Warning. The following contains back of the envelope calculations. Interest rates had their biggest one-month increase in 22 years. Those 50 basis points will add $238 a month to the typical Illawarra home loan payment based on the median price of a home being $1,068,705.
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The average cost of a tank of petrol is around $97 in Wollongong. The average weekly grocery bill in Australia is $254.96, with couples with children aged between five and 14 spending up to $336 a week.
Before you add on rental/mortgage costs, electricity or gas costs, broadband, healthcare, car maintenance, water, council rates etc you've racked up weekly outgoings of $687.96.
Add on the mortgage. Let's say $1,211.25 a week.
This is calculated on the Illawarra's median house price, assuming the home is bought with a $100,000 deposit and is paid over 25 years with a fixed interest rate of 4.39 per cent with the Commonwealth Bank.
Weekly outgoings before the bills are now $1,899.21.
Roughly a salary of $130,000 is required to cover just our basic living costs. The average wage in Wollongong is $90,700, according to Salary Expert, and for many, that will be overstating it.
We're now $39,700 plus or minus a few dollars, short in our annual cost of living. There's little wonder Tom Simpson (pictured below), and his finance Anita are worried.
- Gayle Tomlinson
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