Australians Would Need $207 Extra Per Week to Not Feel Broke

This article is part of Payday, our look at wealth, money and class in Australia. Check out all our coverage here.

From petrol purchases to energy bills to $4 avocados that break your heart when they're opened to reveal obscenely large stones and sad anaemic flesh, prices are overtaking wages by an urban mile in this country. Now, according to NAB and its Quarterly Consumer Behaviour Survey, we know exactly how much more cash Australians think they need in order to relax in the face of all this. And it's an average of $207 per week. Or $10,764 per year.

The exact amount, determined by surveying 2,000 Australians, differs by state: NSW topped the chart at $221, while Tasmanian residents said they needed just $132 extra. Interestingly, the figures quoted by higher income earners to feel less financial strain were 30 percent more than low-income earners.

Unsurprisingly, urban residents felt more wallet stress than people who live in rural and regional areas, and women — for whom life is indisputably more expensive thanks in part to the "pink premium" — said they needed $12 each week more than men. Consumers with children said they need an average of $258, compared to $191 for those without any kids.

Overall, being unable to pay a bill (particularly utilities) caused the most stress, said NAB Group Chief Economist Alan Oster.

"While consumers told us they were a little less concerned about their household’s current financial position in Q4, being unable to pay a bill (particularly utilities) continues to have by far the biggest impact on those households most concerned about their finances."

For more, see this chart: