S1: Hello and welcome to It All Adds up the podcast.
S1: So we chat about money, how to get it, how
S1: to spend it and how to invest it. I'm money
S1: and a dumb pal. And you're listening to our summer series. Well,
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S1: Up will resume normal programming in February with a brand
S1: new season full of money saving tips and insights. So
S1: until then, sit back, relax and enjoy. Hello and welcome
S1: to It All ends up the podcast where we chat
S1: about money, how to get it, how to spend it
S1: and how to invest it. I'm money editor Don Powell.
S2: And I'm senior economics writer Jess Irvine. It's no secret,
S2: of course, that interest rates are going up and up
S2: and up as the Reserve Bank battles to counter rising inflation,
S2: which is really putting the squeeze on home owners and
S2: property investors, as we know.
S1: Yes, And look, we've talked about this extensively. We talked
S1: about this in many previous podcast. It gets written about
S1: all the time. You know, owners are struggling with rising
S1: interest rates. But there's also another side to this, which
S1: obviously just doesn't get quite the same level of coverage,
S1: which is how this impacts renters.
S2: Exactly. Yeah. Look, we know the majority of Australians, about
S2: two thirds are just a little bit over two thirds
S2: of Australians are homeowners. But, you know, the rest are
S2: renters and typically are made up of people who are
S2: younger and also people on lower to middle income. So
S2: it's really important that we keep talking about rents and
S2: what's going on there because we know that rents have
S2: jumped on average 10% this year alone and are up
S2: about 20 to 30% since 2020. So ouch. That is
S2: also a lot of pressure on on renters.
S1: Absolutely. So look, this episode today is going to be
S1: about renting and your rights as a tenant, because I'm
S1: sure any of our listeners who are renters, many of
S1: them may have been given a rental increase in the
S1: past couple of years. It's becoming more and more common.
S1: So we're just going to talk about what you can
S1: do and the sort of rights that you have when
S1: that that does happen. And, you know, maybe you can
S1: use some of these tips to to hopefully negotiate a
S1: lower rent or maybe no increase at all. But I
S1: thought just just to start off, we can talk about
S1: maybe why rents are going up, because it is linked
S1: to two interest rates to a certain extent. But there
S1: is some other sort of factors as well. So obviously,
S1: you know, Australia is a is a broad and vast country.
S1: We can't talk about every single state and territory in
S1: great detail. So I'm sorry for any of our listeners
S1: that are in other states, but we are just going
S1: to focus on on Melbourne and Sydney today. But the
S1: story is broadly the same pretty much everywhere you look.
S1: But if you look at a house in Melbourne, the
S1: median rent for a house in Melbourne is at about
S1: $160 a week, which is up at about 7% on
S1: last year. And in Sydney it's worse, it's the median
S1: rent is about $620 a week, which is up 12%
S1: on last year.
S2: Yeah, that's really interesting. I remember before I bought my
S2: place I was paying about 650 a week in Sydney,
S2: inner Sydney for a two bedroom property, so I thought
S2: that was sort of at the premium end, but seems
S2: like that's about average now. Yeah, So there's a lot
S2: of talk about what rising interest rates mean for renters
S2: and it's something that I've asked economists about in the past,
S2: like is it do rising interest rates mean that rents
S2: also go up because, you know, it's more expensive for
S2: landlords so they pass it on. And I've actually had
S2: some pushback from that to say that, yes, that's a
S2: cost for landlords, but they can't just come up to
S2: you and say, my interest rates have gone up, so therefore, hello,
S2: I'll have all that extra money please, from you in rent.
S2: We should assume that the rental market is determined by
S2: the forces of supply and demand like any other price.
S2: That's how it's set. And economists always think that the
S2: landlords have their rent set at the maximum that the
S2: market can bear before they will turn off, you know,
S2: potential renters. They will have been trying to get, you know,
S2: maximum rents. So just because rates have gone up doesn't
S2: mean that they can now just pass it all on
S2: because eventually tenants will walk away from the properties. However,
S2: I think that sort of fails to capture what happens
S2: in reality. I think that when rates are low, I
S2: think landlords perhaps do let things slide a little bit.
