Should people be able to live on the dole ? (page 2)

jgnat

The Australian and Canadian dollars are on par, Lady Lee. I admire you for your resilience.

brinjen

Disability here is around $49 per day. Plus extras.

Lady Lee

OK now I am depressed

...

... It isn't as bad as it seems because I live in subsidized housing

Ahhh.... not so much of that here. A cheap unit here is at least $125 a week. Pushing shit uphill to find a place for less than $200 a week in Darwin... that's renting one bedroom in someone else's house. Units there start at $300...

fulltimestudent

Broken promises: Actually, I find that living on fruit and vegetables is the cheapest way. Found that out pioneering. Then and now, I buy in season, try to stay away from manufactured food.

I can't run a car, but being past 60, I can go anywhere in Sydney and near Sydney area for A$2.50 for the whole day (multi-trips).

Moshe: You're right - housing is the worst cost. My fellow overseas students (mainly Chinese) have to pay around $170/week.

finally awake: With one Aussie dollar I can buy US$ 1.04.

Medical expenses are not a problem in Aust. everyone is covered by medicare. So you can see most Doctors for free (they then bill the government). Specialist may be extra, but in that case you may get free service at a hospital outpatient dept. Going ot hospital is also cover and is free.

No-one has commented on phone and internet costs.

brinjen

$70 per month for me at the moment for phone and internet (mobile and 3G connection). No landline available where I am currently... renting a room at the moment. Planning to be in my own place in 12 days time... will probably get a landline and ADSL connection then. Will cost around $100 per month ... including the mobile and will be getting a new mobile phone and paying that off on a contract. My current mobile is about to kick the bucket.

Broken Promises

Medicare covers the basics but you don't have a choice of dr and there is a long waiting period for non-emergency surgery. I live in country NSW where it's normal to wait 3 weeks to see a Dr. As a result, the emergency dept at the local hospital is packed and usually means waiting several hours for treatment, even for broken bones!

I pay $30 a month for pre-paid mobile, $50 a month for pre-paid internet. It's for basic coverage and with phone calls I have to keep them to a minimum.

brinjen

Haven't needed to see a doctor here yet, dosen't appear to be any waiting from what I understand so far. Those I know who have had to go got in the same day... that's in a regional area just west of Melbourne. When I first arrived in Darwin I could only find one doctor's office who bulk billed... which was a long way out from town... so unless you didn't want to or were not able to travel that far you had to pay. That was under the Howard government. By the time I left they pretty much all were back under the bulk billing scheme and there were at least 3 within a few km's from my house.

I used to use pre-paid internet. Switched to Westnet's post paid a few months ago. Get 8GB of data during peak hours, another 8GB during off-peak for $39 a month. Catch... off-peak is 2am - 8am only but it at least covers the Windows updates. Paid $29 for the modem up front on a 12 month contract and they only slug you $35 if you break it. But, from my past experience with Westnet I won't be surprised if they waive that fee as I'll be switching to ADSL through them anyway.

finally awake

Where I am, cell phones run around $45 per month if you want texting and data. I pay $50 per month for high speed internet, which is higher than what people in metropolitan areas have to pay. I haven't had a land line phone in years, so I have no idea what that would cost. You can get a MagicJack for $40 per year that works off the internet to make phone calls. It's not portable like a cell phone, but it's better than nothing.

MrFreeze

That's about what my unemployment was. Thank goodness I was only on it for three weeks.

Should people be able to live on the dole ?

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