The state of the economy at the street level

[farmerge]

i believe it is about ( retail ) stock clearance to prepare for the stock that you bring in December/New Year ( at least in Australia )

Rol up, roll up, the sale of this week is happening. and if you miss this then next week there will another etc etc.
Brings to mind a particular furniture retailer who seems like a sale every month, which has to be b/s because when is a sale not a sale?
When does he have prices that are not sale prices?

 

[qldfrog]

Back to cafe, which are as good a street indicator as can be for our cities:

$7 coffees trigger cafe collapse

The past 20 years have seen a proliferation of cafes around Australia. When I moved to the Melbourne suburb of Ashburton in 2006, there were only a few cafes on the High Street shopping strip. In the years leading up to the pandemic, the number of cafes on or near the High Street strip increased

www.macrobusiness.com.au

And of interest is the breakup of a cuppa costs


Found this informative after the recent exchange here with Mr @galumay

 

[divs4ever]

Back to cafe, which are as good a street indicator as can be for our cities:

$7 coffees trigger cafe collapse

The past 20 years have seen a proliferation of cafes around Australia. When I moved to the Melbourne suburb of Ashburton in 2006, there were only a few cafes on the High Street shopping strip. In the years leading up to the pandemic, the number of cafes on or near the High Street strip increased

www.macrobusiness.com.au

And of interest is the breakup of a cuppa costs
View attachment 190918

Found this informative after the recent exchange here with Mr @galumay

so.. i get a discount if i order black coffee ??

the milk costing more than the actual coffee sounds like a stretch

 

[DannyB0000]

Back to cafe, which are as good a street indicator as can be for our cities:

$7 coffees trigger cafe collapse

The past 20 years have seen a proliferation of cafes around Australia. When I moved to the Melbourne suburb of Ashburton in 2006, there were only a few cafes on the High Street shopping strip. In the years leading up to the pandemic, the number of cafes on or near the High Street strip increased

www.macrobusiness.com.au

And of interest is the breakup of a cuppa costs
View attachment 190918

Found this informative after the recent exchange here with Mr @galumay

That's would I paid for a cappuccino in Melbourne CBD. Sunday afternoon with a weekend surcharge. I won't name the cafe but it's well known. If I had to pay $7 for a coffee everyday, I would provably invest in a nice coffee machine and DIY.

 

[divs4ever]

That's would I paid for a cappuccino in Melbourne CBD. Sunday afternoon with a weekend surcharge. I won't name the cafe but it's well known. If I had to pay $7 for a coffee everyday, I would provably invest in a nice coffee machine and DIY.

as i did 10 years back when i was still drinking coffee .. and a couple of decent thermos flasks to keep some warm when working away from home ( just not so big on cappuccino , so less hassles to make )

 

[divs4ever]

BTW that was one reason i did not invest in RFG , when i started investing ( i could see a long term trend of saving money by resisting visiting cafes )

 

[farmerge]

as i did 10 years back when i was still drinking coffee .. and a couple of decent thermos flasks to keep some warm when working away from home ( just not so big on cappuccino , so less hassles to make )

Same for me Always have a flask of hot water for morning crib and lunch.

 

[qldfrog]

so.. i get a discount if i order black coffee ??

the milk costing more than the actual coffee sounds like a stretch

no make sense: 1 kg coffee @$25-> 50 cups or so 50c for a reasonably cheap bean
a cappucino cup is nearly 200ml or 1/5 of a $2 a litre milk (norco) and more if soy oat ..milk is critical for Australian white coffees texturing
so minimum 40c on standard full cream supermarket prize.
roughly match up

 

[TimeISmoney]

BTW that was one reason i did not invest in RFG , when i started investing ( i could see a long term trend of saving money by resisting visiting cafes )

Hey Divs you worked in the banking industry if I recall correctly?

Just a quick conundrum, do you think most Aussies live beyond their means?

 

[farmerge]

Hey Divs you worked in the banking industry if I recall correctly?

Just a quick conundrum, do you think most Aussies live beyond their means?

@TimeISmoney I haven't worked in the finance industry but from what I have observed over recent times, if a dollar is earnt then $1.50 minimum is spent.

 

[TimeISmoney]

@TimeISmoney I haven't worked in the finance industry but from what I have observed over recent times, if a dollar is earnt then $1.50 minimum is spent.

Yeah it seems to be the way, disposable incomes drop and people seem to borrow more to try and keep the same lifestyle.

 

[divs4ever]

Hey Divs you worked in the banking industry if I recall correctly?