S2: If they've got a good tenant, they're not going to
S2: be sort of increasing the rent every year. They'll just
S2: think I'll let it slide. And then when we do
S2: get a period where the landlords are getting those massive
S2: rate increases, they do focus again on rents and trying
S2: to get the maximum amount. So maybe what we're seeing
S2: when interest rates go up is landlords are really going
S2: to give they're going to give it a go. You know,
S2: they're feeling the pinch. So, you know, maybe they've let
S2: things slide for a couple of years. Now might be
S2: the time when they do come back to you and
S2: say we need to recoup some of the higher costs.
S2: But again, keep in mind that only as much as
S2: you can afford, they can't ask for anything. Otherwise you
S2: will you will move out and you will go find
S2: other options, whether because you want to or because you
S2: have to.
S1: And look, we'll get into, you know, the options that
S1: you do have when when they increase rents or asterism
S1: or increase your rents later on. But I think, you know,
S1: it is also worth noting that obviously interest rates to effect,
S1: you know, all economists may not think it, but there
S1: is you know, there is obviously a direct impact there
S1: in terms of interest rates and and rents. But there's
S1: also the fact that we've had this fairly unique sort
S1: of situation with COVID over the past three or so
S1: years where there's been a great shift to the regions. Right.
S1: Everyone's wanted to get out of Melbourne. And Sydney and
S1: move out further afield. That's put a massive amount of
S1: pressure on property markets in regional areas. So therefore there's
S1: just not as many rental properties as there once were.
S1: So you have this record low national the national rental
S1: vacancy rate is at 0.9%, which is a record low.
S1: And that's that's not much there when I was really small.
S2: Well, and you might think that it would have gone
S2: the other way because we closed the borders. There was
S2: basically no migration which would hurt demand. But you're right,
S2: people were moving out into other regional areas. They wanted
S2: a bit more space. Maybe they were moving into places
S2: with more bedrooms. And interesting data from the RBA showed
S2: that actually being forced into lockdown in your household led
S2: to many share houses dissolving.
S1: Yes.
S2: Yes, I know. People went, Ah, I'm not staying at
S2: home with four or five flatmates. I'm going to move
S2: in with my partner. And actually household sizes got smaller
S2: and if there's fewer people per household, you need more
S2: of them. So that actually increases the demand for property.
S1: Prior to COVID, I had a house of five people,
S1: and as much as I love all those people in
S1: that share house and still do. If we had been
S1: in that share house during COVID, we would have gone insane.
S1: So I understand why that sort of angle where these
S1: houses all sort of dissolved. And you know what? Five
S1: people living in one house becomes a bunch of different
S1: people living in three houses. So there's all these factors
S1: that have that have sort of come together. And we
S1: are in a true, true crisis when it comes to
S1: the availability of rental properties in Australia. So yeah, rents
S1: are rising. There's very few rental properties. You know, real
S1: estate agents are quite pushy in terms of the suggested
S1: increases they come to like, I don't want to come
S1: too hot against the real estate agents here, but at
S1: the same time they can be very suggestive in terms of,
S1: you know, telling the landlords to increase their rents and
S1: all that sort of stuff. So there's that aspect as well.
S1: There's a bit of a power imbalance here, I guess,
S1: when it comes to the whole, whole market. And, you know,
S1: it's not looking like it's getting much better.
S2: Yeah. And economics does have another concept called the principal
S2: agent problem, which is that the more sort of layers
S2: you get between two people in an interaction, the more
S2: heartless it becomes essentially because you've got, you know, many
S2: people are not dealing with the landlord, you know, the
S2: tenant and the landlord are not dealing face to face
S2: in many cases. And the real estate agent just wants to. Well,
S2: I think they get paid like a percentage of the rental.
S2: They do probably get paid more if they get the
S2: rent up. So they're trying to do that. Yeah. And
S2: it feels like in Australia we just, you know, there
S2: is a bit of a new battle between landlords and
S2: renters and I know a lot of like younger people
S2: of my generation do I get to still be young?
