My marriage is on a knife edge
“You’re not going to like this”, said the bloke at my local farm supplies store.
The price of PVC pipes I need for the farm had just increased 40% across the board.
“Because of the rising cost of oil, which is a key component of the pipes”, he said.
“Well, they can stick that in their pipe and smoke it!” I said, like I was Tommy Tough Knuckles.
Silence.
He knew, and I knew, that I had zero choice but to cop it in the pole and pay up.
Welcome to the biggest oil shock in living memory.
Everything on the farm is more expensive. Which means tonight’s dinner was likely grown by someone with a maxed-out overdraft and a diesel bill that makes your eyes water.
“It’s still possible that if the Middle East conflict resolves everything will turn out okay”, said Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock last month.
Sure.
And it’s also possible my kids will remember Mother’s Day is coming up and they’ll buy a present, wrap it, and make a cute card, ahead of time.
But it’s unlikely.
I’m much more certain that the people in charge are making it up as they go along … which is why “they’ll sort it out” is not currently in my investment strategy.
It’s clear that Donald Trump has no idea how to get the Strait open. He’s sent a barrage of angry tweets, threatened to wipe them off the map, and the Iranians have been like, “LOL”.
It’s also very clear that our government is about as prepared as my kids on Mother’s Day morning. They went from assuring us we had plenty of fuel reserves to Albo flying around Asia with a jerrycan begging our poorer neighbours for a day’s worth of fuel.
The only politician I ever truly trusted was my dear old mate, former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer. I remember he once leaned over to me and said:
“Scott, the entire world is only three meals away from World War Three.”
He was being deliberately provocative. But his point was dead serious: food security, like cheap petrol and toilet paper, is something we take completely for granted ... until Bryan posts on Facebook:
“I’m a stockpilin’!”
Right now, fuel and fertiliser costs are pushing the price of nearly everything higher.
And when inflation climbs above 3% the Reserve Bank lifts rates.
Their aim is to slap the economy in the face – to slow things down by making your mortgage so uncomfortable you cancel Netflix and rediscover the true horror of free-to-air television.
But here’s the problem: even stripping out fuel and food, inflation is already running above 3%.
So brace for a slap. Probably several. Think of it as an episode of MAFS, except the contestants all bought their homes on Albo’s 5% deposit scheme.
Now things could ease, if the Middle East settles down. Maybe.
Yet here’s the principle I keep coming back to, the one that has never once done me wrong: “Hope for the best. Plan for the worst.”
What does that mean right now?
Sit down this weekend and ask yourself: if my mortgage rate went up another 1.5%, and my groceries cost another $200 a month, could I handle it? If yes, sleep easy. If no, go to your bathroom and dust off an unread copy of The Barefoot Investor.
And what if it all blows over?
Well, I called my supplier to ask if the pipe prices would be coming back down.
He just laughed at me.
“That’s a pipe dream.”
Tread Your Own Path!
Your Questions & Answers
My Marriage is on a Knife Edge
Did I Get Fleeced by My Vet?My Marriage is on a Knife Edge
Hi Scott,
My husband refuses to do Barefoot Dates. My pay goes into his account. I only have a second card on his credit account and can’t withdraw cash. He’s run his own business for 21 years and put nothing into super. Our marriage is on the absolute knife edge. We’ve been in counselling for seven months and nothing is changing. My dad passed away and I’ve put the money from his house into a term deposit. We have three kids (two teenagers and one brand-new adult), and my mum lives in our granny flat. I want us all to have a stable home, whatever happens. Everyday account: negative $600. Savings: $10,000. Term deposit: $250,000. I have no idea what to do.
Tracey
Hi Tracey,
So you have two teenagers and an adult ... but your husband has another child too.
You.
He’s treating you like a child.
Your pay goes into his account. You’re not allowed to withdraw cash.
There’s a very good reason your marriage is on a knife edge: he’s using your money to bully you.
So, I’ll give you the same advice any dad would to a daughter he loves: don’t let anyone push you around.
First, go and see a family lawyer and work through your options.
Second, the next time you’re in counselling, get it out on the table.
Finally, think about your dad.
He left you $250,000.
That’s your freedom. Yours, and his grandkids’.
Did I Get Fleeced by My Vet?
Hi Scott,
I’m a first-time pet owner and my cat has nearly sent me broke. She got into a fight with another cat and badly damaged her eye. The first vet visit cost $500, and after a night of giving eye drops every hour I turned up to the animal eye hospital as a sleep-deprived, tearful mess. Two choices: try to save the eye, or remove it.
I chose the expensive, hopeful option. I’d been awake all night, running on panic and eye drops, thinking complete nonsense: How will I tell my girls I’d lost the cat's eye? Will other cats bully her? Feline self-esteem issues? None of it was rational, but in that state it felt like the only decision I could live with.
It cost $7,000, pulled from my Mojo and my daughters’ savings. Then the eye went bad anyway and had to be removed – for another $3,000. She’s now a very lovable one-eyed cat. But a year later, with my accounts still in recovery, I can’t help wondering: is this just what vet treatment costs, or was I taken for a ride because I was distressed and desperate? Are vet costs regulated at all, or are bewildered first-time pet owners just easy pickings when emotion takes over?
And what’s the Barefoot view on pet insurance? Better to insure, or keep a solid Mojo and accept that sometimes your cat turns into a $10,500 pirate?
Lucy
Hi Lucy
I may get in a fight and lose an eye over this:
The last time I wrote about the high cost of pet surgery, the CEO of the Australian Veterinary Association wrote an open letter taking me to the kitty litter.
Miaow!
Honestly, the corporate buy-up of local vets seriously pisses me off.
They’ve jacked up their charges.
They push their upsells hard.
(“While you’re here, Mr Pape, we’d suggest a dental hygiene treatment for your sheepdog – oral health is very important for kelpies. It’s an $800 fee, but it could save you a lot of money in the long run”, advised the vet nurse. “Do you know how many bones I could buy for eight hundred bucks?” I barked.)
And when you have bill shock they push expensive branded pet insurance which often only covers 60% to 80% of the bill, caps your claims, and comes with gaps, excesses and exclusions.
Still, you decided to spend ten bangers on your cat: that’s on you, not the vet.
The cost of pet ownership has become so high that families need to seriously think through the costs before Mittens is brought home: ASIC’s Moneysmart says a dog costs $3,200+ a year and a cat about $1,715 ... and that doesn’t include vet bills if your pet gets sick (which it will) or loses an eye. Then you’re up for labradoodle money.
My view?
Self-insure with Mojo, if you’re disciplined enough to leave the money alone when your cat is staring at you with her one remaining eye. Buy insurance if you know you’ll fold like an Aldi card table under pressure.
Above all else, go in with your eyes wide open.
Thanks for reading,
Scott.