Just a quick conundrum, do you think most Aussies live beyond their means?

not exactly , at one stage i got to clean their server rooms and another stage cleaning two bank branches

however a former employer was at one stage a major( state ) branch manager before forming an auditing team ( to investigate anomalies inside a bank brand ) and then went on to buy a bank franchise ( and later move away from banking )

i was born to parents who grew up during the Great Depression and were still young adults during the second world war , so yes , in my opinion , a large number DO ( but a few are amazingly creative on getting by on low debt and a low income .. and more than 2 children )

but understanding how they got there ( living beyond their means ) is the master class in dark psychology ( OOPS !! i meant salesmanship )

it is easy to blame them ( the deeply indebted ) but most are not taught sound math and budgeting , worse still they are encouraged to take on education debt , i could go on and on .

now when i was young is was always 'naughty ' so rarely watched TV ( having being banned 99% of the time ) and TV was still in it's infancy

so i watched little TV , consumed some print media ( that i was selling at the time `) and that turned out to be a good thing , even now i rarely watch TV ( although i watched heaps of docos on pay-TV when holed up in the hotel

and YET TV ( and radio ) are supposed to be essential devices for your safety ( warning alerts and stuff ) while they addict you to over spending

so the question is .. what is essential expenditure to YOU ( everyone will have a different answer , but some answers will astound you )

can this cycle be unwound .. maybe but there are very wealthy individuals that are very happy with the status quo ( so powerful forces will resist the change )

now the question is are most Australians willing to try to live within their means ( despite heavy pressure to overspend )

 

[farmerge]

not exactly , at one stage i got to clean their server rooms and another stage cleaning two bank branches

however a former employer was at one stage a major( state ) branch manager before forming an auditing team ( to investigate anomalies inside a bank brand ) and then went on to buy a bank franchise ( and later move away from banking )

i was born to parents who grew up during the Great Depression and were still young adults during the second world war , so yes , in my opinion , a large number DO ( but a few are amazingly creative on getting by on low debt and a low income .. and more than 2 children )

but understanding how they got there ( living beyond their means ) is the master class in dark psychology ( OOPS !! i meant salesmanship )

it is easy to blame them ( the deeply indebted ) but most are not taught sound math and budgeting , worse still they are encouraged to take on education debt , i could go on and on .

now when i was young is was always 'naughty ' so rarely watched TV ( having being banned 99% of the time ) and TV was still in it's infancy

so i watched little TV , consumed some print media ( that i was selling at the time `) and that turned out to be a good thing , even now i rarely watch TV ( although i watched heaps of docos on pay-TV when holed up in the hotel

and YET TV ( and radio ) are supposed to be essential devices for your safety ( warning alerts and stuff ) while they addict you to over spending

so the question is .. what is essential expenditure to YOU ( everyone will have a different answer , but some answers will astound you )

can this cycle be unwound .. maybe but there are very wealthy individuals that are very happy with the status quo ( so powerful forces will resist the change )

now the question is are most Australians willing to try to live within their means ( despite heavy pressure to overspend )

Well the BNPY and excessive "free" interest rates over a prolonged period certainly encourage over spending to a greater debt level I reckon.
We have always only bought if the article product is needed and only then if the coin we have is enough to cover the cost.
Of course farm machinery is slightly different as it then becomes a tax dodge and is bought on agri el cheapo finance.

 

[divs4ever]

Well the BNPY and excessive "free" interest rates over a prolonged period certainly encourage over spending to a greater debt level I reckon.
We have always only bought if the article product is needed and only then if the coin we have is enough to cover the cost.
Of course farm machinery is slightly different as it then becomes a tax dodge and is bought on agri el cheapo finance.

when buying stuff i could not afford immediately , i would lay-buy ( something that may have disappeared now )

i still don't even have credit card , i just don't need one

 

[TimeISmoney]

Well the BNPY and excessive "free" interest rates over a prolonged period certainly encourage over spending to a greater debt level I reckon.
We have always only bought if the article product is needed and only then if the coin we have is enough to cover the cost.
Of course farm machinery is slightly different as it then becomes a tax dodge and is bought on agri el cheapo finance.

I think there are 2 types of debt, good and bad debt. One type of debt you can make money from and the other is a loss.

These days you see people buy stupid things with credit, like holidays, and brand new cars as soon as you plonk your butt in the seat you've lost anywhere from 5 to 10k in a day.

 

[divs4ever]

I think there are 2 types of debt, good and bad debt. One type of debt you can make money from and the other is a loss.

These days you see people buy stupid things with credit, like holidays, and brand new cars as soon as you plonk your butt in the seat you've lost anywhere from 5 to 10k in a day.

well between 2011 and 2016 i used to buy ( invest in ) debt but after the Greece and Cyprus episodes , i had a re-think , and demanded higher returns for the risk taken , with extra changes after that i let the remaining ( debt ) investments mature or redeem

i guess that wasn't the 'good debt ' you were talking about , but there is increased risk now ,and would rather cherry-pick REITs an alternate to debt instruments

by the way , because i have rarely borrowed ( only for a block of land 1975 ) my credit rating is lousy ( how crazy is that )
an interesting future awaits us

 

[TimeISmoney]

well between 2011 and 2016 i used to buy ( invest in ) debt but after the Greece and Cyprus episodes , i had a re-think , and demanded higher returns for the risk taken , with extra changes after that i let the remaining ( debt ) investments mature or redeem

i guess that wasn't the 'good debt ' you were talking about , but there is increased risk now ,and would rather cherry-pick REITs an alternate to debt instruments

by the way , because i have rarely borrowed ( only for a block of land 1975 ) my credit rating is lousy ( how crazy is that )
an interesting future awaits us

It's been over 18 years since I've had a home loan, not really keen on going into debt for another home again.

A credit card is something I've never wanted but a lot of places these days only accept it as payment, especially things like security deposits.

 

[Smurf1976]

i still don't even have credit card , i just don't need one

How do you go about staying in a hotel or renting a car?

First thing most ask for is a credit card and they whack a security deposit on it.