$950.00 - what will you do with it?

[bathurst77]

Maybe I will spend my 950 on typing lessons.. lol

[xbgs351]

Wack it on the home loan.

[xbgs351]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

That's fine, but the biggest issue with these "free" handouts is they will take it back in one way or another sooner or later.. if you don't take the money you'll be be paying for it weather you like it or not, so you need to take it just to cover the loss later on....
Make no mistake about this, it isnt free money, it has to come from somewhere, and because he's borrowing it it will have to be paid back, with interest, by us.
The net result or "effect on you" of all of this will be determined by what you do with this handout now, possibly the "best" thing anyone could do with this money is reduce debt with it, either mortgage or credit card....

Yes, a good 2 billion dollars in interest per year, or $100 per year for every man woman and child. On average that would be around $250 per worker per year.

[FTE217]

Rudderless ship and the black swan what a combo for disaster !!
The ignorant fools sheep who voted for them.....

[68XTFairmont]

Regardless of whether the money is handed out as a bonus to those of us that have worked our butts off for years and got nothing back or whether it is spent on infrastructure we are all going to have to pay it back eventually so because I am a selfish SOB I will gladly accept this cash and take a week off work to take my wonderful woman on a well deserved holiday.

We work everyday and pay taxes to support the people that got the last lot of handouts, Although I pay maintenance all year round and support my kids in everything they do my ex received an extra 4k for xmas last year while I struggled to pay my Mortgage and make sure my kids got what they wanted for xmas. It's about bloody time We get something back.

I will make sure as much of my $950 as possible stays in Australia and have a damned good time doing so.

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by pertuan

I probably won't get it. Got nothing last time. I'm single with no kids. Pay taxes out the butt and get nothing in return. Thanks Kev!

IF I do for some miracle get it, I'll spend it on a SCUBA dive course and some dive trips.

For you not to get it, seems like you must be on a pretty good wicket (over 100k per year - I could live like a king on that wage and single). Kev wants it to go to people who will spend it, which is the lower - middle income part of society. BTW I'm not begrudging you earning a high wage - good on you for making something of yourself

[3vXT]

Goodyear F1's for my cars rego in may.

Oh, and boo hoo for the people that earnt over 100K last year and are upset that they don't get anything. Its not a reward for earning under six figures. If you're too stupid to see that then you should be thankfull you earn what you do. If it really bothers you i'll give you my $950 + last years earnings in exchange for your 100K+

[Pinch]

Originally Posted by 68XTFairmont

Regardless of whether the money is handed out as a bonus to those of us that have worked our butts off for years and got nothing back or whether it is spent on infrastructure we are all going to have to pay it back eventually so because I am a selfish SOB I will gladly accept this cash and take a week off work to take my wonderful woman on a well deserved holiday.

We work everyday and pay taxes to support the people that got the last lot of handouts, Although I pay maintenance all year round and support my kids in everything they do my ex received an extra 4k for xmas last year while I struggled to pay my Mortgage and make sure my kids got what they wanted for xmas. It's about bloody time We get something back.

I will make sure as much of my $950 as possible stays in Australia and have a damned good time doing so.

I can't see anything in that that makes you a selfish SOB... quite the opposite really.

[MYVYSS]

Originally Posted by ken2903

Goodyear F1's for my cars rego in may.

Oh, and boo hoo for the people that earnt over 100K last year and are upset that they don't get anything. Its not a reward for earning under six figures. If you're too stupid to see that then you should be thankfull you earn what you do. If it really bothers you i'll give you my $950 + last years earnings in exchange for your 100K+

LOL @ everyone thinking because you earn 100k we dont deserve anything.....what a crock, maybe we are sick and tired of everyone living on the subsidies that WE provide, it would be nice once to get something...

Have a read maybe in simple terms you might get an idea...

rich vs poor tax discussions. It always reminds of this:

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh $7.
The eighth $12.
The ninth $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement -- until one day, when the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."

So, now dinner for the ten only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So, the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share'?

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being 'PAID' to eat their meal.

So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

[MAD]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

possibly the "best" thing anyone could do with this money is reduce debt with it, either mortgage or credit card....

Hypothetical:
1) Everyone who gets the handout, puts it towards paying off debt. Then the country goes into massive recession and many many more people lose their jobs, forcing higher taxes to pay for the extra burden on the health and welfare system.

2) Everyone who gets the handout, spends it as quickly as possible on autralian made items. The country dips into recession, but recovers quicker than 1) and job losses are far fewer.


I know no-one can predict the future, and we will only see what is going to happen when it actually happens, but as I understand it 2) is what the government is aiming for.

I totally agree with the idea of it going to infrastructure, schools, etc, but the only problem with this is it is very slow release of money into the economy.
$42bn injected into the economy in the space of a few weeks to a month is $42bn that wasnt there before to pay wages.