S2: I'm not sure there's an ethical question around like will
S2: I become a property investor? Because, you know, some of
S2: the tactics, you know, the way that tenants are traded
S2: are so poor. It's almost become an ethical issue of, well,
S2: maybe I'll invest in shares instead because I just don't
S2: think I should be in that market or I shouldn't
S2: be taking home from a potential first home buyers. I
S2: heard a great term hashtag, not all landlords. So as
S2: someone on Instagram I follow who was talking about ethical
S2: property investing and you know, she was a younger investment
S2: property owner and sort of talking about, you know, re
S2: forging that bond between landlords and tenants and like she
S2: would buy Christmas presents for her tenants, you know, and
S2: just check in with them and, you know, attend to
S2: all the repairs. So hopefully it's not all landlords.
S1: But yeah, I do I do think I mean, I
S1: think that that sounds great, but I think that is
S1: probably like a minority. You know, I definitely think there's
S1: a big part where the human aspect of the rental
S1: agreement relationship is completely forgotten. But you're right, there is
S1: this massive sort of disconnect which leads to these really
S1: cruel sort of situations where renters who house for them
S1: is part of their livelihood. It's it's an essential part
S1: of of living are getting, you know, kind of done
S1: by these these landlords who just view it view it
S1: really as an investment.
S2: Yeah. And look, the policy settings are all wrong. And,
S2: you know, in other countries like Germany, they have sort
S2: of like it's typically you would be in a property
S2: for ten years at least and like it even there
S2: like you go and you take your own kitchen with
S2: you and have it installed because you expect to be
S2: there for so long. But you know, our tech settings
S2: sort of favour mum and dad's or, you know, smaller
S2: investors sort of, you know, having a crack, trying to
S2: build that multiple property portfolio, selling out. It's not, you know, the,
S2: the large institutional investors that we have overseas where it's
S2: sort of a more manageable thing of trying to keep
S2: occupancy rates, you know, across the board. It's really we're
S2: kind of, you know, fisticuffs a little bit between sort
S2: of smaller, you know, people dealing in this market.
S1: Yeah.
S2: Alright, So I'm so let's get into the nitty gritty
S2: of what sort of legal rights that tenants do actually have.
S2: So if your landlord is showing up in the next
S2: couple of months or if they already had asking for
S2: the massive rent rises, let's have a look at what
S2: sort of legal rights you have. And again, we're going
S2: to sort of focus again on Melbourne and Sydney just because,
S2: you know, it does vary by state to state. So folks.
S2: The thing on Victoria and New South Wales. What is
S2: the deal, Dom, with if you're on a fixed term agreement,
S2: what rights do you have there? Like you've signed up
S2: for the 12 to 24 months.
S1: Yeah. So in both Victoria, New South Wales and I
S1: do believe this is like broadly the same across most states,
S1: But again, caveat check it. But you know, they can't
S1: increase your rent during a fixed term agreement unless the
S1: lease states otherwise. And then in that lease it has
S1: to also not only state that they can. It has
S1: to state how they're going to calculate that rent rise
S1: if they do decide to raise it. But broadly, what
S1: this means is that if you're on a fixed term agreement,
S1: you don't really have to worry too much about rental increases.
S1: But sadly, this is not the case. Like a lot
S1: of times, you know, you get onto a fixed term
S1: agreement first, six or 12 months and then once it stops,
S1: they just put you on month to month because it's
S1: easier for them. And usually it's actually easier for the
S1: tenant as well in terms of moving out. So a
S1: lot of people are actually on on month to month
S1: agreements and on month to month agreements. Your landlord can't
S1: increase your rent more than once every 12 months, though
S1: it is very it is important to point out that
S1: if you're in Victoria and your lease agreement is pre
S1: 2019 before 2019, they could do it every six months.
S1: So it's worth checking when your lease agreement was signed
S1: because if it is prior to 2019, they can come
S1: and increase your rent every six months. So but by
S1: and large it's it's every 12 months and they can
S1: only do it once every 12 months.
