Why?

BayView

BayView

I had a disagreement with Sanj on another thread about how the Economy is travelling, and he denied there was a problem because the Stats said so.

I asked him a direct question and/or give his opinion about "Why?"

Why are folks not spending money on stuff such as golf Memberships, green fees and equipment?, on tyres, repairs and car services? (we often get folks who have not had their car serviced in over 100,00km's - no BS either)...along with no doubt several other examples folks could list from their industry...

He danced around the question and refused to answer it like a true Politician....referred me back to the Stats....

So, I put it out to everyone in this fishbowl;

Why are people spending less money such things?

Despite supposedly having more earnings than a few years ago?

Why does the ATO now have a self-help line so that folks can set up their own payment plan for overdue taxes owed, etc? (I'm on one! ;):eek:)

Surely it has become so common that it had to be done...

WHY?

Opinions welcome
 
maybe because prices have fallen so much it is a throw away society. If you take a small Hyundai or mazda 2 and look at the servicing costs, why bother servicing and fussing over it- just run it to 100,000km, flog it for the best residual you can get and go buy another
 
To be honest I think a lot of that stuff is about time or rather, lack thereof. People tend to cram so much in their lives they can't work out when they're able to leave their car at a service centre or would be lucky to be allowed out of the house for 4-5 hours in one stretch, let alone every weekend or fortnight to swing a club. I personally can vouch for both, missing the first major service on a new car by a substantial period and letting my golf membership go due to an inability to commit enough time to it.

I can see a real divide between the low and middle class now. I know families who are living off their credit cards for everyday household items and bills, while others work so hard and so long they don't have time to spend/enjoy it.
 
Because people have become conservative. Savings rates went from lowest in 2 decades to highest in 2 decades between 2008 and 2012. Isn't that a good thing?
 
Hi Bayview

I feel that people prioritise. Such that when or if times get tough they tend to cut back on what they consider to be extravagances first. This could be the Golf membership, the dearer bottle of wine and hence the regular servicing of their vehicles.
For this very reason I was fortunate to have worked in an industry which is a necessary! Food! Something we simply cannot do without.
 
BV

In Melbourne golf has been replaced by bike riding.

Head down to Beach Rd. any day of the week, there's 1000's of riders out.
 
Bayview, as I said before, I never put my opinion anywhere and I agreed with you that real I comes have dropped over the last year or so.

Some areas are doing better and some are doing worse. Looking f at your regional retirement town and extrapolating it to the entire economy doesn't make any sense to me. The stats provide a view of the Australian economy as a whole, of course within that some will be doing better than others.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BayView said:
Why are people spending less money such things?

Despite supposedly having more earnings than a few years ago?

Why does the ATO now have a self-help line so that folks can set up their own payment plan for overdue taxes owed, etc? (I'm on one! ;):eek:)

Surely it has become so common that it had to be done...
Click to expand...

People are trying to spend less money on things because whilst we earn more, other costs have unreasonably increased. Utilities is an easy one to point to. Other costs of living which we almost consider mandatory also didn't exist 10 or 20 years ago. Mobile phone plans, internet, Foxtel, etc. In many regards our expectations of lifestyle have increased as well. How often did your family have takeaway when you were a child compared to what you do today?

In many regards we're victims of our own success and expectations.

Why self help and self reliance? We don't trust others as much as we used to. Information is more accessible and people think they can do better themselves. Some can, some can't, some have unreasonable expectations. Why did you set up your own repayment plan with the ATO and what decisions led you to that point?
 
Technology. People have wisened up and found other means of entertainment, spending and saving.

YouTube, social media and Gopros. Everyone is a hero now or a DIYer or educating themselves one way or another. Less boring than reading for the masses. We're no longer limited to the free to air crap we've had for years. People can probably fix their own cars or get a mate with the right tools to do it and resort to a professional when necessary.

It's easy to pick up new skills and hobbies than it was say a decade or so ago. Just gotta ask the right questions into Google... Like How to....? More people are waking up these days.
 
BV,

Have a look at the news...there's wars raging in the middle east, Ukraine etc. These can be unsettling.

Secondly, "time to bag the PM"...yep, his policies are scaring people from spending money and its hurting businesses. Unemployment just hit 6.4% and the PM don't give a rats. It seems he wants unemployment to rise so that these workers get reemployed on a part time, less pay and conditions basis.

Confidence, thats what we need....then people will start supporting small business. Don't you just wish the ALP was back...big deficit yes but customers were spending their dosh.




Vote ALP, spoken and written datto!
 
noirytfonos said:
Technology. People have wisened up and found other means of entertainment, spending and saving.

YouTube, social media and Gopros. Everyone is a hero now or a DIYer or educating themselves one way or another. Less boring than reading for the masses. We're no longer limited to the free to air crap we've had for years. People can probably fix their own cars or get a mate with the right tools to do it and resort to a professional when necessary.

It's easy to pick up new skills and hobbies than it was say a decade or so ago. Just gotta ask the right questions into Google... Like How to....? More people are waking up these days.
Click to expand...

Good points here.
 
Harro said:
I feel that people prioritise. Such that when or if times get tough they tend to cut back on what they consider to be extravagances first.
Click to expand...

Spot on.

My main line of work, Landscape Construction has seen the worst demand in 4 years ever in the entire time Ive been doing such.

Why?

As Deltaberry remarked correctly with more stats, savings.
People have decided to save by doing some things themselves.
I seem to remember you doing your own landscaping. Cutting the likes of me outta a job !:p

Whether it's done properly or not does not seem to matter to most folks so long as they saved a quid. And before you say "but cars are a safety issue", so can aspects of landscaping, such as decks collapsing etc.
Good luck!

Same can be said of me, self managing IP's.

I try to save every bit, everywhere. Why not?
Money saved money earned.

My "wages" have dropped dramatically too, but I know many others have marched upwards.


But at the heart of it all (Deltaberrys comment) is that Australians have generally saved more the last few years then they have for a long while and those things that are not absolute must haves are the ones suffering retraction.

Sooner or later things may turn around, but when, well, crystal ball stuff.:(
 
datto said:
lol

I don't ever recall contradicting my political views?
Click to expand...

datto said:
I can't understand the mentality of some tenants. You give em an inch and they take a mile. Obviously they don't give a rats. They got cheap rent and now they (dog) sheet on ya.

I'll be getting the termination notice out pronto express. No ifs no buts. These sort of tenants should be knocked from pillar to post and out of the rental game all together. Hope I don't come across too harsh.
Click to expand...

Those tenants are more than likely voting for the same mob you do. And they are probably the poor buggers you complain about TA might be giving a hard time...!:D
 
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