24yo mum earning $95,000 salary reveals she’s homeless

A young Aussie earning what many might consider a dream salary has revealed why it’s no longer enough to cover the most basic of needs in 2024.

In April, Eleana Fox found herself in her rental sobbing, unable to start packing her things because she knew she was about to become homeless.

Ms Fox, 24, who is a mum to a two and four-year-old, didn’t have this reality on her 2024 bingo card. She works three jobs, earns around $95,000 a year, and is studying full-time at university.

She’d been paying $670 for her rental on the Gold Coast alongside a housemate and when the pair were told the lease wouldn’t be renewed, she initially wasn’t that worried.

She’s a single mum, a hard worker and a student. She’s used to managing multiple things, but what she wasn’t prepared for was not being able to afford a home.

Ms Fox told news.com.au that she found any rental that had enough rooms for her and her children was now between $800 and $950.

A staggering amount she couldn’t afford.

“The rental market had just jumped so much,” she said.

Eleana Fox has revealed the hard reality of not being able to afford a rental. Picture: Instagram/eleanafox

She's been staying with friends and family. Picture: Instagram/eleanafox

Recent data from PropTrack revealed median rent across the country has now hit a whopping $600 a week.

It comes as Finder reports that almost one in two renters say they are struggling to pay their rent – up from 36 per cent two years ago.

Experts from Finder’s RBA Cash Rate Survey expect rental prices to increase throughout Australia by the end of 2024, with spikes between 3 per cent and 9.5 per cent predicted across different capital cities.

Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said rents have been climbing steadily and outpacing wage growth.

“With vacancy levels low and rents skyrocketing, finding an affordable place to live is becoming a real challenge for plenty of renters,” he said.

“When the cash rate increases, all the focus tends to be on mortgage holders, but renters have actually been harder hit, and a higher proportion of them experience financial stress due to the cost of putting a roof over their head, forcing them to cut back on other essentials to keep afloat.”

Ms Fox said the reality of not being able to afford a home for her children has been “pretty hard”.

The family haven’t had a fixed address since May.

“I’m staying between family and friends. My dogs are at my aunties and my kids and I go between family and friends,” she said.

Originally, she’d budgeted between $700 and $750 for rent, but she said the amount was not “cutting it” and that the constant housing rejections were “completely” overwhelming her.

She started looking at places around $800 to $950, putting forward a max offer of $850, and crossing her fingers that a landlord would accept. She still plans to move in with her housemate, but that still leaves her with a huge weekly chunk to pay.

“That leaves $550 on my shoulders. I couldn’t exceed that limit and was praying someone would accept one of my applications.”

No one did.

“We got close a couple of times but were never accepted.”

Ms Fox is still applying for rentals. Picture: Instagram/eleanafox

She said she’s done all the right things to avoid this situation. Picture: Instagram/eleanafox

Ms Fox had to face the fact that she’d become homeless. She now was stuck relying on the kindness of family and friends.

“The idea of being homeless. I was originally rejecting it,” she said.

On the day that she and her family had to move out of her rental, she said she felt “numb” and “paralysed”, unable to start packing and accept that she had no new home to take her children to.

“I had friends come to my house to help me pack and I was just crying on the floor,” she said.

Her disbelief stems from the fact that, as far as Ms Fox is concerned, she’s done all the right things.

“I’ve done all the things we are told to do to avoid ending up in a situation like this. The idea of it being a failure … I want to reject it, but it is hard not to feel that way,” she said.

Ms Fox said that if you saw her working, ran into her at the university, or even just glimpsed her at the park playing with her kids, you’d never guess she was homeless.

“You would not assume I’m in this situation, but I am. So many people are, and it is ridiculous and hard,” she said.

She wants to create a permanent space for her kids.

“I just want to go home, but there’s nowhere for me to go.”