I'm really looking forward to the other side of this hump in the road, I think people will have regained an idea of what actual value is, society as a whole may just benefit from this, in the long run of course.

[FTE72]

Originally Posted by MYVYSS

LOL @ everyone thinking because you earn 100k we dont deserve anything.....what a crock, maybe we are sick and tired of everyone living on the subsidies that WE provide, it would be nice once to get something...

Have a read maybe in simple terms you might get an idea...

rich vs poor tax discussions. It always reminds of this:

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh $7.
The eighth $12.
The ninth $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement -- until one day, when the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."

So, now dinner for the ten only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So, the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share'?

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being 'PAID' to eat their meal.

So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

Very good analogy!
And painfully true.

[Cookie-XR8]

i only earn about 65k a year and i pay enough tax to pay the doll for a suburb

[flappist]

Originally Posted by MYVYSS

LOL @ everyone thinking because you earn 100k we dont deserve anything.....what a crock, maybe we are sick and tired of everyone living on the subsidies that WE provide, it would be nice once to get something...

Have a read maybe in simple terms you might get an idea...

rich vs poor tax discussions. It always reminds of this:

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh $7.
The eighth $12.
The ninth $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement -- until one day, when the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."

So, now dinner for the ten only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So, the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share'?

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being 'PAID' to eat their meal.

So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

When I first heard that story the bill was in pounds shillings and pence.

The bottom line is that there is NO WAY that our fuhrer of the Popular Peoples Reclaimed Democratic Replublic of Dreamtime. (previously mistakenly called Australia) is going to give money to you silvertailed capitalist worker exploitive pigs.

I have not earned more than $25k a year since 1985. I don't own a car or any commercial property and spend most of my money on grog, oysters, steak and parties. I just waste the rest........

[_CRUZ_]

wow interesting what people will do huh, ill wait and see if it happens first.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by 3XX

wow interesting what people will do huh, ill wait and see if it happens first.

Yep, I am not that confident it will actually happen either

[burnz]

Originally Posted by MYVYSS

LOL @ everyone thinking because you earn 100k we dont deserve anything..

well yes you may deserve something....
..................
hypo question:if a manager on a 100k gets pats on the back for keeping wages low production and thing going,
but the low paid workers are having their income subsidised by the government, which is like a half dole.
isn't he the cause of he's own excess tax problem??

company's who pay low wages are proped up by companys who pay good wages.

why should other companys and higher wage workers subsidise bad buisness practice, due to low wages paid to its employes.

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by ken2903

Goodyear F1's for my cars rego in may.

Oh, and boo hoo for the people that earnt over 100K last year and are upset that they don't get anything. Its not a reward for earning under six figures. If you're too stupid to see that then you should be thankfull you earn what you do. If it really bothers you i'll give you my $950 + last years earnings in exchange for your 100K+

Boo hoo?

We pay the largest chunk of tax and will be required to pay an even larger chunk when the boo hoo poo hits the fan because of it.

[GK351]

They should of spent the money on creating new projects, new dams railways roads tunnels hospitals schools etc.

Water is such an issue everywhere, QLD have lots of it but cant save it. Build a Dam you knobs.
NSW (sydney) roads are a shamble, 2 lane bottleneck knightmares everywere.
Rail networks are 15 years behind from the rest of the world. Yet we are bringing in
imigrants by the bucketloads and getting on the dole.

Create projects that way people will feel confident spending money and makeing it go around.

What will people that have lost their job in the last couple of months do with it? ($950)
When there is confidence and work people will spend, because next week is another dollar.

to qualify for the payment if you earn under $80,000 you get $950 earn $80,000-$90,000 you get $600 earn $90,000-$100,000 you get $300 any thing over $100,000 you get nothing. Then every school student gets $950, Single income families get $950 and a few other thing you get it too.They said some families will be eligible for 4&5 cheques. You get the money however you got your tax cheque for eg. if you get a cheque for tax you will get one for this too, if you get tax straight into your bank well then this will go straight to your bank too. alot of info i know sorry

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by MYVYSS

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

Pity we have both regressive and progressive taxation in this country. Which means the system doesn't work like that.

You give the "better off portion" in this country $950 and they will put it in the bank. You give the "not to well off" $950 and they spend it. Which is the whole idea behind the plan.

[taity_09]

im a casual/freelance worker, i regularly get my shifts cut from 9hrs down to 4 to save money from the wages so someone who's earning over 100k can make some extra cash. i considered taking a full-time position from which i would take a massive pay cut which is reimbursed through sick days and annual leave. if i did this i couldnt afford to live. i took it to my union (its against AWA policy) and my problem was temporarily resolved until my employer cut ALL my permanent hours after the cooling off period, so now im at a new location facing the same problem. Some bloke higher up thinks im not needed because someone else is willing to work harder to avoid the same thing happening to him.

what happened to the good old australian bloke who looks after as many people as he can through rough times, and isnt just out to squeeze as many pennies out of everyone he can? we're in a time where everyone needs to look after everyone else.

my solution?...spend my 950 on a set of 19's then sit back, open a stubby and relax knowing that ive done my part for the economy and wait for the next handout so i can afford some rubber. :P

[Poidevin]

$950= New Uni Books and a new digital camera

Money well spent and economy stimulated, hooray for me

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by GK351

They should of spent the money on creating new projects, new dams railways roads tunnels hospitals schools etc.