S2: And one thing on the fixed term agreements, it's not
S2: okay for that agreement to just say we're allowed to increase,
S2: you know, once at the end of the first year
S2: in line with market or just, you know, in line
S2: with general forces. It has to be more specific than
S2: that so that they can't see you're not exposed to
S2: an open ended sort of, you know, what is the
S2: market value type thing in your fixed term? Are there
S2: any limitations on like percentage increase? Like what's excessive is
S2: is there any like you can't put it up by
S2: more than 50%?
S1: Look, there's no specific laws as far as I can tell.
S1: But I think the general rule is that it has
S1: to be reasonable, has to be a reasonable increase. So
S1: they can't come and say, oh, you're paying an extra
S1: $500 a week now because that's outrageous and they have
S1: to give you information as to how they've calculated the increase.
S1: So a bit like what we said with the fixed
S1: term agreements, they have to come to you and say, well,
S1: we've done this and we think it's because, you know,
S1: rental rent in your area has gone up this much.
S1: The property value is going up this much. They've got
S1: to give you reasons for it. They can't just come
S1: and say, this is your rent now, bad luck, you know,
S1: see you later sort of thing. So there's there's that.
S1: And they also have to give you 60 days written
S1: notice about the increase of the rent. And another thing
S1: worth pointing out is that they can't increase the rents. Again,
S1: this is true in Sydney and Melbourne. And I think again,
S1: broadly it's true everywhere. They can't increase the rents to
S1: penalise you. So if you've done something they don't like, like,
S1: you know, maybe through a raucous party in the neighbours complaint,
S1: they can't come in and go, Well you've done that
S1: in the end and now we're increasing your rent and
S1: that's not a good enough reason to increase in rents.
S1: They have to have other other reasons.
S2: That sort of seems like a de facto I've tried
S2: to evict you, but by just setting an unreasonable.
S1: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And did the landlords certainly do that?
S1: They definitely will come in and say, well, our rents
S1: going up by this much and they're doing that in
S1: the hope that you'll leave. But you know, again, that's
S1: not great. And this things you can do which which
S1: we're going to now we.
S2: Will get to. Yeah. So what what are the first
S2: steps that people should do when you when you get
S2: that letter or that email. My number one tip is
S2: just remember, everything in life is negotiable, including the rent.
S2: So it because there is that power imbalance, people can
S2: feel really hesitant to sort of push back against rate increases.
S2: But you know, we tell mortgage holders to haggle all
S2: the time on the interest rate. You got to haggle
S2: on your rent as well. And just because it may
S2: come with the impressive sounding, oh, the CPI has increased,
S2: but therefore we have to you know, they're having a
S2: crack and you can you can push back as well and,
S2: you know, negotiate with if it's the real estate agent
S2: or the landlord themself, you know, you just you have
S2: to tell them if you think it is too high
S2: and you're allowed to say, I don't think that's reasonable,
S2: you're going to arm yourself with the information about what
S2: you know, what you know, maybe, you know, you don't
S2: want to walk to a different property because that lead
S2: up moving costs, etc.. But, you know, check what the
S2: comparable listings are in your area for, you know, comparable properties,
S2: how much they're paying per rent. I used to also
S2: ask my neighbours, Absolutely.
S1: There's no like salary secrecy clauses when it comes to rent.
S1: You can, you can tell by all you.
S2: Like, so just try to calm yourself with some information.
S2: But when you do mount the case that you want
S2: to push back and not agree to just what's being asked.
S1: And that might mean that you get the, you know,
S1: the increase next entirely, you know, that that might be
S1: you maybe negotiate that or maybe you'll be able to
S1: go see a smaller increase, which might be a bit
S1: more palatable. And, you know, usable.
S2: Yeah. You can push back on the amount or you
S2: can also push back or delay when the increase kicks in.
S2: So that's another one. Say, look, I need more breathing space.
S2: You know, this needs to happen in 3 to 6 months.
S2: I need more notice. That's just a way to push back.
