Unemployment rates in Australia are high, higher then they have been for decades and sadly the statistics we read are inaccurate. The true rate of unemployment is much higher. The current statistics don't take into consideration those who have left part-time/casual work and are not eligible for job seeker due to their partner earning too much. They don't take into consideration the small home-based business that rely on local markets to sell their wares, markets which in many states are not currently running. These businesses may not be big, but for many families, they can make the difference to being able to make ends meet.
With so many people unemployed and these numbers only set to rise the longer this pandemic goes on, the competition for the jobs that are available is steep. The unemployed person can find themselves under pressure to search for jobs that don't exist, then beat themselves up for not being able to get it, despite being really well qualified with a good working history.
Today I just wanted to remind you that your value as a person does not come from a job nor how productive you are. Your value is inherent to who you are in your humanity. As a Christian, I wholeheartedly believe we are all uniquely and beautifully made, that we are the beloved children of God. Now, I know not all my readers are Christian and that's fine, I'm sure you can find other world views that share a similar sentiment. My heart breaks to hear so many people mourn their sense of purpose, lost at what value they have now their paid work has dried up. I just wanted to reassure you that you’re still just as valuable, important, clever and useful today as you were before this pandemic started.
So what can you do?
Well, you can use those skills and apply them to your home. Good at maths? Get cracking on taking a full inventory of incoming and outgoing expenses and make it your job to trim it. One helpful thing we do is assign an hourly wage to whatever we are looking at buying. Say the average family of 4-5 can't be bothered cooking and decide to get Chinese for dinner. Each meal is $18 + 2 large rice for $7 each. Perhaps you buy a bottle of wine on the way home for $20 and a bottle of sprite for the kids for $4. No entrees because it's just an average weeknight and you're trying to save money. You figure Chinese at least has veggies in it so nutritionally it's a healthier option. Now just say you were on $30/hr which is higher than the minimum wage, but there is currently a whole stack of well educated, experienced people who are experiencing long term unemployment for the first times in their lives.
Meals 4x $18 (a family with teens may need 5 mains)
Rice 2x $7
Wine $20
Fizzy $4
Total: $110
Now divide that by 30 and you have to work 3.6hrs to pay for that single meal. Because you were both working you hired a cleaner so you could have weekends for family time. The cleaner cost $100/week which cost you 3.3hrs of work. Perhaps you had to put your younger children in after school care sometimes which came to $60/week which cost you 2 hours of work. Just to pay for these three things you would have to work 8.9hrs the equivalent to over a full days work.
Now say you worked 4 days a week. By taking back those few tasks you have just scratched back a whole days pay. Now if you apply this strategy to how you shop, fuel usage, hair cuts/colours you can hopefully begin to understand your spending habits bring it back in alignment to your reduced earnings. The added bonus is when you save a dollar you get to keep the whole dollar, but when you earn a dollar you have to pay a % in tax. So the dollar you save is more valuable.
Grant and I have found this strategy helps us remain focused on where and how we are spending our money. I hope it helps you too.
Much love,
Emma
xx
