Little Luxuries

[megpie71]

This is a list of things which are currently a bit of a luxury for me; things I'd like to be able to afford, but currently can't.

• When I'm grocery shopping, and I have the choice between buying the store brand, or the named brand, I'd like to be able to buy the named brand.


• I'd like to be able to buy pre-grated cheese without having to argue with my conscience about it.


• I'd like to be able to go grocery shopping without needing to take a calculator along.


• When the weather turns cold this winter (as it's already starting to do) I'd like to be able to turn on the heater the first time, rather than reaching for another jumper, jacket, scarf, gloves, blanket, thicker socks.


• I'd like to be able to wear two layers rather than three.


• I'd like to be able to afford clothes which weren't skimpy as all blazes (at present, my main shopping site is Best & Less, and while they're good for cheap clothes, their winter-weight stuff is only really winter-weight in Darwin)


• I'd like to be able to afford shoes that didn't leak, and kept my feet warm.


• I'd like to be able to afford to own/run a clothes dryer, rather than using a drying rack inside the house, and hoping I can dodge around it for long enough for things to dry out.


• I'd like to be able to pay for some of the online news services I use.


• I'd like to be able to take time off from the housework.


• Attn: The minister for Social Security and the minister for Human Services: I'd like to be in a financial position where an extra $10 per fortnight wouldn't make a discernible difference to my state of mind and standard of living.

PS: This is more a meditation on the nature of luxury, and the ways it can be defined when money is tight. It isn't actually a request for help, although I would like to thank those people who did offer assistance of a financial kind. I am more grateful for it than I can say, even though I'm also not likely to take you up on it.

Comments

[rmc28]

*sympathy*

I don't think you wrote this to ask for help, but on your last point: I am lucky enough to be in a position where I wouldn't miss AUS$10 a fortnight - do you have a PayPal you are willing to send me?

[megpie71]

*embarrassed*

Ummm... actually, if you sent me $10 per week, I'd have to declare it to our social security people, who would then dock my benefit by $10 per week to compensate. Net gain: $0; net loss: aggravation on both sides plus charges for currency changes all over the place.

That last item was actually aimed a lot more at the politicians who control the Australian social security system, where there hasn't actually been a rise in the rate in over twenty years, and it's now at just over half the actual "poverty line" income, and declining steadily. If they raised the rate of the dole by even $10 per fortnight, I, and a lot of other people, would notice a difference in our lives - that's how *little* it would take to make a difference.

[rmc28]

Oh god that's even worse: having to declare and be docked any surplus however tiny. They really want to punish you for daring to be poor! It's so profoundly anti-community making it impossible for friends or family to give any support. (Thinking of the times when family members helped me when I had very little money, and how I've paid that forward when I was able to).

Let me guess, do the most vocal supporters of keeping benefits low also spout on about The Importance Of Family?

[megpie71]

Well, since the current party in power is the Liberal party (our conservative party), yes. They're very Big on Family, provided it's the right type of family: white, Anglo, upper-middle class, professional parents earning at least $90,000 each per annum, kids in private schools. Everyone else can go whistle, of course.

This is not to say the current Opposition doesn't have a hand in things either - they also declined to raise the rate of the dole while they were in power, and they haven't said anything about potentially raising it if they win the next election either. Mainly because Mr Murdoch's newspapers in this country are all steadfastly against the idea, and they're about 70% of the major metropolitan dailies in this country (as well as strongly influencing the content and tone of the other 30%).

And of course there's the rusted-on Liberal supporters in the comment sections of just about every media organ in the country, arguing that what dole bludgers need is a good solid kick in the pants and to get a job... oddly enough, they tend to become vewy vewy quiet when I ask them whether they're hiring at present.

[stardreamer]

A lot of these are things I can't offer any help with. But if you can find a pair of shoes which suit your criteria and let me know how much they cost, I can probably cover that. Decent shoes make much more difference than many people realize, cf. Sam Vimes' Boots.

[megpie71]

*embarrassed*

Thank you for the offer. At the moment, I'm not actually looking for anything - I've just edited the entry to say as much, and I realise I should have said this in the first place. Again, thanks for the offer, although I'm going to respectfully decline at this point in time.