S2: And you can also try you know what? If I
S2: signed up for the 12 month lease, would you get
S2: a could I, you know, agree to a lower figure
S2: if I am willing to commit to the longer lease,
S2: sometimes that can work as well.
S1: These negotiations don't always work out. I think I would
S1: hazard to guess that most like most often they don't
S1: work out. I think usually there's not a great deal
S1: of wriggle room for these sort of things. So the
S1: next step you can take is sort of bringing in
S1: a third party. And in Victoria there is a free,
S1: completely free service where you have to do it within
S1: 30 days of receiving this written notice from your landlord.
S1: But you can ask the consumer affairs body for a
S1: rent assessment and they will sort of assess the value
S1: of the property, assessed the rental market and they can
S1: decide if the rent increase is too high or if
S1: it's appropriate or whatever. Completely free, but it's non-binding. So
S1: what happens? Say like you apply for this free rental
S1: service assessment in Victoria, they go, Oh, the rents too high.
S1: And then they give that they give that assessment to
S1: the to the landlord. Landlord is not bound by that
S1: at all. So they can just go cool. Well we're
S1: still going to do it. So I mean it's good
S1: to do like it is a good thing to do.
S1: And like maybe the threat of getting consumer affairs involved
S1: will be enough to sort of, you know, make some
S1: landlords back away. But this this free assessment in Victoria
S1: is not binding. So the next step, which is sort
S1: of the universal step, is to go to the tribunals,
S1: which is V Kat in Victoria and Kat in New
S1: South Wales. And again there's corresponding tribunals in every state
S1: and territory. And again you have to do this within
S1: 30 days of receiving the notice from your landlord in
S1: terms of the rent increase. And they do cost like
S1: a little bit of money to apply to the tribunal.
S1: It's not like the fees are quite reasonable though, like
S1: at 65 bucks in Victoria, $54 in in New South Wales.
S1: And I think they only get as high as maybe
S1: 100 bucks in some of the other states. But like,
S1: they're very they're within the realm of affordability. So don't
S1: get too scared about the fact that you do have
S1: to pay a fee. They pay quite low.
S2: Yeah, it sounds kind of pretty epic to go to
S2: the tribunal and, you know, take it to a legal.
S2: Do you have to pay lawyers fees? No, this is.
S1: A great thing. I think you're right. People get really
S1: scared and get sort of like quite apprehensive about the
S1: concept of taking someone to a tribunal because it sounds
S1: really big and scary, but it's really good. They like
S1: they walk you through it. It's very, very renter, friendly,
S1: like they're very, you know, in there for you to,
S1: you know, give you a hand and sort of because
S1: they recognise a lot of people don't understand the legal system,
S1: they don't understand, you know, the sort of the nuances
S1: of of the renter and landlord sort of agreement so
S1: that it's really worth doing. And there's great resources online.
S1: If you go to tenants of Victoria over in Victoria
S1: or the New South Wales Tenants Union, if you're in
S1: New South Wales, they have these great factsheets and guides
S1: about what you should do and what you can do
S1: when you want to actually take that step about going
S1: to the tribunal. It's just so worth doing and it's
S1: much easier than you would expect.
S2: And then those decisions are binding, You know, whatever they
S2: decide is what you have to pay.
S1: Yeah, pretty much. So they can, if they decide in
S1: favour of you, they can go, Well, all right, Your
S1: rent is said at this. This is your rent. Or
S1: they can say, okay, well the landlord now can't increase
S1: rents for another 12 months. They can impose all these
S1: orders on the landlord which you know, they have to
S1: abide by. So it's pretty good.
S2: And how long does it take?
S1: They're pretty fast moving. I think it like you can
S1: be locked up in it for a few number of months.
