The state of the economy at the street level

[moXJO]

I bought 3x playstation 5. Probably blow a large wad of dough on the rest of the presents and helped finance and open a restaurant for one of my wives. I'm literally single-handedly stimulating the economy.

I'm seeing people everywhere when it comes to restaurants and grocery stores. Not so much the big stores.

 

[divs4ever]

I bought 3x playstation 5. Probably blow a large wad of dough on the rest of the presents and helped finance and open a restaurant for one of my wives. I'm literally single-handedly stimulating the economy.

I'm seeing people everywhere when it comes to restaurants and grocery stores. Not so much the big stores.

i still have my Playstation 2 ( and working back up ) both modded

antique yes but doubles as my DVD/CD player

am being very strategic with cash reserves

 

[sptrawler]

I bought 3x playstation 5. Probably blow a large wad of dough on the rest of the presents and helped finance and open a restaurant for one of my wives. I'm literally single-handedly stimulating the economy.

I'm seeing people everywhere when it comes to restaurants and grocery stores. Not so much the big stores.

Brave man, one of your wives? I had my 46th wedding anniversary on Friday, there is no way I could afford anymore than one. ?

 

[Belli]

blow a large wad of dough

I've done my bit for the bank balance through buying a number of books for presents as well splurging out for on a lens for my camera.

 

[wayneL]

Our family has said no presents this Christmas. A few of the younger ones have hocked themselves up to the eyeballs on real estate, so money is tight.

wayneL, being a curmudgeon about the secular form of Christmas, is happy. (The grog shop may do well though )

 

[qldfrog]

Our family has said no presents this Christmas. A few of the younger ones have hocked themselves up to the eyeballs on real estate, so money is tight.

wayneL, being a curmudgeon about the secular form of Christmas, is happy. (The grog shop may do well though )

Tintarra Mc Laren Vale Shiraz was 1/2 price at BWS..that is doing my xmas....But no big spend indeed

 

[JohnDe]

Just got back from the coast. Farmers working day & night to harvest. All holiday accommodation booked solid for next two months.

It will be interesting after the holiday period is over.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Tintarra Mc Laren Vale Shiraz was 1/2 price at BWS..that is doing my xmas...

(After much investigation ) I've found the tiered pricing model for grog outlets has broken down ... Used to be that Dan's was much cheaper than BWS, for WOW, and First Choice then Vintage Cellars and Liquorland (COL). Now the specials are similar around the traps. Liquorland offering $7 off a $70 bill, discounts still apply.... Koonunga hill was $9

 

[moXJO]

Brave man, one of your wives? I had my 46th wedding anniversary on Friday, there is no way I could afford anymore than one. ?

"Cost" is the least of the problems...

 

[Smurf1976]

All holiday accommodation booked solid for next two months.

It will be interesting after the holiday period is over.

Holiday accommodation, air travel, major events eg concerts, house renovations are all doing extremely well.

But a common theme with all of those is that the decision and indeed the commitment to it is typically made well in advance of the actual consumption.

Holidays are booked months in advance by many.

Concerts in some cases the tickets were sold as far back as 2019 before the pandemic or were at least sold many months ago before the event.

Renovations if they're major and need council approval well the decision to do it, going through the approvals process, getting quotes for the work etc all takes quite some time.

In all those cases the present level of consumption reflects consumer sentiment quite some time ago, there's a large lag there, so agree it'll be interesting to see what happens after this holiday season is over.

 

[Knobby22]

Business lunch today at a restaurant in Melbourne CBD. Packed on a Monday.
It is Christmas though. Everyone is taking out clients so probably can't read too much into this.

 

[sptrawler]

Business lunch today at a restaurant in Melbourne CBD. Packed on a Monday.
It is Christmas though. Everyone is taking out clients so probably can't read too much into this.

Lucky you.

 

[Belli]

Anybody looked at the cost of airfares recently? Luckily I booked the flights back in October.

 

[divs4ever]

nope , have no plans to travel any further than the nearest ( major ) shopping town until mid January

 

[JohnDe]

nope , have no plans to travel any further than the nearest ( major ) shopping town until mid January

I had plans to travel OS mid next year with friends, but I changed plans. Instead, I'll be spending my money in our favourite coastal haunt.

 

[Smurf1976]

Anybody looked at the cost of airfares recently? Luckily I booked the flights back in October.

They're not cheap at the moment that's for sure. Not ridiculously expensive, but not cheap.

Three domestic flights booked for February.

 

[sptrawler]

I booked a trip to U.K, flight to U.K transfers and hotel Southampton, 14 day cruise to see the Northern lights, 3 nights in London on return. Then Eurostar to Paris for a couple of nights, then a river cruise to Budapest and flights home, Oct 2023 $9k each, including drinks package. ?

 

[Smurf1976]

I booked a trip to U.K, flight to U.K transfers and hotel Southampton, 14 day cruise to see the Northern lights, 3 nights in London on return. Then Eurostar to Paris for a couple of nights, then a river cruise to Budapest

Well you've beaten me.....

Best I can do is say I'm going to Melbourne and Sydney, and seeing the same band in each. So three flights Adelaide > Melbourne > Sydney > Adelaide. Plus a hotel in Melbourne.

 

[sptrawler]

Well you've beaten me.....

Best I can do is say I'm going to Melbourne and Sydney, and seeing the same band in each. So three flights Adelaide > Melbourne > Sydney > Adelaide. Plus a hotel in Melbourne.

The punch line is, drum roll.
I booked it in oct 2021 mid covid, I said to the wife, "look if it isn't sorted by Oct 2023 and we do our dough, who cares, life as we know it will be over, what's another $20k down the toilet". ?

 

[moXJO]

I booked a trip to U.K, flight to U.K transfers and hotel Southampton, 14 day cruise to see the Northern lights, 3 nights in London on return. Then Eurostar to Paris for a couple of nights, then a river cruise to Budapest and flights home, Oct 2023 $9k each, including drinks package. ?

That's not bad. I've got lazy about travelling.