• melbaboutown
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    3 months ago

    I’m normally happy being frugal, it’s been a way of life for so long. But I have to say I’m getting really sick of it being so severely enforced. Especially as disability = hard mode.

    I’m not happy with the direction Australia is going for any of us. As much as people tighten their belts it’s pointless. Corporations and banks just take more, the government just cuts more. The severity of this could have been avoided.

    • PeelerSheila
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      3 months ago

      It’s great to be frugal, but shitty to have absolutely no other choice but to have it so ruthlessly rammed down your throat. The farmer struggles for a minimal return, consumers pay a premium for bare essentials and the fat cats and shareholders in the middle get all the cream. Grocery shopping is essential and should be treated as such, with essential items price protected, but time and time again governments are gutless wonders.

        • PeelerSheila
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          3 months ago

          Yes, I totally agree. When I was young I used to think, if you’ve worked hard and bought yourself a little weekender or property to one day retire to, like some of my friends did, then good on you. But with negative gearing, stagnant wage reform, stagnant social security payments, the air bnb situation, and people owning not “a little weekender” but 10, 20, 100 properties, it’s beyond a joke. Housing is a right and should never be treated like it isn’t.

          • Jay Stephens@mastodon.social
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            3 months ago

            @PeelerSheila @melbaboutown Not to mention the way the outsize returns from property investment once you’re rorting the tax breaks and negative gearing means it is sucking investment money out of the productive sectors of the economy, and thus hurting the skills base and our capacity to continue as an advanced economy.

    • Seagoon_OP
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      3 months ago

      so many hugs

      in times like these our friends and family is our greatest asset

        • dumblederp
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          3 months ago

          Policy is written for those with the funds to lobby for it. The concept of policy is great. The reality of policy is that it seems written for corporations these days.

          On being frugal, I like that frugality almost directly links to anticonsumption. But there’s being frugal and becoming poor because everything is costing more. I used to spend slightly less than I brought in, now I’m spending slightly more.

        • Seagoon_OP
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          3 months ago

          of course, but we should also take measures on a personal level to make our lives safer, more stable and more resilient against the knockbacks of life

          • melbaboutown
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            3 months ago

            It’s all I’ve ever done. I scrimped and saved for a long time to get an emergency fund for myself and Melbcat, and our money is getting eaten into so already rich people can get obscenely rich.