What makes you rich in Australia during a cost of living crisis

Australia is in a cost of living crisis and so what makes you rich right now has dramatically changed. These are signs that some of us are still thriving.

Does this make you rich in Australia?

What makes you rich in Australia in 2023 is very different to previous years.

Inflation is at 7 per cent, the RBA rates have increased 11 times to 3.8 per cent, groceries have never been so expensive as cost of living soars, and Australians are feeling it.

It doesn’t take much to appear ‘rich’ these days. A new pool, holiday houses, overseas trips or luxury handbags were once a sign someone had deep pockets.

But now buying a daily taking-away coffee, adding extras to your brunch at a cafe, even owning a Frank Green water bottle puts you in camp wealthy.

A recent Finder survey revealed the average Aussie would need to earn a whopping $336,516 per year to feel rich. That’s more than six times greater than the median personal income of $52,338, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Sarah Megginson, money expert at Finder, explained that being “rich” in this tough economic environment is almost impossible and even if people are still making lavish choices there’s a high chance they aren’t actually wealthy.

“The amount of money you need to earn in order to pay your bills and live comfortably is really different to the amount you need to feel rich,” she explained.

Still, Ms Megginson says if you have a buffer in these inflated times you are doing better then most.

“The baseline test is different for everyone, but basically if you add up all of your everyday expenses and bills, then add a buffer of 10-20 per cent – then that’s the wage you need to earn to be comfortable and not suffer in the current economy,” she explained.

With help from the news.com.au team, I’ve created a list of what makes you rich during a cost of living crisis.

Someone in the team even suggested using a clothes dryer was a sign you were living it up, which made me feel a tad guilty and boujee to say the least. Depressing eh?

1. You are shopping at Harris Farm exclusively

It has come to the point that even buying your food exclusively from a popular grocery store proves you are out of touch. Yes, Harris Farm is a little more expensive but people are just there to buy fresh food – it isn’t a place that exclusively sells caviar and bone broth.

Still, it is a flex in 2023 to be heading into Harris Farm. The rest of us have formed a very close and unhealthy relationship with the frozen section at Aldi.

2. You buy per recipe, not bulk

Yep! We are in the kind of place where buying ingredients makes you a fancy person.

I’m sorry, but you should be buying in bulk and living off mince and tasteless frozen peas like the rest of us – even Charles’ coronation quiche was meatless.

Have you not heard about the rising interest rates? It is time for chowder, not steak.

Shopping at Harris Farm proves you’re doing OK.

3. Your fridge does stuff besides keep food cold

If you’ve bought a fridge in 2023 and it came with any bells or whistles – and by that, I mean it filters water, dispenses ice, has Wi-Fi and in-built cameras – you are firmly above the poverty line and dancing in the affluent congo line of life alongside Kerrie-Anne Kennelly and Kochie.

My fridge, for instance, is a hand-me-down from my aunty who used to keep that fridge in her garage. The fact I’m even from a family that keeps fridges in garages reveals that I’m more Jenny from the block than Jennifer Lopez.

4. You don’t consider Kmart the hub for kitchenware

If your pots, pans, glassware aren’t from Kmart, you are living large my friend.

If your kitchenware cost you more than $100 you are in your wealthy Ita Buttrose era and there is no hiding it from the rest of us.

You get extra rich points if you own fancy things such as a Mix Master, Le Creuset or Smeg.

Basically, if your kitchen appliances would be chosen in a Women’s Weekly spread, you are rich.

But, if you have the same kitchenware as first-year university students, well welcome to being an average Joe.

Getting water not from the sink? Wild.

This fridge is a sign you are thriving.

5. You are a Frank Green water bottle girly

I’m sorry, but if your water bottle cost more than $60 you have money to burn and you’ve burnt it.

Nothing says ‘I have a disposal income’ like paying a premium for an item you could buy elsewhere for $8.

If your water bottle costs more than most people’s hourly wage you are living the life that Good Charlotte sang about. “Lifestyle’s of the rich and the famous, they are always complaining,” they crooned.

Stop it, you drink from luxury, enjoy life.

6. You order coffee everyday

Burning $5 everyday on something you could make at home for just cents is pure rich-person energy.

Yes, it is a small treat, but treats might become a thing of the past. Even Kochie seems nervous and he is on that network Seven money.

Coffee everyday means you are living like Lara Bingle in her Sam Worthington era and I won’t hear differently.

Also, Bingle in her Worthington era is distinctly different from when she was with Michael Clarke.

When Bingle dated Clarke, I’m sure she used Nescafe at home, now she’s with Worthington you know she’s ordering long blacks at fancy cafes.

If you can still treat yourself to a coffee every day, things aren't that bad.

This item confirms you are not living on Struggle Street.

7. You add ‘extras’ to your brunch meal

Firstly, going to brunch alone reveals you are quite well off, but if you order a meal and add a side of bacon, avocado or even a hash brown, I’m sorry but did you just win the lottery? Are you blackmailing someone? Are you selling baby formula on eBay?

Those sides always cost at least an $4 and I can only assume while you’re chowing down on your $34 breakfast meal, your designer handbag is sitting on the seat beside you.

8. You buy Peter Alexanders pyjamas.

If your sleepwear costs more than what most people spend on their outside outfits, well you are boujee and have the cash to splash.

If your whole family gets in on the action, well, then you aren’t just rich – you are from money.

9. You drink $25 cocktails all night long

The normal thing to do is buy one cocktail then switch to beer, cider or wine. You aren’t Sonia Kruger, it is time to calm down.

If swigging back $25 cocktails all night is the normal for you, well, if this was the Titanic, you’d be one of the people that gets a priority boat.

Facial treatments are only for those with deep pockets.

10. Getting facials is part of your wellness routine

Waxing, laser and eyebrow grooming are beauty routines for the working class, but once you move into facial territory, you are rich.

If you can afford to sustain these treatments you aren’t feeling the pinch quite as much as everyone else.

If you buy those weird facial mixes that cost under $3 and that somehow give your skin a rash instead of fixing it, well you’re the person Jimmy Barnes was singing about when he belts out ‘Working Class Man’.

11. You get a new iPhone more frequently than every third year

Getting a fresh new iPhone screams two things – I work in PR or I’m very well off and am not at the mercy of waiting for my plan to tell me I can finally afford a new iPhone.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are living with phones that constantly overheat and slowdown if we dare to have more than one app open.

If your iPhone doesn’t seem like it has the potential to die at any second, you don’t really understand the cost of living strain.