Townsville mother Beth Simpson and Brisbane mother Grace Mainwaring shares stresses of increased cost-of-living

The bills for Qld families are mounting with never-ending increases in insurance, energy, childcare and basic necessities and one mum says it’s not viable to return to work.

Grace Mainwaring from Brisbane with Ari, 1, and Beth Simpson from Townsville with Jasper, 10 months, on the Strand. Picture: Evan Morgan

With the cost of childcare mounting, parents are making the choice to stay home just to be able to pay the bills.

Two Queensland mums say families are in desperate need of cost-of-living relief from the state government’s budget.

Grace Mainwaring from Brisbane and Beth Simpson from Townsville said balancing budgets was becoming more difficult.

They said more support was needed to pay for power, the rising cost of running a home and car insurance.

Ms Mainwaring noted the lack of options and competition in Townsville when it comes to energy providers.

However, Origin did reveal earlier this year it would be entering the market in the North, ringing the number of energy providers to two.

“There aren’t enough options here,” she said.

“There’s not much choice, there’s only one main energy provider here.”

Both mothers said the keep on eye on how often they use the aircon and turn it off to save money.

Ms Mainwaring said she “cannot even afford to go to work” once childcare was paid for it leaves little money to stretch for other purchases.

“Childcare is so expensive, for two kids, what I would make at work I would have to pay all that back,” she said.

Comparing the regions with southeast corner, Ms Mainwaring said car insurance was “bloody expensive” in Townsville compared to Brisbane.

“Car insurance and [home] insurance are insane,” she said.

“It’s nearly $800 cheaper down there.

“You’re paying the increased insurance, you’ve got rego on top of that, petrol and then there’s just nothing left to play with.”

Ms Simpson said for families with children that need at least two cars, the increase in insurance can make a large dent in budget plans.

“Both of ours just went up this year, dramatically, just out of nowhere” she said.

“It’s just crazy. There’s no breathing room.”

Recently back at work after having Jasper, aged 10 months, Ms Simpson said she was finding it hard to save.

“Trying to save to be even trying to buy your own house, like what do you do? It’s just crazy,” she said.

Ms Simpson said she was also more strict when shopping for groceries.

“When you go to the supermarket and you’ve got stuff to buy the kids, you buy formula, you are already down $100 straight out of your food budget,” she said.

“You aren’t really leaving yourself with much at the end of the week.”

Originally published as Townsville mother Beth Simpson and Brisbane mother Grace Mainwaring shares stresses of increased cost-of-living