S1: But I believe that whilst you're in the process of
S1: taking someone to a tribunal, the landlord can increase your
S1: rents during that time. So while your so there's sort
S1: of this sort of amnesty period, I believe, where like
S1: if you're sort of currently taking a landlord to speak
S1: out or in cat, they can't during that time be like,
S1: well I'm still trying to increase your rent. So it
S1: sort of puts a bit of a stopper on the
S1: whole thing, which is can be quite useful for a
S1: lot of people. But keep in mind that if one
S1: of the main reasons why you're sort of arguing for
S1: like a no rental increase is because you can't afford it,
S1: they don't typically, I believe, take into account your income
S1: when it comes to deciding these cases. Usually it's sort
S1: of all the external factors, so that maybe that's a
S1: lot of like the number one reason maybe why like
S1: I wouldn't say don't do it, but it just means
S1: just keep in mind that that's not going to be
S1: something they're going to be considering whilst deciding for or against.
S2: Is the tribunal also some way you can take a
S2: landlord if they're like not repairing things around the home
S2: or they're trying to like evict you because they're selling
S2: the property, what is that the place to go for,
S2: to protect against those other sort of issues that tenants
S2: also have?
S1: Yeah. Like, you know, if your there's a bunch of
S1: sort of factors that come into into play here but
S1: like if you're not getting any repairs done or if
S1: the landlord is selling the home or trying to evict
S1: you and they're not following all these proper procedures, like,
S1: you know, you can take them to be cut out
S1: and cut and, you know, challenge them over this. Like,
S1: you know, there's a lot of like, this is where
S1: I recommend people go online and look at these resources
S1: that I mentioned earlier in terms of tenants Victoria and
S1: New South Wales Tenants Union, because they run through all
S1: the things, all your rights in these situations in terms
S1: of like repairs, urgent repairs, non-urgent repairs, all that sort
S1: of stuff. Like for example, I was reading a story
S1: the other day about someone who took their. Landlord to
S1: the tribunal because they had not done any repairs on
S1: the property for years and was being treated really awfully.
S1: And not only did the landlord then have to go
S1: and do the repairs, the tribunal found in favor of
S1: the tenant and they got $10,000 in compensation. So you'd
S1: like compensation is another thing that you can get from
S1: going to the tribunals. So the bottom line is like
S1: the tribunal is your friend. Don't get daunted by it.
S1: It is, you know, it's where you should be going.
S1: If things are if things are going great at your
S1: at your property, it's very rent a friendly. So give
S1: it a crack. So our listener question of the week
S1: is from Carissa, who says that for many years she's
S1: written an annual budget and she's recently graduated that two
S1: a monthly spreadsheet which she hangs up on a noticeboard
S1: in a kitchen. She was always under the impression that
S1: it was better to do an annual budget rather than
S1: a monthly one, because each month is different. But they
S1: find themselves that they keep adjusting in different amounts in
S1: their phone notes as the cost of living goes up.
S1: The situation changes. So they curious about this, the thoughts
S1: on an annual budget versus a monthly budget. And just
S1: there's never been a better question for you to answer
S1: in terms of budgeting. So run run wild with it.
S2: I may have gone through the reader email inbox, then gone.
S2: I'm going to talk about this for 20 minutes, but
S2: thank you, Chris. It is a great question and my
S2: answer is always do both. But, you know, I think
S2: people are looking at their budgets, you know, like I
S2: used to be this weird person who tracked my spending
S2: and tried to figure out if I had a budget surplus.
S2: This is actually becoming critical for everyone, whether you're a renter,
S2: facing those rent increases or dealing with the interest rates
S2: going up almost every month. And so people are like,
S2: how do I write a budget? And the thing I
S2: see with budgets is people sort of sit down and go, Oh, okay,
S2: I've got my rent, some food, electricity, my phone bill and,
S2: you know, maybe 100 bucks for eating out. And they
S2: just fail to capture so many of the expenses that
S2: do actually come up and hit more irregularly, like the
S2: water bill or, you know, servicing your car once a year,
S2: going getting an annual skin check or whatever those sort
S2: of big lumpy expenses are. So I do encourage people
S2: to try and sit down and figure out over a
S2: 12 month period what is everything that can come up
S2: for me. And you would be surprised. And people are
S2: not going to be perfect at doing this. And so
S2: tracking your spending at that monthly level so you're aware
S2: of what is coming in and you're going to find
S2: one month. You know, you put your car in for
S2: service and you need new tires. How you know, how
S2: on earth is that a representative month for me? So,
S2: you know, just one month is not necessarily enough to
S2: capture all those extra expenses. And in my book Money
S2: with just I do, you know, run through a complete
S2: checklist of when I went through the ABS data on
S2: household expenditure in Australia, which goes to like 7000 items
S2: or something. And I grouped it all together so people
S2: could go through that checklist. But I think trying to
S2: do both, you know, and and I want to try
S2: and normalize this as much as possible since I started
S2: budgeting like there is just such this wild community of
S2: people who do track their spending, you know, and maybe
S2: it's a privilege that I had previously of being on
S2: a high income. I didn't have to look as closely,
S2: but actually budgeting, figuring out where your money is coming from,
S2: where it is going is a really great skill, and
S2: it's one that people are going to need more, more
S2: than ever. So and I'm just so excited that Chris
S2: has done that. She's hung up on the on the
S2: noticeboard in the kitchen, you know, making it visible as well.
S2: So let's just normalise budgeting. Tom. Let's you know, it's
S2: not I'm not the freak anymore. Yeah, get your budgets on.
S2: You know, we're all doing it.
S1: I think it's interesting that, that you and I in
S1: this podcast, you've got this sort of the hard core
S1: budget in yourself and then me who's just like just
S1: sort of going along with it. So I feel like
S1: we're sort of the angel and devil of, of budgeting.
S1: We're like, and I'm sure one day I'll sit down,
S1: I'll be like, Alright, I'll get some, I'll do it,
S1: just does and get some highlighters that actually planner. But
S1: like for now I'm just vibe and it works, I think.
S2: I reckon there's a lot of people that including you,
S2: that when you roll off your low fixed interest rate
S2: home loan you're suddenly going to go say what now?
S2: How do I find an extra 1500 dollars a month
S2: or whatever? It's going to be done.
S1: But I'm just I'm just pretending that's not going to happen.
S1: I've got to take another year. So I'm like that.
S1: That's fine. It's good.
S2: I'm just looking forward to the vote when you come
S2: to be and just show me how to budget, show.
S1: Me how to show me which highlighters you use. And
S1: just lastly, as always, we've got just this budget tip
S1: of the week, which is food related, I believe.
S2: Yes. Quick tip. And this is when people are adjusting
S2: for their household spending, we're seeing that food is a
S2: big thing that people are really trying to, you know,
S2: not eat out as much and, you know, trying to
S2: save on food costs. So this is my tip is
S2: to know the difference between use by and best before
S2: dates on your food, the one that you really you know,
S2: you should check it out if it's past is the
S2: use by date so donate food that is past the
S2: use by date that is set by you know you
S2: know the Food Standards Australia. And you really should do
S2: that if it's just best before May. That's just a suggestion. Yeah.
S2: Like this would be better if you had eaten it
S2: before this date, but it doesn't mean you can't have
S2: it afterwards. So I just think all.
S1: Systems are scam. The whole thing, the whole this before
S1: thing scam, it's always wrong.
S2: Well, that's the incentive is they want you to be
S2: checking it out and buying new ones. But no best
S2: best before just give a little sniff if it smells.
S2: All right, you could eat it well.
S1: Thanks, everyone, for joining us again. Hopefully you've got some
S1: good tips there on both them. Best before dates and,
S1: you know, rent renting. But yeah, it's been a pleasure.
S2: Yep. Know your rights when it comes to your tenancy and,
S2: you know, get the help that you need if you
S2: are facing one of those massive increases. Thanks, Tom.
S1: Thanks, Jess. See you next week.
S2: This episode of It All Adds Up was produced by
S2: Chee Wong. The information discussed is general in nature and
S2: does not take into account your personal financial situation, goals
S2: or objectives. You should always do your own research or
S2: get professional advice before making any major financial decisions. If
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S2: You can submit your listener questions in text or audio
S2: format at. It all adds up at Nine.com.au. AEW.