks, casinos, comedy shows etc etc) would skyrocket once the world started reopening and that's *exactly* what has happened but it's just interesting to note how so much of these luxury brand sales have been made with money people just simply did not have.

It'd be very interesting to take a look at what percentage of sales of services (the aforementioned holidays, theme parks, live theatre etc etc) are being made on credit. To my mind they just aren't the kind of thing you use credit to pay for (I've only ever used credit to cover some kind of unexpected expense that's been more than what I keep in my everyday account) but you can use afterpay to buy-now-pay-later a domino's freaking pizza now so maybe I'm just underestimating how absurd this BNPL craze is actually going to get.

If they're being bought with credit too then it's only a matter of time before the demand for services, like consumer goods before it, falls off a cliff as well.

Food for thought.

Over 40 years when I was woking for wages, there was a bloke in our team with absolutely no monetary sense. His stupid wife had even less.
He had at best as I can remember 5 credit cards.
Each piggy backing the other.
To his demented way of thinking he would be out of debt by using each card to repay the preceding one.
I was working in an industry that was highly paid with plenty of overtime available each week.
He finished up with virtually no money and used to walk from Perth to Balga where he lived twice a day because he couldn't afford the bus fare.
I can see this scenario re-appearing time and again, because without cash in the hand most people these days can't see what is what.

 

[farmerge]

IMO next move up 0.5%. Lol
This is going to keep going until the Govt does something to curb Sydney/Melbourne house prices IMO.

But does the Govt, State or Federal, really want to curb housing prices.