Water is such an issue everywhere, QLD have lots of it but cant save it. Build a Dam you knobs.
NSW (sydney) roads are a shamble, 2 lane bottleneck knightmares everywere.
Rail networks are 15 years behind from the rest of the world. Yet we are bringing in
imigrants by the bucketloads and getting on the dole.

Create projects that way people will feel confident spending money and makeing it go around.

What will people that have lost their job in the last couple of months do with it? ($950)
When there is confidence and work people will spend, because next week is another dollar.

We have a winner. There were production halts in at Newcastle port during the dizzy highs off the boom. Yet we were unable to export anymore product because of outdated infastructure. Fuel, labour, materials will never be this cheap again rather than throwing money done the retail sectors throat we could use the recession as an oppertunity to retool, rebuild, retrain and develop new industries. That way when the next boom comes around we can enjoy even greater prosperity.

This wont happen though, it would take a strong political will and a wise electroate to see that 8% unemployment isn't life threatening (particularly when you have a welfare system and free health services).

[MITCHAY]

I have pumped more than enough money into the economy over the last 2 months so I'll be saving this if I get it.

People who pay no tax should get nothing and people who earn 100k+ are well and truly entitled to some slice of the pie.

[schnoods]

Should be a 20 percent tax rate across the board.

Give some people an incentive to earn money, whilst the people who are more relaxed still pay tax too.

[3vXT]

Originally Posted by irlewy86

You give the "better off portion" in this country $950 and they will put it in the bank. You give the "not to well off" $950 and they spend it. Which is the whole idea behind the plan.

Exactly.

Its not a reward for working hard and earning a decent wage, its an incentive to inject money into the economy. In the long term, I think its a bad idea but I'm not going to refuse $950.

The 06/07 financial year wasn't a particularly good one for me. I was unemployed for a month or two, had sporadic work for the rest and earned probably about 25K. This financial year was heading the same way until December when i got a good paying secure job. I'm certainly not deserving of any handouts but because of the debts I've accrued any money I do get is going to be spent pretty quickly.

Now just because my earnings last year were reasonably low (by average standards) doesn't mean I'm an idiot, I'm generally pretty good with money, saving it when I can and spending when I have too. If i was working twice as much as I am now, earning 120K and didn't have to worry so much about bills, insurance, rego and tyres that money would be going straight to my savings account or something more responsible than car parts or tv's.

If Kevin Rudd wants us to spend the money in an arguably stupid plan to prop up the economy he's generally better off giving to the people earning less.

EDIT: If it was some scheme to reward hard work it'd hardly be fair to base in on income. I know plenty of people that earn 20 - 30K and deserve twice as much and one or two people on six figures that don't deserve nearly as much. (and the other way round too)

[Daymoe]

This stimulus package included the money towards the schools yes? I'm not complaining, my school is getting 179 new computers.

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by schnoods

Should be a 20 percent tax rate across the board.

Give some people an incentive to earn money, whilst the people who are more relaxed still pay tax too.

X100

I hate to rant, but I'm sick to death to hear of people who think that just because you don't work in a factory, or in a mine, or on a building site that you don't work hard.

I don't see why you should get taxed more, the more you earn. It gives no one any incentive to earn the most you can when it's eaten up by tax.

Bludgers work in every field and there are always people that are overpaid but it has just been my experience that if you work in an office that people think you don't work hard. My father and brother have given me countless amounts of crap because I am not a butcher or a window maker.

Before you judge me, until recently I had been both a blue and white collar job so I know both ends of the stick.

[Bucknaked]

I thought I'd use it as intended. Will be putting it towards a trip to the Gold Coast later this year. Only been the QLD once (Brisbane) and I wouldn't mind heading up for a week and do the theme park thing. $950 should cover 3 or 4 days in an apartment. Pay for the rest.

[dave351cid]

not sure just what i would spend it on yet, but would make sure as much as possible goes into australian made goods and services.

even if it is spent on booze and pokies ( not that i support that) atleast it will be going into circulation and helping to keep someone in a job.if it is just put into a savings account to collect a couple of cents interest, then that defeats the purpose of the grant.

i think that there should be some kind of checking system attached to it . maybe need to send in reciepts for what you spent the money on at tax time to show that you used grant as intended , or else the $950 or whatever is taken out of your tax return. i`m sure it would all get spent then.